News Roundup 09/20/2019
United Auto Workers Strike
On Monday September 16th, 49,000 General Motors workers at 33 plants across the country went on strike. The workers have not received a raise in over 11 years following the company’s bankruptcy and subsequent federal bailout. The company has since recorded record profits and the company’s CEO earned $21.96 million in 2017. The strikers’ demands include: improved healthcare benefits for all its workers, the first pay raises in over a decade, and the permanent hiring of its temporary workforce, whom the union claims are designated as only “temporary” by GM in order to give them lower pay and fewer benefits. The union is also fighting four more scheduled closures of GM plants in the U.S. Earlier this week GM announced it was cutting off the healthcare for the 49,000 striking workers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxELjIUjqLE
https://www.democracynow.org/2019/9/18/uaw_nationwide_strikes_gm
One and Done: The Patriots Cut Antonio Brown
Embattled receiver Antonio Brown has been cut by the New England Patriots after just one game with the team. The Patriots signed the top tier wide receiver back on September 9th soon after he had been released by the Oakland Raiders. Brown had a number of issues in Oakland that led to his release from the Raiders, which included his refusal to wear a league approved helmet, threatening the team’s General Manager Mike Mayock, and posting a secretly recorded private conversation with Coach John Gruden on social media. Brown had four catches for 56 yards and a touchdown in his only game with the Patriots in week 2 versus the Miami Dolphins. The Patriots cut Brown following a new Sports Illustrated report highlighting new sexual misconduct allegations.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkOvwnKanT0
Inching Closer to War
On Saturday, September 14th, the largest oil processing facility in the world (located in Saudi Arabia) was bombed in an apparent drone attack. Some estimates say the attack has cut the Saudis oil output in half, which has caused oil prices to rise 15%. Houthi forces inside Yemen have taken responsibility saying the attacks are in response to what they call the Saudi’s “crimes of aggression…over the last 5 years.” Back in April, Congress passed a war powers resolution to end the U.S.’s support for the Saudi led war in Yemen. Over 14 million people are on the brink of starvation in Yemen due to the Saudi led war there. The Trump administration is blaming Iran for the attack and has threatened military action. When asked by CNN what the consequence would be for a U.S. or Saudi military strike on Iran, Iran’s Foreign Minister said, “An all-out war.”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/sep/14/major-saudi-arabia-oil-facilities-hit-by-drone-strikes
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/14/world/middleeast/saudi-arabia-refineries-drone-attack.html
https://www.democracynow.org/2019/9/16/saudi_arabia_oil_supply_attacks
The Global Youth Climate Strike
On Friday, September 20th, climate protests took place in over 150 countries spread across 6 continents. The global action was in part organized by youth climate activists from around the world. Most notably, Swedish youth climate activist Greta Thunberg. Thunberg sparked a global climate movement at age 15 when she began skipping class every Friday to protest in front of the Swedish parliament building. She led a large protest on Friday in New York City while 800 other protests were happening elsewhere across the U.S. 300,000 people marched in Australia, and in Germany, 500 individual protests were held. The activists are demanding world leaders take drastic measures to address the threat posed by climate change and environmental degradation. They are also urging countries to switch to renewable sources of energy. The global climate strike comes just days ahead of the United Nations Climate Action Summit, which is slated to take place in New York City on September 23rd.
https://www.democracynow.org/2019/9/20/global_climate_strike_new_york_minnesota
https://globalclimatestrike.net/#faq
The Trump/DeVos Education Department Goes After UNC and Duke
President Trump’s Department of Education, led by Betsy DeVos, is going after the Middle East studies programs at the University of North Carolina and Duke. DeVos claims there is an ant-Semitic bias within these programs. DeVos’ Education Department sent letters to both Universites back on August 29th, demanding the schools revise their programs by September 22nd or risk being federally defunded. In 2018 the Middle East studies programs at these schools received $235,000 in federal grant money. In a letter to both schools, Trump’s Education Department said it was concerned about the “considerable emphasis placed on understanding the positive aspects of Islam…” The letter also voiced concern about what it also perceives as an “unconscious bias, serving L.G.B.T.I.Q. youth in schools, culture and the media”. While many academic freedom advocates have voiced concern over the move, North Carolina Republican state lawmakers have applauded it.
https://www.apnews.com/430e62044dba43daa3f2332792cd97b2
https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a29150315/betsy-devos-middle-east-studies-college/
https://www.democracynow.org/2019/9/20/headlines/betsy_devos_threatens_t