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For Ontario teachers, arbitration is no substitute for the right to strike

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:16:50 GMT

Stephanie Ross, McMaster University and Larry Savage, Brock University ListenThe Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (OSSTF) recently made headlines after reaching an agreement with the Ontario government to avoid the possibility of a strike in its current round of negotiations.In short, the parties agreed to enter into binding interest arbitration to resolve any outstanding issues should they fail to reach a negotiated settlement by Oct. 27, 2023. OSSTF members will soon vote on whether to pursue this process.On the surface, interest arbitration is appealing because it allows the parties to avoid a labour dispute and hands responsibility for resolving outstanding contentious issues to a neutral third party.However, there are many reasons why trading the right to strike for binding interest arbitration is a minefield for unions — and why we as labour scholars and some OSSTF members and retirees have been left scratching our heads at OSSTF’s decision.Outstanding bargaining ...

Orioles claim Jorge López off waivers, reuniting with All-Star relief pitcher they traded last season

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:16:50 GMT

The Orioles are adding a familiar face to their bullpen.Baltimore is reuniting with right-hander Jorge López, the All-Star closer it traded last season, after claiming him on waivers from the Miami Marlins, the team announced Saturday afternoon.López, who has struggled this season with the Minnesota Twins and Miami Marlins, is not postseason eligible because he was not in the organization before Sept. 1. The Orioles designated right-hander Logan Gillaspie for assignment to make room for López on the 40-man roster. A move to add López to the 28-man roster has yet to be made.López, an eight-year veteran who has pitched for five MLB teams, was an ineffective starting pitcher for the Orioles in 2020 and 2021. He went 5-16 for the rebuilding club and posted a 6.07 ERA in 121 2/3 innings in 2021.But he transitioned into a short-relief role in 2022 and had the best season of his big league career. He was one of the best relievers in the American League, earning a t...

Unionized service workers rally in Boston ahead of Labor Day

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:16:50 GMT

Service workers covered by 32BJ SEIU marched in downtown Boston Saturday to call for fair working conditions ahead of Labor Day.A union contract for 12,000 janitors in Massachusetts and Rhode Island expires on Nov. 15 and airport workers at Boston Logan International Airport are asking overseers to improve conditions, said Roxana Rivera, 32BJ assistant to the president.Rivera said the most important thing companies can do is honor essential workers, those people “that helped keep the economy moving forward, especially this pandemic.”“We don’t want these workers to be left behind,” Rivera said. “These are workers that do services at many of the most well known companies, institutions of our economy. So you’re talking about Uber and Lyft. You’re talking about the airport. You’re talking about local biotech companies like Pfizer and Biogen.”Swissport cabin cleaners and ramp workers at Logan International Airport rallied earlier in the summer to protest what they...

Overnight shooting in Lynn kills 1, injures 6 others

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:16:50 GMT

The Lynn police chief is urging anyone who has information regarding a drive-by shooting that killed one person and injured six others early Saturday morning to share it with his department.After responding to reports of shots fired at 189 Essex St. around 2:20 a.m., officers found victims suffering from gunshot wounds and immediately began rendering aid and investigating, Chief Chris Reddy told reporters around 11:15 a.m.One victim has died from injuries while two others are in critical condition, Essex County District Attorney Paul Tucker said. The four other victims suffered injuries not considered life threatening, he added.“We need to work together,” Reddy said. “I am asking with all of my heart, if you have any information, there are those who know, share it with us. Help us to stop this violence. It needs to stop, and we need your help.”Investigators, in the early morning hours following the shooting, recovered “a number of items of evidentiary value,” including ballistics, T...

Gov. Healey’s ethics disclosures offer more details on out of state trips this year

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:16:50 GMT

Ethics disclosures filed by Gov. Maura Healey and Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll this year offer a handful of details on the various trips the state executives have taken and areas where they identified potential conflicts of interests.In 13 disclosures filed between February and July, Healey outlines areas where various organizations paid for her travel, lodging, and entrance to events. In one of the disclosures, she details actions she would take to prevent a conflict of interest with her brother, who is employed at Cisco Systems.Healey said her brother, Jeremy Healey, works as the sales director for state and local government and educational clients of Cisco Systems in New England. The company offers computer software, network services, network security, data storage, and cloud computing services.The company is a “major provider” of those services and “in fact, the commonwealth has a number of existing contracts with Cisco Systems for these services,” Healey wrote in an ethics filing date...

2 people charged with looting as residents worry about burglaries following Hurricane Idalia

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:16:50 GMT

HORSESHOE BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Two people were charged with looting a home damaged by Hurricane Idalia in Florida’s Big Bend region, as residents’ concerns grew that burglars could be tempted to hit other hurricane-ravaged homes since law enforcement is stretched thin in the remote, wooded area along the Gulf Coast.Some residents of Horseshoe Beach, Florida, one of the communities hardest hit after Idalia made landfall Wednesday as a Category 3 hurricane, urged law enforcement to set up checkpoints where people would have to show identification in order to get into the town.Marina worker Kerry Ford had high praise for local law enforcement’s response to the hurricane but wished more would be done to keep out people who don’t belong in Horseshoe Beach.The authorities “did really good,” Ford said. “Now, the only thing I’ve seen where they’ve dropped the ball is you can come right into Horseshoe without showing you’re a resident or anything like that. That’s a pro...

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz falls while jogging and bruises his face

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:16:50 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz fell while jogging and sustained bruises to his face, prompting him to cancel some appointments this weekend, the government said Saturday.In an emailed response to a query about the incident, the government said that the 65-year-old German leader had “a small sports accident” and canceled appointments Sunday in the central Hesse region, where a state election is being held on Oct. 8. But it said his appointments next week won’t be affected.The Hesse-based Frankfurter Rundschau newspaper first reported on Saturday’s incident. It cited a prominent lawmaker with Scholz’s center-left Social Democrats, Michael Roth, who had invited the chancellor to his home town of Heringen and planned a discussion event with him there on Sunday.Scholz has led Germany since December 2021. He previously served as the country’s finance and labor minister, and as mayor of Hamburg.The Associated Press

Libya’s chief prosecutor is seeking more details on minister’s meeting with Israel’s chief diplomat

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:16:50 GMT

CAIRO (AP) — Libya’s chief prosecutor said Saturday he would establish a fact-finding mission to investigate a meeting last month between the foreign minister of one of the country’s rival governments and Israel’s chief diplomat.The Aug. 22 meeting caused an uproar across the North African nation. Najla Mangoush, the foreign minister of the Tripoli-based government, and Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen met in Rome in the first-ever between top diplomats of Libya and Israel.Libya criminalizes establishing ties with Israel under a 1957 law. The oil-rich country has long been hostile toward Israel and supportive of the Palestinians.In a terse statement Saturday, General Prosecutor Al-Sediq al-Sour said the fact-finding mission would probe violations of Libya’s rules of boycotting Israel and “investigate the extent of damage to Libya’s interests” because of the Mangoush-Cohen meeting.Libya slid into chaos after a NATO-backed uprising toppled longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi in 2011. ...

An attack on a Chinese mining convoy carrying gold in Congo leaves 4 dead, authorities say

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:16:50 GMT

KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — An attack on a Chinese mining convoy transporting gold in northeast Congo killed four people, including two Chinese nationals, authorities said Friday.Sammy Badibanga Kalonji, administrator of the Fizi territory where the attack took place, said a Congolese soldier, a driver and two Chinese nationals were killed in the armed robbery near the Kimbo river.Three people were seriously wounded in the attack, including a Congolese soldier and a worker, Kalonji said. The wounded were receiving treatment in a local hospital.Kalonji said the assailants stole a “large quantity” of gold from the convoy, which belonged to a Chinese mining company operating in the restive South Kivu province. He had no additional details.Many Chinese companies mine gold and other minerals in South Kivu, one of the eastern provinces of the Democratic Republic of Congo that have been plagued by violence from armed groups for nearly three decades.Attacks on quarries and mining cooperatives ar...

GOP lawmakers take aim at LGBTQ+ ‘safe places’ program in small Florida town

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:16:50 GMT

MOUNT DORA, Fla. (AP) — Some central Florida lawmakers said they were considering “all legislative, legal and executive options available” to stop business owners in a small town from voluntarily displaying rainbow decals in their windows indicating that they are “safe place” for LGBTQ+ people who feel threatened.Four Republican lawmakers wrote a letter to officials in Mount Dora two weeks ago warning that the new, optional city-sponsored program could put the central Florida community outside Orlando “in the crosshairs of potentially detrimental and absolutely unnecessary economic harm.” The lawmakers cited boycotts of Bud Light and Target, which followed the brands’ efforts to promote diversity and inclusion of the LGBTQ+ community.Mount Dora’s city council approved the Safe Place Initiative last month. The city of 17,000 residents is known for its antique shops and weekend festivals.“The mission of the Safe Place Initiative is to provide the community with easily acce...