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  • Imran Khan: Pakistan ex-PM given three-year jail sentence
    www.bbc.com Imran Khan: Pakistan ex-PM given three-year jail sentence

    The ousted prime minister was given a three-year jail sentence in a case of corruption he denies.

    Imran Khan: Pakistan ex-PM given three-year jail sentence

    cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/2693133

    > Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has been given three-year jail sentence over corruption allegations. > > A court in Islamabad found him guilty of not declaring money he had earned from selling state gifts. He denies the charges and says he will appeal. > > After the verdict, Mr Khan was taken into custody from his home in Lahore. > > The former cricketer, 70, was elected in 2018, but was ousted in a no-confidence vote last year after falling out with Pakistan's powerful military. > > Mr Khan is facing more than 100 cases brought against him since his removal - charges he says are politically motivated. > > Saturday's verdict centred on charges that he incorrectly declared details of presents from foreign dignitaries and proceeds from their alleged sale. > > The gifts - reported to be worth more than 140 million Pakistani rupees ($635,000) - included Rolex watches, a ring and a pair of cuff links. > > Mr Khan's barrister Gohar Khan said the verdict was "a murder of justice". > > "We weren't even given a chance. We weren't even allowed to cross [examine], to say anything in defence or conduct our arguments. I haven't seen this kind of injustice before," he told Dawn newspaper. > > As the court decision was announced, a crowd, which included some prosecuting lawyers, began chanting "Imran Khan is a thief" outside the building. > > His party, Tehreek-e-Insaf, confirmed to the BBC that after being arrested in Lahore, Mr Khan was flown to the capital, Islamabad, to begin serving his sentence. > > For months he had avoided arrest, with his supporters at times fighting pitched battles with police to keep him out of custody. > > In May, Mr Khan was arrested for not appearing at court as requested. He was then released, with the arrest declared illegal. > > Since then, his party has been under intense pressure from the authorities. > > Many senior officials have left and thousands of supporters have been arrested, accused of being involved in the protests that followed Mr Khan's arrest. > > Pakistan's army plays a prominent role in politics, sometimes seizing power in military coups, and, on other occasions, pulling levers behind the scenes. > > Many analysts believe Mr Khan's election win in 2018 happened with the help of the military. > > In opposition, he has been one of its most vocal critics, and analysts say the army's popularity has fallen. > > Since being ousted, Mr Khan has been campaigning for early elections. > > Conviction would disqualify Mr Khan from standing for office, possibly for life. > > Pakistan's parliament will be dissolved on August 9, leaving a caretaker government to take over in the run up to the elections. > > No election date has been announced, although constitutionally they should take place by early November.

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  • Family outraged after teens charged with attempted murder after assaulting police officer
    www.wsoctv.com Family outraged after teens charged with attempted murder after assaulting police officer

    Family members say police and prosecutors are going too far after two 15-year-old twin boys have been charged with first-degree attempted murder and assault on a law enforcement officer.

    Family outraged after teens charged with attempted murder after assaulting police officer
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  • Canada PM Justin Trudeau and wife Sophie separate
    www.bbc.com Canada PM Justin Trudeau and wife Sophie separate

    Justin Trudeau and his wife Sophie split after 18 years, following "meaningful and difficult conversations".

    Canada PM Justin Trudeau and wife Sophie separate

    Canada's PM Justin Trudeau and his wife Sophie are separating after 18 years, following "meaningful and difficult conversations".

    The couple said they would remain "a close family with deep love and respect" in an Instagram post.

    They were married in Montreal in 2005 and have three children together.

    In a statement, Mr Trudeau's office said that while the couple had signed separation agreement they will still make public appearances.

    "They have worked to ensure that all legal and ethical steps with regards to their decision to separate have been taken, and will continue to do so moving forward," the statement said, adding they would be on holiday as a family next week.

    The couple have asked for privacy for the "well-being" of their children, Xavier, 15, Ella-Grace 14, and Hadrien, nine.

    "We remain a close family with deep love and respect for each other and for everything we have built and will continue to build," Mr Trudeau, 51, and Ms Gregoire Trudeau, 48, said.

    They have been seen together publicly less frequently in recent years, though they attended the coronation of King Charles III together in May and hosted US President Joe Biden in Canada in March.

    In a wedding anniversary post on Instagram in May 2022, Ms Gregoire Trudeau wrote about the challenges of long-term relationships, saying "we have navigated through sunny days, heavy storms, and everything in between".

    The two began dating in 2003, when Ms Gregoire Trudeau was working as a TV personality. She is also known for her charity work around mental health and eating disorders.

    Mr Trudeau was first elected prime minister in 2015.

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  • Trump was just indicted for trying to steal the 2020 election
    www.vox.com Trump was just indicted for trying to steal the 2020 election

    Your biggest questions about the federal criminal charges against Trump in the January 6 case, answered.

    Trump was just indicted for trying to steal the 2020 election

    Former President Donald Trump was indicted for an unprecedented third time on August 1, adding another set of serious federal charges to the mounting legal issues he faces.

    Trump wasindicted as part of the Department of Justice’s criminal investigation, led by special counsel Jack Smith, into the January 6, 2021 insurrection at the US Capitol. The indictment marks the second time Trump has faced federal charges, and he remains the only president to have been federally indicted.

    The indictment is the product of a months-long investigation in which Smith’s team questioned several high-profile members of Trump’s circle, including his son-in-law Jared Kushner and former White House communications director Hope Hicks. It follows the House January 6th committee’s investigation last year, which concluded that Trump incited the insurrection and conspired to defraud the US government, referring him and other associates to the DOJ for prosecution.

    Trump seemed to know the indictment was coming. He posted August 1 on TruthSocial that Smith “will be putting out yet another Fake Indictment of your Favorite President, me,” and previously posted on the platform that he’d received what’s known as a target letter from Smith. He wrote, “They have now effectively indicted me three times,” and called the investigation a “WITCH HUNT” as well as “POLITICAL WEAPONIZATION OF LAW ENFORCEMENT” in that earlier, July 18 post.

    Here’s what you need to know about what happens next.

    Will Trump be arrested and go to jail?

    Trump is not expected to be jailed following his arraignment, following a pattern established by his previous arraignments in New York and Miami. Trump was previously fingerprinted in those cases but was not put in handcuffs and did not have his mugshot taken. There were cameras allowed in the courtroom in New York, but not in Miami. He was also allowed to return home following both arraignments.

    What does this mean for Trump’s 2024 campaign?

    So far, Trump has simply brushed off his legal entanglements, and they appear to be helping him in the 2024 polls. He remains the frontrunner in the GOP primary, polling more than 30 percentage points on average ahead of Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

    Whit Ayres, a Republican pollster, notes that previous indictments were easy for GOP voters to dismiss, but it’s unclear whether this latest indictment will follow that trend.

    Many legal analysts have said Trump’s first indictment in New York has weak underpinnings, and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg had previously boasted about how many times he had sued the Trump administration during his campaign. Together, those factors left many Republicans waving away that indictment as a “partisan witch hunt.”

    The second, in the case concerning Trump’s retention of classified documents after he left office, was a “blockbuster legally,” Ayres said, but given Bragg’s indictment had come before it, was easy for Republicans to brush it off yet again.

    It’s difficult to know exactly what will happen now that Trump has been indicted for a third time. But if Republicans’ reaction to the House January 6 committee’s investigation is any indication, it might do little to sway the base.

    “It was an article of faith among Republican voters that they weren’t going to watch the January 6 hearings. They just determined ahead of time that it was a partisan witch hunt, even though the vast majority of the witnesses were Trump employees, Trump confidants, and Trump staff members,” Ayres said.

    That means that when it comes to the primary, this latest indictment seems unlikely to have a major effect on voters. However, it remains to be seen whether these indictments will cause moderates and independents to turn away from the former president.

    Trump has already lost once to President Joe Biden, but in head-to-head matchups over the last month, some polls have him winning by as much as 7 percentage points, while others have him losing by as much as 6 percentage points. Much could change before November 2024, but should Trump be his party’s nominee, those numbers suggest a tight race in which losing moderates and independents in states like Georgia or Pennsylvania could be the difference between victory and defeat.

    Overall, even in the best-case scenario for the former president, in which the legal issues have zero effect on his support, the cases will take away valuable time and money he could be spending on his campaign.

    How are Trump’s Republican rivals reacting?

    Republicans seeking the 2024 nomination have treaded lightly in using the investigations against Trump to attack him as unfit for another term.

    Before news of the indictment broke, DeSantis said that Trump “should have come out more forcefully” against violence on January 6, but also told CNN, “I hope he doesn’t get charged.” Vivek Ramaswamy said that he “would have made very different judgments than President Trump did” that day. Nikki Haley suggested that she’s tired of the drama and said that, “We can’t be sitting there focused on lawsuits over and over again.”

    All three indictments have presented a conundrum for those looking to displace Trump as the GOP frontrunner. Recognizing his continued grip on the Republican primary voters and the risk of alienating them, the candidates have largely refrained from criticizing Trump directly. But in so doing, they have also struggled to carve out distinct lanes and present a clear argument for why the party should dump Trump. What happens next?

    As with the cases against Trump in New York and Florida, the January 6 case could extend well into the 2024 campaign season — or even beyond the election.

    Smith has sought a speedy trial in the classified documents case, which is currently scheduled for May 2024, and it’s possible that he will do so in the January 6 case. (Trump, on the other hand, had pushed to delay the trial in the documents case later than the 2024 election to accommodate his campaign calendar.)

    Kevin O’Brien, a former federal prosecutor in New York, said it’s unclear whether the January 6 case can feasibly be decided before the 2024 election. It is much bigger in scope and therefore may take longer to resolve, but also carries significant public interest.

    “The subject matter has had direct implications for our democratic process. And you can argue the voters should be exposed to that evidence and know [the jury verdict] in that case,” he said.

    If Trump wins the 2024 election, then it “would be a brouhaha,” O’Brien said. Any unresolved federal charges would likely become moot under the longstanding DOJ policy that a sitting president cannot be indicted. But if he’s convicted before assuming office, that would create a constitutional question: whether he could later pardon himself

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  • Residents Flood Library With New Copies of LGBTQ Books Stolen by Anti-Pride Protestors
    themessenger.com Residents Flood Library With New Copies of LGBTQ Books Stolen by Anti-Pride Protestors

    People donated more than $15,000 to the library system, which will be matched by the city, providing $30,000 for LGBTQ programming

    Residents Flood Library With New Copies of LGBTQ Books Stolen by Anti-Pride Protestors

    cross-posted from: https://kbin.social/m/news@lemmy.world/t/271719

    > People donated more than $15,000 to the library system, which will be matched by the city, providing $30,000 for LGBTQ programming

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  • The fight over a bill targeting credit card fees pits payment companies against retailers
    www.cnbc.com The fight over a bill targeting credit card fees pits payment companies against retailers

    Bipartisan support for the Credit Card Competition Act has surged since it was introduced last year.

    The fight over a bill targeting credit card fees pits payment companies against retailers

    cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/2379723

    > A bipartisan push in Washington to clamp down on credit card fees is pitting retailers like Walmart against network payment processors such as Visa.

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  • Deadly bomb blast at political rally in northwest Pakistan
    www.aljazeera.com Suicide bomber kills 44 at Pakistan political rally

    No claim of responsibility for attack in northwestern Bajaur district that wounded nearly 200 others.

    Suicide bomber kills 44 at Pakistan political rally

    cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/2375580

    A powerful bomb ripped through a rally by supporters of a hardline political and Muslim leader in the country’s northwestern Bajur district that borders Afghanistan on Sunday, killing at least 35 people, local officials said.

    Azam Khan, head of the emergency room at Khar’s main hospital, said 35 bodies were brought to the hospital while the number of wounded was now more than 100.

    Government administrator Mohibullah Khan Yousufzai confirmed the toll, adding that those serious wounded were being airlifted to the provincial capital, Peshawar, for better medical care.

    No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

    Senior police officer Nazir Khan said the workers’ convention of Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam party was taking place on the outskirts of Khar, the capital of Bajur district, when the explosion took place.

    Akhtar Hayat Gandapur, the inspector general of police for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, said explosion took place before the senior party leader’s arrival.

    Al Jazeera’s Kamal Hyder, reporting from Islamabad, said that while the attack was confirmed as a suicide bombing, there were fears that the armed group Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) may be responsible for it.

    Rehman is considered to be a pro-Taliban cleric and his political party is part of the coalition government in Islamabad.

    Meetings are being organised across the country to mobilise supporters for the coming elections, due to be held by October. !

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  • Ye’s account restored on Musk’s X after swastika post drama
    thehill.com Ye’s account restored on Musk’s X after swastika post drama

    Rapper Ye’s account on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, is no longer suspended, a journalist from the New York Times first reported. “Twitter/X says Kanye West’s account is being “t…

    Ye’s account restored on Musk’s X after swastika post drama

    Rapper Ye’s account on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, is no longer suspended, a journalist from the New York Times first reported.

    “Twitter/X says Kanye West’s account is being “turned back on,” the Times’ tech reporter Ryan Mac posted. “It will be ineligible for a monetization and no ads will appear next to his posts, according to the company.”

    Mac also pointed out that the account has been given a gold check mark — supposedly reserved for “official business accounts.”

    Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, was suspended from the platform — owned by billionaire Elon Musk — more than six months ago, after sharing an image depicting the Star of David with a swastika inside of it.

    “I tried my best. Despite that, he again violated our rule against incitement to violence. Account will be suspended,” Musk wrote after the suspension.

    In the months leading up to Ye’s suspension, he repeatedly made antisemitic comments online and offline. Watchdog group StopAntisemitism.org even named him “Antisemite of the Year” after he became embroiled in controversy over a string of derogatory comments against Jews.

    When Musk bought the platform, he touted plans to change its content moderation rules to allow for more “free speech.” However, when Ye tweeted the controversial image, he drew the line.

    Musk has not publicly commented on the renewal of Ye’s account nor responded to requests for comment.

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  • US Justice Department opens civil rights probe into Memphis policing
    www.aljazeera.com US Justice Department opens civil rights probe into Memphis policing

    The investigation centres on questions of discrimination in the wake of the beating death of 29-year-old Tyre Nichols.

    US Justice Department opens civil rights probe into Memphis policing

    The US Department of Justice has opened a civil rights investigation into the city of Memphis and its police department, months after the beating death of a 29-year-old Black motorist catapulted local law-enforcement tactics into the national spotlight.

    At a news conference on Thursday, Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke acknowledged the outrage that followed the killing of Tyre Nichols, who died in hospital after being pulled from his car during a traffic stop, and tackled and assaulted by police.

    “In January of this year, the nation witnessed the tragic death of Tyre Nichols at the hands of Memphis police,” Clarke told reporters.

    “City and police department leaders recognised the need to scrutinise the police department’s practices to prevent such incidents from ever happening again.”

    But Clarke underscored that the investigation was not “based on a single incident or event”, and she described “multiple reports of officers escalating encounters” in the city.

    “There are also indications that officers made use of force punitively when faced with behaviour they perceived to be insolent,” she said. “The information we reviewed also shows that officers may use force against people who are already restrained or in custody.”

    Clarke also said that traffic stops like Nichols’s are not uncommon in Memphis, where nearly 65 percent of residents identify as Black, according to the 2022 census.

    “Our review indicates that even in a majority Black city, MPD’s [Memphis Police Department’s] traffic enforcement may focus disproportionately on the Black community,” she said.

    Memphis is the latest city in the United States to face a federal civil rights investigation as the country continues to grapple with widespread calls to address police violence, particularly against Black people and other people of colour.

    In June, the Justice Department concluded a similar probe in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where the 2020 police killing of George Floyd sparked protests around the world.

    The investigation found that Minneapolis police had discriminated against Black and Indigenous people, among others. It also found “unjustified deadly force” had been used.

    Similarly, the Justice Department found civil rights violations in Louisville, Kentucky, in a separate investigation that concluded in March.

    Those findings echoed widespread concerns about abuse of power and discriminatory practices in US police departments.

    A 2021 report in the medical journal The Lancet found that half of all deaths due to police violence between 1980 and 2018 went unreported in a federal database. Of those, an estimated 9,540 Black deaths went unaccounted for or mislabelled.

    The study also noted that Black men were 2.5 times more likely to be killed by police than their white counterparts.

    In the Nichols case, much of the attention has focused on Memphis’s so-called “Scorpion Unit”, the elite police team that carried out his arrest.

    The Scorpion Unit was designed to address violent crime in the city, though advocates say it has contributed to an aggressive, “cowboy” police culture.

    Memphis has seen a 5.4 percent increase in violent crime since 2022, part of an upward trend since 2011.

    Clarke acknowledged that the Tennessee city faced “one of the country’s highest rates of violent crime”. “When crime is high, there is an understandable urgency to respond,” she said.

    But Kevin Ritz, the US attorney for the Western District of Tennessee, emphasised that law enforcement’s primary responsibility is to protect. “Here’s the thing. Public safety requires public trust in law enforcement,” he said.

    “The police officers who risk their lives every day in the line of duty need the public to trust them. Community trust makes policing more effective and less dangerous for both officers and the people they protect.”

    The civil rights investigation will weigh whether Memphis and its police violated the US Constitution or federal civil rights law in a “systematic way”.

    Unlike a criminal investigation, which may end with charges, the probe will culminate in a report if violations are found.

    The Justice Department will then work with the city and police officials to reach an agreement on next steps. Should the parties fail to agree on remedies, the Justice Department has the option to bring a civil lawsuit against Memphis.

    The Memphis probe is the Justice Department’s ninth such investigation during US President Joe Biden’s administration.

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  • July on track to be warmest month ever
    www.theguardian.com ‘Era of global boiling has arrived,’ says UN chief as July set to be hottest month on record

    Head of World Meteorological Organization also warns ‘climate action is not a luxury but a must’ as temperatures soar

    ‘Era of global boiling has arrived,’ says UN chief as July set to be hottest month on record
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  • Deaths due to extreme heat at national parks increasing, data from the National Parks Service shows
    abcnews.go.com Deaths due to extreme heat at national parks increasing, data from the National Parks Service shows

    The extreme heat that has been plaguing much of the U.S. is making that the annual summer trek to the country's national parks more dangerous.

    Deaths due to extreme heat at national parks increasing, data from the National Parks Service shows
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  • Anatomy of a sellout: UPS tentative agreement includes two-tier wages for part-timers, freezes to pension contributions for some
    www.wsws.org Anatomy of a sellout: UPS tentative agreement includes two-tier wages for part-timers, freezes to pension contributions for some

    In the hours after the Teamsters announced its “historic” deal, UPS workers are uncovering massive betrayals in whatever information has been released so far.

    Anatomy of a sellout: UPS tentative agreement includes two-tier wages for part-timers, freezes to pension contributions for some

    cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/2246482

    > cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/2232404 > > > Article Text: > > > > More details are coming to light about the five-year tentative agreement at UPS, as workers begin going through what has been released so far by the Teamsters. The union has posted the text of the tentative agreement on its internal app. > > > > The agreement was suddenly announced Tuesday morning, only hours after the restart of talks, in order to block a strike next week by 340,000 UPS workers. For months, Teamsters General President Sean O’Brien and the union bureaucracy have made countless pledges to call a strike by August 1 if a deal was not in place by then. > > > > This has now been exposed as theatrics designed to get in front of rank-and-file anger. “We’ve been watching a movie, is what we’ve been doing,” one worker at UPS’s Worldport hub in Louisville, Kentucky, said. “You had a 97 percent strike authorization vote. You had more leverage than you’ll ever have, and you came out with this substandard contract?” > > > > The deal came only two days after the Teamsters had called off a strike by 22,000 workers at the freight company Yellow in an attempt to separate workers at each company and enforce sellouts at each. While the Teamsters announced a “deal” purporting to give Yellow more time to pay outstanding pension obligations, the company is using the time instead to prepare for bankruptcy as soon as next Tuesday, according to a report in Freight Waves. > > > > The New York Times, summing up the attitude of Wall Street, declared the agreement important “to the economy” in an article published in its Wednesday edition. “The deal, if ratified, removes a serious threat to the U.S. economy,” which would have cost $7 billion over 10 days, the newspaper declared, drawing parallels with the potential railroad strike last year which was ultimately banned by Biden and Congress. > > > > The next step, according to the paper, is overcoming rank-and-file anger to ram the deal through or, as the article euphemistically puts it, “Whether it passes will partly be a political test for Mr. O’Brien.” It quotes UPS CEO Carol Tomé, who told investors in April “that the two sides were aligned on many key issues and that outsiders should not be distracted by the ‘great deal of noise’ that was likely to arise in the run-up to a deal.” > > > > Meanwhile, a showdown between UPS workers and the union apparatus is developing. If workers are to prevail, their opposition must find expression through the building of rank-and-file committees, controlled by workers themselves, to organize the rejection of the sellout in next month’s vote and to transfer power from the bureaucrats to the workers. > > > > Two-tier wages for part-timers > > > > The most high-profile of the supposed “gains” in the tentative agreement is the increase of starting pay for part-timers to $21 per hour. In reality, this does next to nothing to lift the company’s nearly 200,000 part-time workers out of poverty. “If they start at $21 an hour, at 3 to 3.5 hours a day, you’ll have to work 2 or 3 jobs to make ends meet,” the Worldport worker said. “In a city like Louisville, that’s bad enough, but in the Northeast [where the cost of living is much higher], that’s not going to help.” > > > > Worst of all, the contract creates a second tier of lower paid part-timers out of all new hires. They will start out at $21 per hour, but this will not change until the last year of the contract. Section 5, Paragraph b in the new TA declares: “Part-time employees, who are hired or reach seniority after August 1, 2023, will be paid according to the following progression,” starting at $21 and topping out at only $23 after four years. Only by 2027 will the starting pay be raised to $23. > > > > By then, the buying power will have been substantially eroded by inflation. Assuming even a modest 4 percent average inflation rate, $23 will be worth $18.90 in current dollars by 2028. By comparison, a part-time worker in 1978 started out at $7.75 per hour, or $36.50 today. “We’ve had so many sellout contracts in a row,” the Louisville worker said. “The gaps between rich and poor are increasing. They are tearing out the middle class.” > > > > Existing part-timers will be paid according to a higher rate which, depending upon years of seniority at the time of ratification, will top out at between $25.75 and $35.89, including $7.50 in general wage increases spread out over five years and between a “longevity bonus” of up to $1.50. This is obviously structured to encourage existing workers, who will actually be voting on the contract, to approve a deal that would sell out the next generation of part-timers. > > > > In reality, because of extremely high turnover rates, the hourly wage for most workers will be $21 per hour. According to figures from the Teamsters, 108,000 current part-timers have under five years’ seniority. This plummets to only 19,000 employees with between five and 10 years’ seniority, and in total only 62,000 part-time workers have more than five years’ seniority at the company. This means that most current part-time workers will not even see the $25.75 rate because they will no longer be working at UPS. > > > > The wage of $21 per hour is so low that UPS is already paying more than that in many areas of the country under “Market Rate Adjustments” in order to attract enough workers. Starting pay would bring wages to somewhat above the starting pay at nonunion Amazon, which is currently $19 per hour. The starting contractual rate for part-timers and UPS is currently only $15.50, and they get fewer hours than Amazon workers. > > > > “This is disrespectful to part-timers who have been here,” a part-time worker from Pennsylvania said. “We worked through a pandemic for them, with no hazard pay, and the best we can get is $0.50-$1.50 ‘longevity’? The general wage increase is also disgustingly small in the years 2024 and 2025, at $0.70. $7.50 over five years is not enough. > > > > “The people who have been hired in the building have already been making $21 an hour for the last two years. They are up to $24 now” because of the local MRA, “but they can also just take it away, whenever they want to.” > > > > Below-inflation wages for drivers > > > > The $7.50 in general wage amounts to less than an 18 percent increase for delivery drivers over five years, meaning they will almost certainly be making less in real terms at the end of the contract than they do now. This has sparked particular outrage among delivery drivers. > > > > Moreover, while the tentative agreement eliminates the second-tier “hybrid” driver classification, which was created in the 2018 contract—a move which UPS itself proposed because it was not saving as much money as it had hoped from it—the new progression rate means that hybrids who have been transferred to regular drivers will be making virtually the same as before. Drivers will be on a four-year progression, starting at $23 an hour and reaching $28.75 in the third year. > > > > Pension contribution freezes > > > > Pensions for UPS workers are structured on a regional basis and can vary considerably from one area to the next. In a statement, the Teamsters boasted to workers that the new contract included “major increases” to the IBT-UPS Pension Plan, which covers the region formerly covered by the Teamsters Central States Pension Funds. (UPS withdrew from the fund in 2007 and replaced it with its current, company-operated pension.) > > > > This has quickly turned out to be a lie. According to a document released to workers, current retirees will see only $400 in extra pension money per month. Retirees with 35 years of service will see their monthly pensions go from $4,300 to $4,700, a 9 percent increase. > > > > But for other areas, the situation is even worse. Pension contributions in the Teamsters Western Conference will be frozen under the next five years. This has prompted outrage among drivers and other full-time workers. “This is simply the largest betrayal in the history of the [Western Conference]!” one worker wrote on a widely-used message board. “Those who are trustees need to resign immediately from the [pension fund] and should be totally and completely kicked out and brought up on charges for selling the members out.” > > > > Pensions for part-timers are little better than full-timers in the IBT-UPS plan. Part-time retirees with 35 years of service will have their monthly pensions increased by only $175 a month to $2,450. Retirees with 25 years experience will get only an extra $125 up to $1,450 a month, below the poverty line for a family of two. > > > > A trickle of full-time jobs, leaving part-timers to wait decades > > The new contract proposes to add a measly 7,500 new full-time jobs. With a total workforce of 340,000, this leaves part-timers with next to no opportunity to move up to full-time status. > > > > “It takes 17 to 20 years on average to move up to full-time here,” the Worldport worker said. “Only 10 percent of the operation here [with more than 11,000 workers] is full-time. That’s a joke. 7,500 jobs nationwide is obsessively low.” > > > > He added: “And even if you do move up to a full-time job, your pay is frozen for four years in what they falsely call a ‘progression.’ That’s under the Air Rider for Louisville. If you’re caught in that progression, then nothing about the wages in this contract means anything to to you. But the real ‘progression,’ when you count the time you spend as a part-timer, is upwards of 24 years.” > > > > Is the TA even worth the paper it’s printed on? > > As bad as the contract is, the Teamsters leaders have repeatedly allowed the company to simply bypass crucial contract provisions, effectively meaning any contract is “binding” only upon workers, not UPS. For example, in Louisville, the Teamsters allowed the company to bypass contract language to shift its operations from Monday through Friday to Sunday through Thursday. > > > > “We went through a restructuring where they bypassed the contractual language to change the language of the two-day air freight operation,” the Louisville worker explained. “They bypassed the existing language to do it. They basically eliminated jobs, and certain workers ended up worse off depending on job classification. > > > > “That’s been a hallmark of Fred Zuckerman at Local 89,” referring to the former local president, now General Secretary Treasurer of the union. “Obviously he knew about the progression problem for workers moving up to full-time here. That was never done away with. But in every single one of these locals—they’re rats. That’s exactly what they are. > > > > “I’ve heard the contract is a $30 billion package over five years,” he concluded. “Well, UPS took in $100 billion in revenue last year. That works out to about 6 percent of the company’s revenue per year. That’s nothing, with the way that online is growing. If you look at the data and how online sales are growing, that’s just a drop in the bucket.”

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  • NEW MANAGEMENT

    Seeing that this community was abandoned by it's previous owner, I am now the new mod of this community. The same rules will continue to be enforced per usual, if you would like to become mod, comment below. Mods with mod experience, especially at the news communities preferred.

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  • NEW MODERATORS WANTED

    We are looking for people who are interested in taking over this community.

    As a moderator it’s up to you to make sure all posts are following the Lemmy World server and the community’s specific rules.

    Server rules can be found on https://mastodon.world/about

    If you are interested reply in this thread and send an email to info@mastodon.world.

    Thanks!

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  • 22 tourists, including 11 children, missing in Russia, search underway
    news.cgtn.com 22 tourists, including 11 children, missing in Russia, search underway

    A group of 22 tourists, including 11 children, have disappeared near the Usva River in the Perm Territory, Russia and a search operation is underway, RIA news agency reported on Tuesday citing the Ministry of Emergency Situations.  

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  • 3 boats carrying 300 migrants go missing off Spain
    www.dawn.com 3 boats carrying 300 migrants go missing off Spain

    All three boats left Kafountine in the south of Senegal, which is about 1,700km from Tenerife.

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  • 6 killed in knife attack at kindergarten in China; suspect arrested
    www.upi.com 6 killed in knife attack at kindergarten in China; suspect arrested - UPI.com

    Six people are dead after a knife-wielding man attacked them outside a kindergarten in southeastern China's Guangdong province, according to local reports that state a suspect has been apprehended.

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  • sabbah sabbah @lemmy.world
    Locked
    Welcome to c/BreakingNews: Stay Informed, Engage Responsibly, and Explore the World of Breaking News!

    Hello news enthusiasts!

    Welcome to c/BreakingNews – the community dedicated to sharing and discussing the most recent and significant events unfolding worldwide. Here, we strive to keep you informed and engaged with up-to-the-minute updates on breaking news and impactful current events.

    But what exactly is breaking news? Breaking news refers to the most recent and rapidly evolving events or stories that are of significant public interest. These are immediate updates that capture the attention of the global community, often involving accidents, disasters, political developments, policy changes, court cases, scientific breakthroughs, and other impactful news.

    To maintain the integrity of our community and ensure focused discussions, we have decided to exercise some discretion regarding news related to the Russia-Ukraine war and US internal affairs. While we primarily focus on immediate breaking news, we will allow discussions on the Russia-Ukraine war if it involves important developments beyond regular updates. Similarly, US internal news will be included if it has a substantial impact on the broader public, rather than solely internal political matters.

    In order to foster a respectful and engaging environment, we kindly ask all members to follow the community rules:

    1. Stay on Topic: Keep posts and discussions focused on breaking news and significant current events. This helps us maintain a community dedicated to sharing immediate updates and discussing their impact.

    2. Share Reliable Information: It's important to share news from credible sources to ensure the reliability and trustworthiness of the information being shared.

    3. Be Respectful: Engage in respectful and constructive discussions, even when opinions differ. We value diversity and encourage members to express their perspectives in a respectful manner.

    4. Stick to Verified Facts: We encourage you to share confirmed information to prevent the spread of speculation, rumors, or unverified details. Let's prioritize accuracy in our discussions.

    5. Lean Approach to Russia-Ukraine War News: While primarily focusing on immediate breaking news, we may allow discussions on the Russia-Ukraine war if they involve important developments beyond regular updates.

    6. US Internal News of Significant Impact: US internal news will be included if it has a substantial impact on the broader public, rather than solely internal political matters.

    7. Report Responsibly: If you come across any content that violates our guidelines or appears to be false, we encourage you to report it to the moderators. Your active involvement helps us maintain the reliability and accuracy of our breaking news updates.

    By following these rules, we can create a reliable, respectful, and engaging environment where we stay informed, engage in meaningful discussions, and explore the world of breaking news together.

    Thank you for joining us in this exciting journey of staying informed and discussing the events that shape our world. We look forward to your contributions and thoughtful discussions.

    Stay informed, engage responsibly, and let's navigate the realm of breaking news together!

    Cheers,

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1 Active user