- ICJ Delivers Preliminary Objections Judgment in the Ukraine v. Russia Genocide Case, Ukraine Loses on the Most Important Aspects EJIL: Talk!
- THE HAGUE – The International Court of Justice (ICJ) delivers its Judgment on the preliminary objections raised by the Russian Federation in the case Ukraine v. Russian Federation; 32 States intervening United Nations
- Top UN court says it has jurisdiction in Ukraine genocide case The Hill
- Russia-Ukraine war at a glance: what we know on day 709 The Guardian
- Top UN court says genocide case brought by Ukraine against Russia can move forward CNN
Tag Archives: Objections
THE HAGUE – The International Court of Justice (ICJ) holds public hearings on the preliminary objections raised by the Russian Federation in the case Ukraine v. Russian Federation – first round of oral argument of the Russian Federation – UN Web TV
- THE HAGUE – The International Court of Justice (ICJ) holds public hearings on the preliminary objections raised by the Russian Federation in the case Ukraine v. Russian Federation – first round of oral argument of the Russian Federation UN Web TV
- World Court to hear Russian objections to Ukraine genocide case Reuters
- Ukraine and its allies battle Russian bid to have genocide case tossed out of the UN’s top court The Associated Press
- Ukraine and its allies battle Russian bid to have genocide case tossed out of the UN’s top court The Hill
- Ukraine vs. Russia: Genocide proceedings at UN’s top court DW (English)
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As Sabres prepare to celebrate Pride night, some NHL players voice objections – WGRZ.com
- As Sabres prepare to celebrate Pride night, some NHL players voice objections WGRZ.com
- NHL players ostracizing LGBTQ+ fans by refusing to wear rainbow jerseys, says sports commentator CBC News
- At Pride Night, some Chicago Blackhawks fans were upset about the lack of jerseys — while others were glad event still happened Chicago Tribune
- NHL faces controversy over Pride Nights after more players refuse to wear Pride jersey Global News
- Brian Burke Delivers Support for Pride Night on National Broadcast Pittsburgh Hockey Now
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US Judge Approves $1,300,000,000 Binance.US Deal With Voyager After Dismissing SEC Objections – The Daily Hodl
- US Judge Approves $1,300,000,000 Binance.US Deal With Voyager After Dismissing SEC Objections The Daily Hodl
- US Court Approves Binance.US’s $1.3B Bid For Voyager Client Assets The Defiant – DeFi News
- Binance.US Takes Over Voyager’s Assets With Judge’s Approval TheStreet
- SEC dealt blow as Judge clears Binance.US to buy Bankrupt Voyager Digital Assets – Will this affect Ripple and Binance securities case? Crypto News Flash
- US Bankruptcy Judge Approves Binance.US $1.3B Deal for Voyager Digital, but Hurdles Remain – Here’s the Latest Cryptonews
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After Turkey’s Earthquakes, Erdogan Starts Rebuilding Over Objections – The Wall Street Journal
- After Turkey’s Earthquakes, Erdogan Starts Rebuilding Over Objections The Wall Street Journal
- Turkey earthquake damage set to exceed $100 bln: UN agency Reuters
- Turkish president pledges to rebuild quake-hit region Anadolu Agency | English
- Turkey earthquake damage set to exceed $100 billion: UN agency Hindustan Times
- Global Rapid Post-Disaster Damage Estimation (GRADE) Report, Mw 7.8 Türkiye-Syria Earthquake – Assessment of the Impact on Syria: (Results as of February 20, 2023) – Syrian Arab Republic ReliefWeb
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Microsoft Activision Deal Formally Receives Letter of Objections From EU – PlayStation LifeStyle
- Microsoft Activision Deal Formally Receives Letter of Objections From EU PlayStation LifeStyle
- Microsoft ‘confident’ it can address EU concerns after receiving antitrust warning over Activision deal | VGC Video Games Chronicle
- Microsoft “listening” as EU joins others in formally contesting Activision Blizzard deal Eurogamer.net
- Regulatory Warfare: Microsoft concedes PlayStation’s market dominance, blames Sony for spreading FUD about US$69 billion Activision Blizzard deal in the EU Notebookcheck.net
- Report: Microsoft has received a list of EU concerns regarding its Activision purchase Neowin
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U.S. House to vote to block rail strike despite labor objections
WASHINGTON/LOS ANGELES, Nov 29 (Reuters) – The U.S. House of Representatives was set to vote Wednesday to block a rail strike that could potentially happen as early as Dec. 9, after President Joe Biden warned of dire economic consequences and massive job losses.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said lawmakers will vote Wednesday to impose a tentative contract deal struck in September on a dozen unions representing 115,000 workers.
Pelosi said the House would vote separately on Wednesday on a proposal to give seven days of paid sick leave to railroad employees.
“I don’t like going against the ability of unions to strike but weighing the equities, we must avoid a strike,” she said Tuesday after a meeting with Biden.
Biden had warned Monday of a catastrophic economic impact if railroad service ground to a halt, saying up to 765,000 Americans could lose their jobs in the first two weeks of a strike.
“Congress, I think, has to act to prevent it. It’s not an easy call, but I think we have to do it. The economy is at risk,” Biden said.
Despite the close ties between unions and the Democratic Party, several labor leaders criticized Biden asking Congress to impose a contract that workers in four out of 12 unions rejected over its lack of paid sick leave.
The Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes, one of four unions that voted against the contract, objected to Biden’s call to Congress to intervene, saying “the railroad is not a place to work while you’re sick. It’s dangerous…. it is unreasonable and unjust to insist a person perform critical work when they are unwell.”
There are no paid sick days under the tentative deal after unions asked for 15 and railroads settled on one personal day.
[1/2] U.S. President Joe Biden meets with congressional leaders including House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell at the White House in Washington, U.S., November 29, 2022. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
The union push for paid sick time won support on Capitol Hill, where Senator Bernie Sanders threatened to delay the railroad bill unless he got a vote on the sick time issue.
“Guaranteeing 7 paid sick days to rail workers would cost the rail industry a grand total of $321 million a year – less than 2% of its profits,” Sanders said. “Please don’t tell me the rail industry can’t afford it. Rail companies spent $25.5 billion on stock buybacks and dividends this year.”
Regulators and shippers have accused railroads of cutting staff to improve profitability. The railroads oppose giving their workers paid sick time because they would have to hire more staff. The carriers involved include Union Pacific Corp (UNP.N), Berkshire Hathaway Inc’s (BRKa.N) BNSF, CSX Corp (CSX.O), Norfolk Southern Corp (NSC.N) and Kansas City Southern.
The measure needs a simple majority to pass the House. The bill would require a supermajority of 60 out of 100 votes to pass the Senate.
“I can’t in good conscience vote for a bill that doesn’t give rail workers the paid leave they deserve,” Representative Jamaal Bowman, a Democrat, said on Twitter.
Biden on Monday praised the proposed contract for including a 24% wage increase over five years and five annual $1,000 lump-sum payments.
House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy also criticized the effort but said “I think it will pass, but it’s unfortunate that this is how we’re running our economy today.”
A rail traffic stoppage could freeze almost 30% of U.S. cargo shipments by weight, stoke already surging inflation and cost the American economy as much as $2 billion per day.
Brian Dodge, president of the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA), said the idea of a rail shutdown “is just absolutely catastrophic” after companies spent the last year and a half trying to untangle gridlock in the supply chain. “We’d be setting ourselves back down that same path and it would take just as long to untangle the next time,” he said.
The U.S. Congress has passed laws to delay or prohibit railway and airline strikes multiple times in recent decades.
Reporting by David Shepardson in Washington and Lisa Baertlein in Los Angeles Steve Holland and Doina Chiacu; Writing by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Jonathan Oatis, Heather Timmons, Lisa Shumaker and Simon Cameron-Moore
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Finland, Sweden apply to join NATO, face Turkish objections
BRUSSELS, May 18 (Reuters) – Finland and Sweden formally applied to join the NATO alliance on Wednesday at allied headquarters, a decision spurred by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but face objections from Turkey to an accession process that is expected to take only a few weeks.
Neutral throughout the Cold War, Sweden’s and Finland’s decision to join NATO is one of the most significant changes in Europe’s security architecture for decades, reflecting a sweeping shift in public opinion in the Nordic region since Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion.
“This is a historic moment, which we must seize,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said at a short ceremony in which the Swedish and Finnish ambassadors to the alliance handed over their application letters, each in a white folder embossed with their national flag.
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“I warmly welcome requests by Finland and Sweden to join NATO. You are our closest partners, and your membership in NATO will increase our shared security,” Stoltenberg said. The alliance considers that the accession of Finland and Sweden would hugely strengthen it in the Baltic Sea.
With the applications formally submitted, the Nordic countries and their many backers now face uncertain months where any resistance to their bids needs to be overcome, with all 30 of NATO’s members needing to approve the enlargement.
Ratification by all allied parliaments could take up to a year, diplomats say.
Turkey has surprised its allies in recent days by saying it had reservations about Finnish and Swedish membership, saying the two countries harbour individuals linked to groups it deems terrorists and hitting out at arms export embargoes imposed on it after its Syria incursion in 2019. read more
Stoltenberg said on Wednesday that he thought the issues could be resolved.
“We are determined to work through all issues and reach rapid conclusions,” Stoltenberg said, noting strong support from all other allies.
Seeking to move the membership process along, Sweden’s defence minister has already headed to Washington and will be followed by Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson and Finnish President Sauli Niinisto later this week. read more
The countries hope speedy ratification by the United States, the alliance’s premier power, will help smooth their path to membership with the White House having said it is confident any obstacles can be overcome. read more
The decision to seek a place under the NATO umbrella represents a setback for Moscow, with the war in Ukraine triggering the very kind of enlargement of the alliance on Russia’s borders that it took to arms to prevent.
So far, Moscow’s response has been unexpectedly muted, having previously warned of steps of a “military-technical” nature and that it could deploy nuclear weapons in its European exclave of Kaliningrad were the countries to join.
President Vladimir Putin said on Monday that Swedish and Finnish NATO membership posed no threat to Russia, but cautioned that Moscow would respond if the Western alliance boosted military infrastructure in the new Nordic members. read more
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Reporting by Robin Emmott, Marine Strauss; writing by Robin Emmott and Niklas Pollard; editing by David Evans
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Amazon, Labor Organizers File Objections to Alabama Union Vote
“Based on the evidence we’ve seen so far, as set out in our objections, we believe that the actions of the N.L.R.B. and the A.L.U. improperly suppressed and influenced the vote, and we think the election should be conducted again so that a fair and broadly representative vote can be had,” Kelly Nantel, an Amazon spokeswoman, said in a statement.
In another objection, the company said the union had failed to file standard financial reports. In an interview with The Times this week, Christian Smalls, president of the union, said it had supplied needy workers with cash, both through separate GoFundMe efforts and the union’s funds.
If a worker needed her bills paid, “we’re paying that bill, we’re sending money right over no question,” Mr. Smalls said. Legal experts said that some of those transactions — such as extra pay for union organizers out sick with Covid-19 — might be fine but that others could cause problems depending on when and how many people received them.
But the N.L.R.B. “rarely” overturns elections on allegations of union misconduct, said John Logan, a professor at San Francisco State University who studies employer campaigns. Amazon will need to prove that any objectionable conduct could have altered the result of the election, he said, and “unlike Amazon, the A.L.U. has no coercive power over employees.”
The labor agency granted Amazon a two-week extension, to April 22, to provide additional evidence supporting the objections.
In Bessemer, Ala., the union trailed slightly in the initial tally of the votes announced on March 31: 993 workers voted against being represented by the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, and 875 voted in favor. But more than 400 ballots have yet to be counted because they were challenged by either party. Those challenged ballots, enough to potentially affect the outcome, are set to be resolved at a labor board hearing in the coming weeks.
The election this year was a do-over that the labor board had ordered after siding with the union’s claims that Amazon illegally interfered with an election at the facility last year.
Amazon plans ‘substantial’ objections to historic union vote at New York City warehouse
In its filing to the National Labor Relations Board, Amazon (AMZN) alleges how the independent federal agency’s regional office which oversaw the election at its Staten Island facility, known as JFK8, “unfairly and inappropriately facilitated the [Amazon Labor Union’s] victory.”
It claims the agency used an “artificially reduced number” of employees in the voting unit to calculate whether ALU had garnered enough support to even hold an election. It also claims the agency delayed investigating what it calls “frivolous” unfair labor practice charges that it says were “exploited” by the union. And it alleges that the agency failed to properly staff the polls during the election, which ultimately “produced chaos and hours-long lines to vote on the first polling day, discouraging other employees from voting.”
Amazon also outlines alleged misconduct on the part of ALU, the grassroots labor organization started by current and former employees of the facility. Among its claims about the ALU, it says the union unlawfully intimidated employees and “threatened violence against its detractors.”
Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel said in a statement Friday: “Based on the evidence we’ve seen so far, as set out in our objections, we believe that the actions of the NLRB and the ALU improperly suppressed and influenced the vote, and we think the election should be conducted again so that a fair and broadly representative vote can be had.”
The Staten Island election marked the first time a group of US workers have successfully voted to form a union in the company’s 27-year history. On Thursday, Amazon was granted a two-week extension on filing the proof to support its objections.
In its filing requesting the extension from the NLRB regional director, Amazon noted that the election at the facility “was one of the largest in the Board’s recent history” and said that its “objections are anticipated to be substantial, both in the number … and the scope of the conduct.”
Out of approximately 8,325 eligible voters, 4,785 votes were counted. There were 2,654 votes in favor of unionizing and 2,131 votes against it. Another 67 ballots were challenged and 17 were voided.
The ALU did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The company first indicated last week that it was exploring filing objections over what it claimed was “inappropriate and undue influence” on the part of the NLRB. Kayla Blado, acting director and press secretary for the NLRB, said in a statement to CNN Business last week: “The NLRB is an independent federal agency that Congress has charged with enforcing the National Labor Relations Act. All NLRB enforcement actions against Amazon have been consistent with that Congressional mandate.”
Amazon said last week that it was “disappointed” with the Staten Island results. While Amazon has repeatedly said in statements that its “employees have always had the choice of whether or not to join a union,” it also spent $4.3 million last year on anti-union consultants and used a combination of texting, on-site signage and mandatory meetings to convince workers to vote against unionizing.
Last Thursday, the same day the public vote count began for the Staten Island election, the ballots of a do-over union election at an Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama, were also tallied, but the outcome remains too close to call. There are 416 ballots being challenged, which is enough to sway the result. The NLRB is expected to hold a hearing to review the contested ballots in the coming weeks.
In contrast to the bootstrapped Staten Island effort, the Bessemer drive was done in tandem with the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, an 85-year-old labor union. The original election, held a year ago, favored Amazon, but the results were scrapped after an NLRB regional director determined that Amazon illegally interfered, a decision the company called “disappointing.”
The RWDSU this week filed objections to the do-over election, arguing that Amazon again interfered with its employees right to vote freely in a fair election and it called for the NLRB regional director to hold a hearing to determine if the results should be set aside once more. The RWSDU alleged there were instances of termination and retaliation of union supporters, intimidation and surveillance of employees engaged in organizing activities, and discrepancies with the list of eligible voters provided to the union. The RWSDU also alleged Amazon applied new rules to prohibit organizing, removed pro-union literature, and threatened to close the facility if the union succeeded.
“We’ve said from the beginning that we want our employees’ voices to be heard, and we hope the NLRB counts every valid vote,” said Amazon’s Nantel in a statement about the Bessemer vote.
The RWDSU previously filed several unfair labor practice complaints over Amazon’s conduct at the facility. One complaint took issue with required group meetings where Amazon representatives conveyed its anti-union stance to workers, which the union argued violated workers’ right to refrain from organizing-related activities.
While these required meetings are a common tactic similarly used by a number of other employers and one that is legally permitted, the union asked the NLRB to review the law. On Thursday, NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo issued a memo calling for the agency to reconsider its stance on mandatory meetings of this nature.
Amazon, which previously told CNN Business the RWDSU’s complaint has no merit, declined to comment on Abruzzo’s memo.
The battle over treatment of workers inside Amazon’s facilities is widely viewed as central to the future of work in the United States. The company is the nation’s second largest private employer and is known for its heavy emphasis on automation and tracking of productivity. Its high turnover rates, on-the-job injuries and increased worker activism, have also drawn significant attention to its workplace conditions in recent years.
In late May, Amazon shareholders are expected to have the opportunity to vote on a resolution for an independent audit of the company’s warehouse working conditions, according to a Reuters report on Thursday.