In Pics | Hotel workers in one of the largest strikes in southern California

For the first time since 1989, workers at the largest container port in the <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/underdog-has-got-nothing-to-lose-he-fights-for-every-inch-rishi-sunak-in-campaign-video-508901">UK</a> have gone on strike, prompting warnings from shipping firms and union leaders that the action would affect supply chains and make consumers wait longer for their purchases.

Approximately 1,900 Unite members in Felixstowe have left their job in a salary dispute, marking the most recent round of industrial action to affect a variety of economic sectors.

Following a vote in favour of strikes by a margin of more than nine to one, workers, including crane drivers, machine operators, and stevedores, will take action. The eight-day strike, according to the union, will have a significant effect on the port, which receives about 4 million containers annually from 2,000 ships.

As transportation workers protest for improved pay and working conditions, the strike is the most recent industrial action to negatively impact the <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/uk-urged-to-rethink-its-genetics-data-sharing-policy-with-china-508860">UK economy </a>over the weekend's extensive disruption of rail and bus services. Workers in several sectors are battling for pay raises as a result of the ongoing cost of living problem, which has seen an increase in the cost of food and energy bills.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/polio-in-the-us-uk-and-israel-reveals-an-uncommon-danger-of-the-oral-vaccine-508959">Polio in the US, UK, and Israel reveals an uncommon danger of the oral vaccine</a>

The action may require ships to be diverted to ports in the UK or Europe since Felixstowe handles approximately half of the containerized freight entering the country.

A port spokesperson said:&nbsp;“There will be no winners from a strike which will only result in their members losing money they would otherwise have earned. Our focus has been to find a solution that works for our employees and protects the future success of the port.

“The union has rejected the company’s offer to meet again.”

According to the Guardian, Unite would be willing to attend more talks only if the company increased its pay offer above 7%.

The union has previously rejected this offer, claiming that it falls below the preferred inflation rate of 11.8% for the retail prices index (RPI), despite the fact that workers only earned a 1.4% salary raise last year. According to company statistics, Felixstowe dock employees make an average of £43,000 a year.

The port's success and decision to distribute multimillion-pound dividends to investors have been cited by Unite. According to its most current financial statements, Felixstowe Dock and Railway Company generated a pre-tax profit of over £61 million in 2020.

Unite’s national officer, Robert Morton, told the Guardian that&nbsp;the port “can afford to put forward a reasonable pay offer to our members but once again has chosen not to”, adding: “That decision was driven by greed, not need.”

He added: “Unite’s door remains open for further talks but strike action will go ahead unless the company tables an offer that our members can accept.”

The Hong Kong-based company CK Hutchison Holdings, which also owns the Superdrug drugstore chain and the Three mobile phone network, owns the Felixstowe port, which has not experienced a strike since 1989.

Any protracted labour unrest at the docks would very surely cause the container port to shut down, have an effect on the UK's supply chain, and further hurt the British economy as it prepares for a recession.

The logistics hub manages roughly 45,000 containers per week, or about 40% of the containers entering and departing the UK, carrying items such consumer goods, apparel, and canned food.

(With inputs from agencies)

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For the first time since 1989, workers at the largest container port in the UK have gone on strike, prompting warnings from shipping firms and union leaders that the action would affect supply chains and make consumers wait longer for their purchases.

For the first time since 1989, workers at the largest container port in the UK have gone on strike, prompting warnings from shipping firms and union leaders that the action would affect supply chains and make consumers wait longer for their purchases. Approximately 1,900 Unite members in Felixstowe have left their job in a salary dispute, marking the most recent round of industrial action to affect a variety of economic sectors. Following a vote in favour of strikes by a margin of more than nine to one, workers, including crane drivers, machine operators, and stevedores, will take action. The eight-day strike, according to the union, will have a significant effect on the port, which receives about 4 million containers annually from 2,000 ships. As transportation workers protest for improved pay and working conditions, the strike is the most recent industrial action to negatively impact the UK economy over the weekend's extensive disruption of rail and bus services. Workers in several sectors are battling for pay raises as a result of the ongoing cost of living problem, which has seen an increase in the cost of food and energy bills. Also read | Polio in the US, UK, and Israel reveals an uncommon danger of the oral vaccine The action may require ships to be diverted to ports in the UK or Europe since Felixstowe handles approximately half of the containerized freight entering the country. A port spokesperson said: “There will be no winners from a strike which will only result in their members losing money they would otherwise have earned. Our focus has been to find a solution that works for our employees and protects the future success of the port. “The union has rejected the company’s offer to meet again.” According to the Guardian, Unite would be willing to attend more talks only if the company increased its pay offer above 7%. The union has previously rejected this offer, claiming that it falls below the preferred inflation rate of 11.8% for the retail prices index (RPI), despite the fact that workers only earned a 1.4% salary raise last year. According to company statistics, Felixstowe dock employees make an average of £43,000 a year. The port's success and decision to distribute multimillion-pound dividends to investors have been cited by Unite. According to its most current financial statements, Felixstowe Dock and Railway Company generated a pre-tax profit of over £61 million in 2020. Unite’s national officer, Robert Morton, told the Guardian that the port “can afford to put forward a reasonable pay offer to our members but once again has chosen not to”, adding: “That decision was driven by greed, not need.” He added: “Unite’s door remains open for further talks but strike action will go ahead unless the company tables an offer that our members can accept.” The Hong Kong-based company CK Hutchison Holdings, which also owns the Superdrug drugstore chain and the Three mobile phone network, owns the Felixstowe port, which has not experienced a strike since 1989. Any protracted labour unrest at the docks would very surely cause the container port to shut down, have an effect on the UK's supply chain, and further hurt the British economy as it prepares for a recession. The logistics hub manages roughly 45,000 containers per week, or about 40% of the containers entering and departing the UK, carrying items such consumer goods, apparel, and canned food. (With inputs from agencies) Also watch | Reports: Darya Dugina killed in a car explosion in Moscow

UK: Strike at port of Felixstowe set to disrupt supply chains

After the stunning victory at Amazon by a little-known independent union that didn’t exist 18 months ago, organized labour has begun to ask itself an increasingly pressing question: Does the labour movement need to get more&nbsp;disorganized?

Unlike traditional unions, the Amazon Labor Union relied almost entirely on current and former workers rather than professional organizers in its campaign at a warehouse on Staten Island in New York City. For financing, it turned to GoFundMe appeals rather than union coffers built from the dues of existing members. It spread the word in a break room and at low-key barbecues outside the warehouse.

In the end, the approach succeeded where far bigger, wealthier and more established unions have repeatedly fallen short.

“It’s sending a wake-up call to the rest of the labour movement,” said Mark Dimondstein, president of the American Postal Workers Union. “We have to be homegrown — we have to be driven by workers — to give ourselves the best chance.”

The success at Amazon comes on the heels of worker-driven initiatives in a variety of other industries. In 2018, rank-and-file public school teachers in states like West Virginia and Arizona used social media to plan a series of walkouts, setting in motion one of the largest labour actions in recent decades and forcing union leaders to embrace their tactics.

White-collar tech workers have organized protests at Google and Netflix over issues like sexual harassment and prejudice toward transgender people. At colleges like Grinnell and Dartmouth, workers have recently formed unions that are unaffiliated with existing labour groups.

And at Starbucks, where workers have voted to unionize 10 corporate-owned stores and filed for elections in roughly 150 more over the past six months, the campaign has largely expanded through worker-to-worker interactions over email, text and Zoom, even as it is being overseen by Workers United, an affiliate of the Service Employees International Union.

Nonunion Starbucks employees typically receive advice from their newly unionized counterparts, then meet with co-workers in their stores, distribute union cards, decide whether and when to file for an election and respond to media inquiries — responsibilities that professional union staff members often carry out in traditional campaigns.

“I can give my opinions — experience means something, but living it means more,” said Richard Bensinger, an organizer for Workers United, referring to the difference between organizing as an outsider and working at a company.

Some union officials have criticized the labour movement for being content to shrink gradually, like a wheezing media giant ill suited for the internet age, rather than experiment with new models and invest aggressively in recruitment. They have pointed to a decline in funding for an AFL-CIO department dedicated to organizing, although the federation’s president, Liz Shuler, has said organizing remains a priority and is funded through different mechanisms.

Other activists and scholars have complained that even when established unions do invest in organizing, some are too intent on controlling key decisions and use workers merely as props who recite union-crafted talking points.

In her book “No Shortcuts: Organizing for Power in the New Gilded Age,” organizer and scholar Jane McAlevey wrote sceptically of two common approaches of established unions. One is “advocacy,” in which union officials try to hammer out deals with corporate executives or political power brokers to allow workers to unionize, but with little input from workers.

McAlevey also questioned an approach she called “mobilization,” in which the union takes on an employer primarily through the efforts of a professional staff, consultants and a cadre of activists rather than a large group of rank-and-file workers. “The staffers see themselves, not ordinary people, as the key agents of change,” she wrote.

Some union officials have argued that the Fight for $15 campaign, in which the service employees’ union has spent tens of millions of dollars seeking to raise wages and help fast-food workers unionize, and OUR Walmart, which had similar goals for Walmart employees, were effectively mobilization efforts run largely by professional operatives.

“They were engaged in a campaign to try to bring to bear a lot of external pressure, with show strikes and community support, to jack up Walmart to deal with them,” said Peter Olney, a former organizing director of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, alluding to protests involving activists but few workers. “My critique is that was not going to happen. Walmart is not going to respond to show strikes. You have to have real strikes.”

Critics typically acknowledge that the campaigns helped galvanize support for higher wages even if they fell short of unionizing workers. Defenders say the goal is to have an effect on a company- or industrywide scale rather than a few individual stores. They point to certain developments, like a pending California bill that would regulate fast-food wages and working conditions, as signs of progress.

In other cases, workers themselves have perceived the limitations of established unions and the advantages of going it alone. Joseph Fink, who works at an Amazon Fresh grocery store in Seattle with roughly 150 employees, said the workers there had reached out to a few unions when seeking to organize in the summer but decided that the unions’ focus on winning recognition through National Labor Relations Board elections would delay resolution of their complaints, which included sexual harassment and health and safety threats.

When the workers floated the idea of staging protests or walkouts as an alternative, union officials responded cautiously. “We received the response that if we were to speak up, assert our rights publicly, we’d be terminated,” Fink said. “It was a self-defeating narrative.”

The workers decided to form a union on their own without the formal blessing of the NLRB, a model known as a “solidarity union,” whose roots precede the modern labour movement.

For workers who seek NLRB certification, doing so independent of an established union also has advantages, such as confounding the talking points of employers and consultants, who often paint unions as “third parties” seeking to hoard workers’ dues.

At Amazon, the strategy was akin to sending a conventional army into battle against guerrillas: Organizers said the talking points had fallen flat once co-workers realized that the union consisted of fellow employees rather than outsiders.

“When a worker comes up to me, they look at me, then see I have a badge on and say, ‘You work here?’ They ask it in the most surprising way,” said Angelika Maldonado, an Amazon employee on Staten Island who heads the union’s workers committee. “‘I’m like, ‘Yeah, I work here.’ It makes us relatable from the beginning.”

In recent years, a variety of groups have sought to make it easier for workers to organize independently. The nonprofit Solidarity Fund has provided stipends to workers involved in organizing campaigns and awarded $2,500 grants to seven Amazon workers on Staten Island last year.

A for-profit company, Unit, provides software allowing workers to track the support of co-workers and file authorization signatures electronically with the NLRB. The company, structured as a public benefit corporation, pairs workers with one of its professional organizers during the most delicate portions of the unionizing process, such as employer anti-union meetings. It recently helped its first group of workers unionize at Piedmont Health Services, a health care provider in North Carolina with roughly 40 eligible employees.

The problem for independent organizing efforts is that their momentum can be hard to sustain, even with such cutting-edge tools, or after securing a win through a strike or an election.

“The organizing never stops,” said Kate Bronfenbrenner, director of labour education research at Cornell University. “You can’t sit back. For a normal first contract campaign, it averages three years. If Amazon contests this in court, this is going to take a lot longer.”

Established unions like the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, which came close to winning a do-over election last week at an Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama, and recently notched a victory at outdoor retailer REI, can provide institutional support to see the effort through.

For worker-led unions, such challenges may point to the need for a hybrid approach in which they retain control of their organizations but seek guidance and resources from more established unions — something that is already occurring to varying degrees.

The Amazon workers on Staten Island received pro bono legal help from employees of established unions as well as office space, and the Communications Workers of America lent them a messaging platform capable of sending out texts to co-workers en masse.

At Starbucks, Workers United has paid for extensive legal work, such as litigating the company’s challenges to election petitions. A Buffalo, New York, barista involved in the original campaign is also an organizer paid by Workers United.

The question is whether traditional unions, while ramping up their contributions to these efforts, including opposition research and other public relations strategies, will be able to resist the temptation to seize control from the workers who fueled them.

Dimondstein, who said his Postal Workers union was prepared to contribute resources to the Amazon campaign with no strings attached, advised his fellow union leaders to stand down and play a similar long game.

“We need to make sure this doesn’t break down into jurisdictional fights — who’s getting these types of workers, these members,” he said.

But when asked whether he thought established unions would be able to resist that temptation, Dimondstein confessed his uncertainty. “Well, I don’t know how confident I am,” he said. “I know it’s necessary.”

After the stunning victory at Amazon by a little-known independent union that didn’t exist 18 months ago, organized labour has begun to ask itself an increasingly pressing question: Does the labour movement need to get more disorganized?

After the stunning victory at Amazon by a little-known independent union that didn’t exist 18 months ago, organized labour has begun to ask itself an increasingly pressing question: Does the labour movement need to get more disorganized? Unlike traditional unions, the Amazon Labor Union relied almost entirely on current and former workers rather than professional organizers in its campaign at a warehouse on Staten Island in New York City. For financing, it turned to GoFundMe appeals rather than union coffers built from the dues of existing members. It spread the word in a break room and at low-key barbecues outside the warehouse. In the end, the approach succeeded where far bigger, wealthier and more established unions have repeatedly fallen short. “It’s sending a wake-up call to the rest of the labour movement,” said Mark Dimondstein, president of the American Postal Workers Union. “We have to be homegrown — we have to be driven by workers — to give ourselves the best chance.” The success at Amazon comes on the heels of worker-driven initiatives in a variety of other industries. In 2018, rank-and-file public school teachers in states like West Virginia and Arizona used social media to plan a series of walkouts, setting in motion one of the largest labour actions in recent decades and forcing union leaders to embrace their tactics. White-collar tech workers have organized protests at Google and Netflix over issues like sexual harassment and prejudice toward transgender people. At colleges like Grinnell and Dartmouth, workers have recently formed unions that are unaffiliated with existing labour groups. And at Starbucks, where workers have voted to unionize 10 corporate-owned stores and filed for elections in roughly 150 more over the past six months, the campaign has largely expanded through worker-to-worker interactions over email, text and Zoom, even as it is being overseen by Workers United, an affiliate of the Service Employees International Union. Nonunion Starbucks employees typically receive advice from their newly unionized counterparts, then meet with co-workers in their stores, distribute union cards, decide whether and when to file for an election and respond to media inquiries — responsibilities that professional union staff members often carry out in traditional campaigns. “I can give my opinions — experience means something, but living it means more,” said Richard Bensinger, an organizer for Workers United, referring to the difference between organizing as an outsider and working at a company. Some union officials have criticized the labour movement for being content to shrink gradually, like a wheezing media giant ill suited for the internet age, rather than experiment with new models and invest aggressively in recruitment. They have pointed to a decline in funding for an AFL-CIO department dedicated to organizing, although the federation’s president, Liz Shuler, has said organizing remains a priority and is funded through different mechanisms. Other activists and scholars have complained that even when established unions do invest in organizing, some are too intent on controlling key decisions and use workers merely as props who recite union-crafted talking points. In her book “No Shortcuts: Organizing for Power in the New Gilded Age,” organizer and scholar Jane McAlevey wrote sceptically of two common approaches of established unions. One is “advocacy,” in which union officials try to hammer out deals with corporate executives or political power brokers to allow workers to unionize, but with little input from workers. McAlevey also questioned an approach she called “mobilization,” in which the union takes on an employer primarily through the efforts of a professional staff, consultants and a cadre of activists rather than a large group of rank-and-file workers. “The staffers see themselves, not ordinary people, as the key agents of change,” she wrote. Some union officials have argued that the Fight for $15 campaign, in which the service employees’ union has spent tens of millions of dollars seeking to raise wages and help fast-food workers unionize, and OUR Walmart, which had similar goals for Walmart employees, were effectively mobilization efforts run largely by professional operatives. “They were engaged in a campaign to try to bring to bear a lot of external pressure, with show strikes and community support, to jack up Walmart to deal with them,” said Peter Olney, a former organizing director of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, alluding to protests involving activists but few workers. “My critique is that was not going to happen. Walmart is not going to respond to show strikes. You have to have real strikes.” Critics typically acknowledge that the campaigns helped galvanize support for higher wages even if they fell short of unionizing workers. Defenders say the goal is to have an effect on a company- or industrywide scale rather than a few individual stores. They point to certain developments, like a pending California bill that would regulate fast-food wages and working conditions, as signs of progress. In other cases, workers themselves have perceived the limitations of established unions and the advantages of going it alone. Joseph Fink, who works at an Amazon Fresh grocery store in Seattle with roughly 150 employees, said the workers there had reached out to a few unions when seeking to organize in the summer but decided that the unions’ focus on winning recognition through National Labor Relations Board elections would delay resolution of their complaints, which included sexual harassment and health and safety threats. When the workers floated the idea of staging protests or walkouts as an alternative, union officials responded cautiously. “We received the response that if we were to speak up, assert our rights publicly, we’d be terminated,” Fink said. “It was a self-defeating narrative.” The workers decided to form a union on their own without the formal blessing of the NLRB, a model known as a “solidarity union,” whose roots precede the modern labour movement. For workers who seek NLRB certification, doing so independent of an established union also has advantages, such as confounding the talking points of employers and consultants, who often paint unions as “third parties” seeking to hoard workers’ dues. At Amazon, the strategy was akin to sending a conventional army into battle against guerrillas: Organizers said the talking points had fallen flat once co-workers realized that the union consisted of fellow employees rather than outsiders. “When a worker comes up to me, they look at me, then see I have a badge on and say, ‘You work here?’ They ask it in the most surprising way,” said Angelika Maldonado, an Amazon employee on Staten Island who heads the union’s workers committee. “‘I’m like, ‘Yeah, I work here.’ It makes us relatable from the beginning.” In recent years, a variety of groups have sought to make it easier for workers to organize independently. The nonprofit Solidarity Fund has provided stipends to workers involved in organizing campaigns and awarded $2,500 grants to seven Amazon workers on Staten Island last year. A for-profit company, Unit, provides software allowing workers to track the support of co-workers and file authorization signatures electronically with the NLRB. The company, structured as a public benefit corporation, pairs workers with one of its professional organizers during the most delicate portions of the unionizing process, such as employer anti-union meetings. It recently helped its first group of workers unionize at Piedmont Health Services, a health care provider in North Carolina with roughly 40 eligible employees. The problem for independent organizing efforts is that their momentum can be hard to sustain, even with such cutting-edge tools, or after securing a win through a strike or an election. “The organizing never stops,” said Kate Bronfenbrenner, director of labour education research at Cornell University. “You can’t sit back. For a normal first contract campaign, it averages three years. If Amazon contests this in court, this is going to take a lot longer.” Established unions like the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, which came close to winning a do-over election last week at an Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama, and recently notched a victory at outdoor retailer REI, can provide institutional support to see the effort through. For worker-led unions, such challenges may point to the need for a hybrid approach in which they retain control of their organizations but seek guidance and resources from more established unions — something that is already occurring to varying degrees. The Amazon workers on Staten Island received pro bono legal help from employees of established unions as well as office space, and the Communications Workers of America lent them a messaging platform capable of sending out texts to co-workers en masse. At Starbucks, Workers United has paid for extensive legal work, such as litigating the company’s challenges to election petitions. A Buffalo, New York, barista involved in the original campaign is also an organizer paid by Workers United. The question is whether traditional unions, while ramping up their contributions to these efforts, including opposition research and other public relations strategies, will be able to resist the temptation to seize control from the workers who fueled them. Dimondstein, who said his Postal Workers union was prepared to contribute resources to the Amazon campaign with no strings attached, advised his fellow union leaders to stand down and play a similar long game. “We need to make sure this doesn’t break down into jurisdictional fights — who’s getting these types of workers, these members,” he said. But when asked whether he thought established unions would be able to resist that temptation, Dimondstein confessed his uncertainty. “Well, I don’t know how confident I am,” he said. “I know it’s necessary.”

Amazon workers who won a union their way open labour leaders’ eyes

US President-elect Joe Biden held a virtual meeting with major industry CEOs and labour union leaders on Monday to discuss the economic recovery during the coronavirus pandemic.

Biden meets top American CEOs, corporate America agrees on need for stimulus

Ride-hailing company&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/uber-co-founder-travis-kalanick-to-leave-companys-board-270071">Uber&nbsp;Technologies Inc</a> and courier services provider&nbsp;Postmates&nbsp;Inc asked a US&nbsp;court to&nbsp;block&nbsp;a&nbsp;California&nbsp;labor&nbsp;law&nbsp;set to go into effect on Wednesday, arguing the bill violates the US&nbsp;Constitution.

In a&nbsp;lawsuit filed in Los Angeles federal court on Monday, the companies and two app-based drivers said the&nbsp;law, which would make it harder for&nbsp;gig&nbsp;economy companies to qualify their&nbsp;workers as independent contractors rather than employees, was irrational, vague and incoherent.

The office of&nbsp;California&nbsp;Attorney General Xavier Becerra said in a statement on Monday it was reviewing the complaint. The bill, called AB5, faces multiple legal challenges.

The&nbsp;law&nbsp;was signed by&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/donald-trump-threatens-to-withhold-emergency-aid-from-fire-hit-california-259805">California&nbsp;Governor Gavin Newsom</a> in September and has garnered national attention, largely owing to the size of&nbsp;California's workforce and the state's leadership role in establishing policies that are frequently adopted by other states.

&nbsp;

Also Watch: Uber can't fix safety issues

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Backers of the bill, including labor groups, have argued the&nbsp;law&nbsp;protects&nbsp;workers' rights. By classifying the contractors as employees, the companies would be subject to labor&nbsp;laws that require higher pay and other benefits such as medical insurance.

The bill strikes at the heart of the "gig&nbsp;economy" business model of technology platforms like&nbsp;Uber,&nbsp;Postmates, <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/ride-hailing-company-lyft-rises-in-wall-street-premier-206594">Lyft Inc</a>, DoorDash and others who rely heavily on the state's 450,000 contract&nbsp;workers, not full-time employees, to drive passengers or deliver food via app-based services.

Uber,&nbsp;Postmates&nbsp;and other app-based companies said the legislation compromises the flexibility prized by their workforce, and that fewer&nbsp;workers would be hired were they considered employees.

The companies in their Monday&nbsp;lawsuit called AB5 a "thinly veiled attempt" to target and harm&nbsp;gig&nbsp;economy businesses. Singling out app-based&nbsp;workers violates equal protection guaranteed under the constitutions of the United States and&nbsp;California, the companies argued.

"It irreparably harms network companies and app-based independent service providers by denying their constitutional rights to be treated the same as others to whom they are similarly situated," the&nbsp;lawsuit said.

The companies pointed to allegedly arbitrary exemptions of different non-gig&nbsp;worker&nbsp;groups, including salespeople, travel agents, construction truck drivers, and commercial fishermen.

The full impact of the bill remains unclear in the short term, but the&nbsp;lawsuit cited a study saying the bill would increase ride-hailing company Lyft's operating costs by 20 per cent&nbsp;and lead to some 300,000 fewer drivers in&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/nasas-trip-to-mars-begins-in-california-clean-room-270678">California</a>.

Uber, Lyft and food delivery company DoorDash have earmarked $90 million for a planned November 2020 ballot initiative that would exempt them from the&nbsp;law.

Ride-hailing company Uber Technologies Inc and courier services provider Postmates Inc asked a US court to block a California labor law set to go into effect on Wednesday, arguing the bill violates the US Constitution.

Ride-hailing company Uber Technologies Inc and courier services provider Postmates Inc asked a US court to block a California labor law set to go into effect on Wednesday, arguing the bill violates the US Constitution. In a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles federal court on Monday, the companies and two app-based drivers said the law, which would make it harder for gig economy companies to qualify their workers as independent contractors rather than employees, was irrational, vague and incoherent. The office of California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said in a statement on Monday it was reviewing the complaint. The bill, called AB5, faces multiple legal challenges. The law was signed by California Governor Gavin Newsom in September and has garnered national attention, largely owing to the size of California's workforce and the state's leadership role in establishing policies that are frequently adopted by other states. Also Watch: Uber can't fix safety issues × Backers of the bill, including labor groups, have argued the law protects workers' rights. By classifying the contractors as employees, the companies would be subject to labor laws that require higher pay and other benefits such as medical insurance. The bill strikes at the heart of the "gig economy" business model of technology platforms like Uber, Postmates, Lyft Inc, DoorDash and others who rely heavily on the state's 450,000 contract workers, not full-time employees, to drive passengers or deliver food via app-based services. Uber, Postmates and other app-based companies said the legislation compromises the flexibility prized by their workforce, and that fewer workers would be hired were they considered employees. The companies in their Monday lawsuit called AB5 a "thinly veiled attempt" to target and harm gig economy businesses. Singling out app-based workers violates equal protection guaranteed under the constitutions of the United States and California, the companies argued. "It irreparably harms network companies and app-based independent service providers by denying their constitutional rights to be treated the same as others to whom they are similarly situated," the lawsuit said. The companies pointed to allegedly arbitrary exemptions of different non-gig worker groups, including salespeople, travel agents, construction truck drivers, and commercial fishermen. The full impact of the bill remains unclear in the short term, but the lawsuit cited a study saying the bill would increase ride-hailing company Lyft's operating costs by 20 per cent and lead to some 300,000 fewer drivers in California. Uber, Lyft and food delivery company DoorDash have earmarked $90 million for a planned November 2020 ballot initiative that would exempt them from the law.

Uber, Postmates sue to block California gig worker law, claiming it's unconstitutional

Samsung Electronics Co Ltd board chairman Lee Sang-hoon was sentenced to 1-1/2 years <a href="https://www.wionews.com/business-economy/south-korea-jails-three-executives-of-samsung-electronics-267180">jail</a> on Tuesday for sabotaging legitimate union activities, a South Korean court said.

Lee and about 25 other defendants were charged with sabotaging union activities by subcontracted workers at Samsung Electronics' repair unit, Samsung Electronics Service Co Ltd.

When union activities took place at Samsung Electronics Service in 2013, Samsung Group's now-defunct elite strategy office developed and implemented strategies to hinder the union's operation, Seoul Central District Court ruled.

Samsung executives and employees were, to different degrees, involved in finding out sensitive information about union members to convince them to leave the union, inducing the closure of subcontracting firms with active unions and delaying negotiations between labour and management.

Samsung Electronics declined to comment.

“This is a further signal of change for South Korean judicial system, which previously gave lenient sentences to convicted businessmen,” said Park Sang-in, a professor at Seoul National University.

Samsung’s new leader, <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/south-korean-prosecutors-seek-12-year-jail-term-for-samsung-heir-lee-27847">Jay Y. Lee</a> needed to "build industrial relations which are in line with global standards," he added.

The verdict follows last week's ruling by the same court that gave a 16-month jail term to Samsung Electronics Vice-President Kang Kyung-hoon on charges of union-busting activities at a different Samsung affiliate.

Samsung Electronics Co Ltd board chairman Lee Sang-hoon was sentenced to 1-1/2 years jail on Tuesday for sabotaging legitimate union activities, a South Korean court said.

Samsung Electronics Co Ltd board chairman Lee Sang-hoon was sentenced to 1-1/2 years jail on Tuesday for sabotaging legitimate union activities, a South Korean court said. Lee and about 25 other defendants were charged with sabotaging union activities by subcontracted workers at Samsung Electronics' repair unit, Samsung Electronics Service Co Ltd. When union activities took place at Samsung Electronics Service in 2013, Samsung Group's now-defunct elite strategy office developed and implemented strategies to hinder the union's operation, Seoul Central District Court ruled. Samsung executives and employees were, to different degrees, involved in finding out sensitive information about union members to convince them to leave the union, inducing the closure of subcontracting firms with active unions and delaying negotiations between labour and management. Samsung Electronics declined to comment. “This is a further signal of change for South Korean judicial system, which previously gave lenient sentences to convicted businessmen,” said Park Sang-in, a professor at Seoul National University. Samsung’s new leader, Jay Y. Lee needed to "build industrial relations which are in line with global standards," he added. The verdict follows last week's ruling by the same court that gave a 16-month jail term to Samsung Electronics Vice-President Kang Kyung-hoon on charges of union-busting activities at a different Samsung affiliate.

Samsung Electronics board chairman jailed on union-busting charge

A strike at Canadian National Railway Co, the country's largest railroad, entered the seventh day on Monday, sending further shocks through the economy with grain shipments scuttled and layoffs planned at fertilizer producers and an auto-shipment terminal.

As <a href="https://www.wionews.com/.../canadas-trudeau-to-shuffle-cabinet-foreign- minister-set-for-big-new-role-263365">Canada's biggest rail strike </a>in a decade dragged on, the industry has piled pressured on the government to intervene. Teamsters Canada, the union representing the 3,200 striking CN employees, said it was no closer to an agreement than when its members first hit picket lines.

The Unifor labour union said 70 employees would be laid off effective Thursday at a Nova Scotia facility contracted by CN to handle vehicles shipped in and out of Canada.

Meanwhile, frustrated farmers facing propane shortages dumped wet corn in front of the prime minister's local Quebec office and pleaded for the government to step in.

Striking conductors and yard workers are demanding improved working conditions, including worker rest breaks.

The Teamsters released a recording of what it called an exchange between an exhausted conductor who wanted regulator Transport Canada to intervene before agreeing to a manager's request to move a train after a 10-hour shift. The union said its contract requires rest after 10 hours of work.

CN said Monday it is aware of the recording and is "looking into" the matter. Reuters could not verify the recording.

Transport Canada, which requires railway workers to rest after a 12-hour shift, said it had not received a complaint regarding the case.

Canada relies on CN and Canadian Pacific Railway to move products like crops, oil, potash, coal and other manufactured goods to ports and the United States. Industry figures show about half of Canada's exports move by rail, and economists have estimated a prolonged strike could eat into economic growth.

The federal government has sidestepped industry calls to force employees back to work, insisting collective bargaining is a quicker solution.

CN said its officials continue to negotiate and called for binding arbitration, a demand the union has rejected thus far.

Vessels pile up

The strike left at least 35 vessels waiting at Canada's West Coast to load grain shipments, Mark Hemmes, president of Quorum Corp which monitors the movement of prairie grain for the Canadian government, told Reuters. Hemmes said many of the grain handling facilities at major ports on the West Coast are serviced only by CN.

Shipments from those ports supply international markets, including Asia.

An association of Canadian exporters has declared an event of a delay, allowing members to avoid contract penalties due to circumstances outside their control.

Nutrien Ltd said it was preparing to shut down its largest potash mine, at Rocanville, Saskatchewan, for two weeks effective Dec. 2. The north shore of Port of Vancouver's Burrard Inlet is home to a major potash and coal export terminal as well as grain terminals operated by Cargill and Richardson International that are normally serviced only by CN.

A "trickle of cars" from CP was reaching the grain terminals, but they are "for all intents and purposes shut down," said Wade Sobkowich, executive director of the Western Grain Elevator Association. Cargill Ltd spokeswoman Connie Tamoto said the company had taken "mitigation measures" to ensure customer needs are met. Richardson International did not respond to requests for comment.

Around 300 farmers, angry at a shortage of propane they need to dry grain, gathered with a dozen tractors near Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's parliamentary office in Montreal on Monday to demand government action to end the strike. Some farmers held bags of grain and signs that read "To dry grain, you need propane."

CN is a key link in transporting propane to parts of Eastern Canada where it is also used to heat homes and hospitals.

A strike at Canadian National Railway Co, the country's largest railroad, entered the seventh day on Monday, sending further shocks through the economy with grain shipments scuttled and layoffs planned at fertilizer producers and an auto-shipment terminal.

A strike at Canadian National Railway Co, the country's largest railroad, entered the seventh day on Monday, sending further shocks through the economy with grain shipments scuttled and layoffs planned at fertilizer producers and an auto-shipment terminal. As Canada's biggest rail strike in a decade dragged on, the industry has piled pressured on the government to intervene. Teamsters Canada, the union representing the 3,200 striking CN employees, said it was no closer to an agreement than when its members first hit picket lines. The Unifor labour union said 70 employees would be laid off effective Thursday at a Nova Scotia facility contracted by CN to handle vehicles shipped in and out of Canada. Meanwhile, frustrated farmers facing propane shortages dumped wet corn in front of the prime minister's local Quebec office and pleaded for the government to step in. Striking conductors and yard workers are demanding improved working conditions, including worker rest breaks. The Teamsters released a recording of what it called an exchange between an exhausted conductor who wanted regulator Transport Canada to intervene before agreeing to a manager's request to move a train after a 10-hour shift. The union said its contract requires rest after 10 hours of work. CN said Monday it is aware of the recording and is "looking into" the matter. Reuters could not verify the recording. Transport Canada, which requires railway workers to rest after a 12-hour shift, said it had not received a complaint regarding the case. Canada relies on CN and Canadian Pacific Railway to move products like crops, oil, potash, coal and other manufactured goods to ports and the United States. Industry figures show about half of Canada's exports move by rail, and economists have estimated a prolonged strike could eat into economic growth. The federal government has sidestepped industry calls to force employees back to work, insisting collective bargaining is a quicker solution. CN said its officials continue to negotiate and called for binding arbitration, a demand the union has rejected thus far. Vessels pile up The strike left at least 35 vessels waiting at Canada's West Coast to load grain shipments, Mark Hemmes, president of Quorum Corp which monitors the movement of prairie grain for the Canadian government, told Reuters. Hemmes said many of the grain handling facilities at major ports on the West Coast are serviced only by CN. Shipments from those ports supply international markets, including Asia. An association of Canadian exporters has declared an event of a delay, allowing members to avoid contract penalties due to circumstances outside their control. Nutrien Ltd said it was preparing to shut down its largest potash mine, at Rocanville, Saskatchewan, for two weeks effective Dec. 2. The north shore of Port of Vancouver's Burrard Inlet is home to a major potash and coal export terminal as well as grain terminals operated by Cargill and Richardson International that are normally serviced only by CN. A "trickle of cars" from CP was reaching the grain terminals, but they are "for all intents and purposes shut down," said Wade Sobkowich, executive director of the Western Grain Elevator Association. Cargill Ltd spokeswoman Connie Tamoto said the company had taken "mitigation measures" to ensure customer needs are met. Richardson International did not respond to requests for comment. Around 300 farmers, angry at a shortage of propane they need to dry grain, gathered with a dozen tractors near Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's parliamentary office in Montreal on Monday to demand government action to end the strike. Some farmers held bags of grain and signs that read "To dry grain, you need propane." CN is a key link in transporting propane to parts of Eastern Canada where it is also used to heat homes and hospitals.

Canadia's biggest rail strike in a decade hits exports, sparks layoffs

Scores of trade unions across the nation are on a two-day nationwide strike commencing Tuesday to protest against Central government's alleged anti-worker policies and unilateral labour reforms.

One of the major demands put forth by the protesters is to include enactment of the Social Security Act and setting of a minimum wage of Rs 24,000 for unorganised transport workers.

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West Bengal: Clash between TMC and CPM workers in Asansol during 48-hour nationwide strike called by Central Trade Unions demanding minimum wages, social security schemes &amp; against privatisation of public and government sector. <a href="https://t.co/5oM6TWxnx7">pic.twitter.com/5oM6TWxnx7</a>
— ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/1082491914979397632?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 8, 2019</a></blockquote>
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The trade union strike affected normalcy across the country. In Bhubaneswar, protesters picketed and burnt tyres at a railway station as mark of their protest.

The impact of protest was intense in Kolkata, where agitators took to streets, disrupting office-time traffic.

The police soon swept into action and detained a couple of CPI-M workers for allegedly fanning violence in the region in the view of the trade union strike.

The protests are not only affecting normalcy in the metropolitan&nbsp;cities but other states too saw a similar sight.

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<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Kerala?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Kerala</a>: 48-hour nationwide strike called by Central Trade Unions demanding minimum wages, social security schemes &amp; against privatisation of public and government sector; Visuals from Kochi (pic1&amp;2) and Trivandrum (pic 3) <a href="https://t.co/cuKkicTzJW">pic.twitter.com/cuKkicTzJW</a>
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In Bengaluru, commuters were facing trouble going to offices as autorikshaws, cabs and buses are keeping off roads in view of the all-India strike.

In Karnataka also, people residing in Hubli, were seen walking with flags and festoons through the streets displaying their various demands and needs.

On a closer look, this two-day nationwide strike is not confined to the transport sector as thousands of people working in banking sector and other public sector companies and port and dock workers are also participating in the strike to highlight the growing price rise, economic crisis and unemployment across the country.

Moreover, farmers residing across the country under the aegis of the Left peasant wings have also threatened to observe gramin hartal, road roko against the failure of the Central government for not doing enough to address rural distress.

The strike has been called by a consortium of 10 central trade unions and has received support from organisations like the AITUC, CITU, HMS, AIUTUC, TUCC, AICCTU, along with employees in the banking and insurance sector.

Farm unions like All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) and Bhumi AdhikarAndolan are also part of the strike.

 
&nbsp;

Scores of trade unions across the nation are on a two-day nationwide strike commencing Tuesday to protest against Central government's alleged anti-worker policies and unilateral labour reforms.

Scores of trade unions across the nation are on a two-day nationwide strike commencing Tuesday to protest against Central government's alleged anti-worker policies and unilateral labour reforms. One of the major demands put forth by the protesters is to include enactment of the Social Security Act and setting of a minimum wage of Rs 24,000 for unorganised transport workers. West Bengal: Clash between TMC and CPM workers in Asansol during 48-hour nationwide strike called by Central Trade Unions demanding minimum wages, social security schemes & against privatisation of public and government sector. pic.twitter.com/5oM6TWxnx7 — ANI (@ANI) January 8, 2019 × The trade union strike affected normalcy across the country. In Bhubaneswar, protesters picketed and burnt tyres at a railway station as mark of their protest. The impact of protest was intense in Kolkata, where agitators took to streets, disrupting office-time traffic. The police soon swept into action and detained a couple of CPI-M workers for allegedly fanning violence in the region in the view of the trade union strike. The protests are not only affecting normalcy in the metropolitan cities but other states too saw a similar sight. #Kerala: 48-hour nationwide strike called by Central Trade Unions demanding minimum wages, social security schemes & against privatisation of public and government sector; Visuals from Kochi (pic1&2) and Trivandrum (pic 3) pic.twitter.com/cuKkicTzJW — ANI (@ANI) January 8, 2019 × In Bengaluru, commuters were facing trouble going to offices as autorikshaws, cabs and buses are keeping off roads in view of the all-India strike. In Karnataka also, people residing in Hubli, were seen walking with flags and festoons through the streets displaying their various demands and needs. On a closer look, this two-day nationwide strike is not confined to the transport sector as thousands of people working in banking sector and other public sector companies and port and dock workers are also participating in the strike to highlight the growing price rise, economic crisis and unemployment across the country. Moreover, farmers residing across the country under the aegis of the Left peasant wings have also threatened to observe gramin hartal, road roko against the failure of the Central government for not doing enough to address rural distress. The strike has been called by a consortium of 10 central trade unions and has received support from organisations like the AITUC, CITU, HMS, AIUTUC, TUCC, AICCTU, along with employees in the banking and insurance sector. Farm unions like All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) and Bhumi AdhikarAndolan are also part of the strike.

Two-day trade union strike kicks in, affects normalcy across country

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