Baristas continue strike against Starbucks bosses
The Gazette, 12/6–About 30 community members, labor leaders and university students gathered outside the Starbucks on South Clinton Street on Saturday to back striking baristas demanding that the coffee chain negotiate a first union contract — more than two and a half years after Iowa City workers voted unanimously to unionize…workers are committed to holding the line until Starbucks agrees to a fair first contract, citing the need for higher take-home pay, adequate staffing, and a resolution to unfair labor practice charges tied to alleged union-busting.
Airport workers strike against greedy store owners
Las Vegas Sun, 12/3–Police arrested roughly two dozen Culinary Union Local 226 members Wednesday night after they blocked traffic…near Harry Reid International Airport…The arrests follow a strike authorization weeks earlier by roughly 400 airport workers at 10 companies with lapsed union contracts. The employers operate 21 airport shops, from national chains to local shops like Bagelmania and Village Pub. “These employers want to try to jam a second-class contract down these workers’ throats, and they’ve been very patient for four years,”...“They’re just not going to wait any longer.”
UK prospects for college grads hit new low
Yahoofinance, 12/3–…for many Gen Z graduates in the United Kingdom…the financial value of a degree has been quietly eroding…graduate pay premium over minimum-wage salaries has been cut in half since 2007. Once adjusted for inflation, the average salary for working-age graduates is now 30% lower than it was a decade and a half ago…today’s Gen Z grads are earning significantly less than millennials did at the same stage of life…roughly 1.5 million students take out loans each year, graduating with an average debt of £53,000 (about $71,000)...even securing a job has become harder…Employers now receive a record 140 applications on average for each graduate job.
Butcher Netanyahu lobbies for his future as he oversees murder of children
Al Jazeera, 12/4–Israel hasn’t talked about the “war” in Gaza for many weeks…more than 350 Palestinians, including more than 130 children, have been killed during this so-called “ceasefire”...Palestinians die because that is what Palestinians are there to do…Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s pardon request, however, is another ball of wax…There has only been one pardon given before conviction…in the history of Israel. It was granted to Shin Bet personnel who, in 1984, stormed a bus hijacked by Palestinians and beat two of the hijackers to death…He is asking the president…to stop the trial in the interest of “national unity” and the “stupendous developments” expected…in the Middle East.
Chips factories in Arizona reflect fears of U.S. bosses
New York Times, 12/4–The computer chip factories rising from an empty expanse of the Sonoran Desert test the concept of immensity…It represents an investment of $165 billion, making it one of the most expensive undertakings on earth…Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, or TSMC, the global leader in the industry, has marshaled the investment, the people and the know-how to turn these plans into reality…The presence of TSMC in Phoenix reflects a reassessment of geopolitical risks. No one at its headquarters in Taiwan stared at the globe and concluded that Phoenix was the most suitable place to make chips…TSMC’s customers have grown worried about its dependence on factories in Taiwan, a self-governing island claimed by China. What if Beijing unleashes its military to seize control, disrupting the supply of chips?
Analyst for bosses frets about the future
Foreign Affairs, 12/2–The world has changed more in the past four years than in the previous 30…Russia bombards Ukraine, the Middle East seethes, and wars rage in Africa…the globe did not unite in embracing democracy and market capitalism…We live in a new world of disorder…Great-power competition is back, as the rivalry between China and the United States sets the frame of geopolitics…Emerging middle powers, including Brazil, India, Mexico, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, and Turkey, have become game-changers. Together, they have the economic means and geopolitical heft to tilt the global order toward stability or greater turmoil…The next five to ten years will likely determine the world order for decades to come.
