COSATU Post May Day Statement

2 May 2018

The Congress of South African Trade Unions salutes and congratulates the thousands of workers, who took time this past Tuesday to participate in this year's nationwide COSATU May Day celebrations. The federation again proved its capacity to mobilise across the country and in all corners of the republic. We again pay homage to the victims of the Bethlehem bus crash, where 53 COSATU members perished on their way to QwaQwa, when their bus drove into a dam near Bethlehem, Free State on 1 May 2003. We will never forget those workers and May Day is a sad reminder of that tragedy.

The turnout on May Day demonstrated the amount of work that has gone into ensuring that COSATU remains united organisation that is characterised by discipline. We commend the workers for showing marvellous discipline and for embracing the concept of worker unity. We are committed to continue to build a COSATU, whose influence on society remains based on its organised power, its capacity to mobilise, its socio - economic programme and policies and its participation in political and social alliances.

We remain true to our constitution and founding principles of one Country - One Federation, One Union - One Industry, Paid Up Membership, Worker Control , worker Solidarity, non -racialism and Unity.

We are unapologetic in our belief that factory-based struggles cannot be divorced from politics. Even from a pure working class and economic position, we believe it is completely wrong to only limit workers to factory-based issues. Politics determines who holds state power; who makes the laws; who controls the police, the courts, the army and prisons. All these issues affect workers everyday and cannot be ignored. Without addressing these questions the factory gains made by workers will be in danger of being wiped out.

We have learned from our common, painful experiences that we can win battles on wage increases at the work-place level, only to have those eroded by increases in transport costs, municipal fee rates, increase in electricity tariffs, food, children's educational fees, tax, erosion of pension funds through rising costs of living, etc. It is for these reasons that from the onset, COSATU decided to participate in the political sphere. We are unshaken members of the Alliance because all our struggles are political in nature.

National Minimum Wage

The debate around the Minimum Wage over the last couple of years has been heated, antagonistic and sometimes downright acrimonious.COSATU has been at the forefront of the debate and has been relentless in its campaign for the adoption of a legislated national minimum wage. We have fielded attacks and pushback from Big Business, Government Political Parties and trade unions in the process. They have all attacked the idea of a minimum wage for different reasons but we remain untiring in our quest to ensure that we ultimately have a legislated National Minimum Wage.

We have consistently argued that while the figure of R3 500 was a clear rejection of the figure of R2000 that was first proposed by both government and big business, it still fell short of the federation’s initial proposed figure of R4 500.

We continue to acknowledge that the figure of R3 500 does not address the minimum living standards of an average South African household. We are not indifferent to some people’s legitimate frustrations and unhappiness with the proposed R3500 figure given the high cost of living for workers. But what we find most scandalous though is the fact that currently around half of all workers are earning below this figure.

We continue to argue that anything above the figure of R3500, no matter how inadequate, will have a material impact on improving the wages of half of South African workers, or 6 million of our brutally exploited workers. This figure will give us a significant starting base and something to work with as we continue to negotiate and fight our way towards a living wage.

A cursory examination of the lofty formulations of some of the critics reveals that they take a reductionist and populist view in rejecting the Minimum Wage, while they contribute very little by way of solutions. The problem with political tribalism is that it breeds the fallacy of composition, where we end up dismissing an entire idea or concept on the grounds of one or two components we don't like. The federation is of the view that very little will be achieved in an environment where people are unable to offer cogent facts to support their positions.

Some of the most vocal critics of the minimum wage are people who have done nothing themselves, and whose only contributions are their complaints and moral exhibitionism. It’s all a very well being publicly and fashionably militant about the national minimum wage but it does not solve the economic facts that have to be factored in when talking about the minimum wage. Ours is part of a globalised capitalist system and we need to acknowledge that workers are already being replaced by mechanisation and automation. As and when we take decisions ,we have a responsibility to think about the unemployed and the possible blowback effects of our decisions. We need to tell workers the truth and not be tempted to claim easy victories.

A NMW is not a silver bullet by itself but needs to be combined with developmental labour market and economic policies, which tackle the cheap labour basis of our economy. A meaningful National Minimum Wage must be an important element of a new wage policy, which begins to recognise the dignity of every worker in our society, and overcomes the legacy of apartheid wage structures. The struggle for a Living Wage will be a long and difficult one, which includes the struggle for affordable basic services, transport and food, and decent wages and working conditions and will only be achieved through the collective power of workers.

Bus Strike

COSATU is calling on the CEO’s of Bus Companies to return back to the negotiating table with a new offer to break the current impasse. The indifference and intransigence of the Bus companies amounts to economic sabotage. Government needs to convene the CEO’s and tell them to accede to the workers demands or the subsidies they enjoy will be withdrawn for the period they are not transporting anyone. The rise of the prices of basic necessities dictates that salaries of workers are also increased to ensure that they are able to provide for their families.

We call on all communities especially commuters to support the strike in order to ensure that it ends as soon as possible. We shall be convening a meeting of union presidents and General Secretaries to explore a solidarity strike.

Public Service Wage Negotiations

COSATU calls on government to return back to the negotiating table and present a new offer that is worth the consideration by the workers. A public service strike will be calamitous for the poor people, who rely on government services for their daily survival. We commend all public sector unions under both COSATU and Independent Labour Caucus (ILC) for maintaining their unity at the Public Sector Coordinating Bargaining Council (PSCBC). We urge all workers to participate in the planned pickets as a way of mobilising for a possible strike. We continue to urge the public service unions to maintain their unity and push back against the employer and make sure that they get workers what is due to them.

Issued by COSATU

Sizwe Pamla (Cosatu National Spokesperson)

Tel: 011 339 4911
Fax: 011 339 5080
Cell: 060 975 6794

3 TRANSNET EXECUTIVES RESIGN

The resignations come on the eve of a second meeting Minister Pravin Gordhan planned to have on Friday with the Transnet board.

Linda Mabaso. Picture: transnet.net

Gaye Davis
Eyewitness News

CAPE TOWN - Transnet board chairperson Linda Mabaso and two other directors have resigned.

Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan says he has accepted the resignations of Mabaso and non-executive directors Vusi Nkonyane and Yasmin Forbes.

In a statement issued on Thursday evening, Gordhan says Mabaso’s resignation was with immediate effect.

The resignations come on the eve of a second meeting Gordhan planned to have on Friday with the Transnet board.

Gordhan says the shareholder’s meeting with the board will go ahead in spite of the resignations.

In his statement, Gordhan says Transnet, responsible for providing and maintaining transport and logistics infrastructure that are key to the competitiveness of the South African economy, became embroiled in serious allegations of flagrant corruption and state capture.

The minister says these allegations will be thoroughly investigated.

Another board member, Transnet chief financial officer Garry Pita, stepped down last month.

12 OF 13 MINERS REMAIN TRAPPED IN SIBANYE-STILLWATER MINE

The mine says it has only managed to establish contact with five miners and has so far only brought one up to surface.

Eyewitness News

JOHANNESBURG – Twelve miners remain trapped at the Sibanye-Stillwater mine’s Driefontein operations following a seismic event earlier on Thursday afternoon.

The mine says it has only managed to establish contact with five miners under Masakhane mine and has so far only brought one up to surface.

The remaining eight, however, still remain unaccounted for.

The firm's James Wellsted said: “We had a seismic event about three kilometres underground at our Driefontein mine and it resulted in a fall of ground in one of the stopes where 13 of our employees were working.”

Wellsted says rescue attempts are underway.

“So we are engaging or we are actually talking to the other four and we’re still looking for eight employees which we haven’t found yet.”

13 miners had initially been trapped underground.

At the same time, the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union says it is concerned that the company did not clear the shafts when an earlier seismic event happened.

Its president Joseph Mathunjwa said: “There were three seismic events, of which I believe the first seismic event that happened its where then mine should have evacuated the working areas and to get the workers out of underground before the second seismic event happened.”

SILICOSIS: DISAGREEMENTS WITH GOLD MINING FIRMS STILL NEED TO BE RESOLVED

The companies and representatives of the nearly 100,000 eligible miners who contracted silicosis and turburculosis intend to settle the matter on Thursday, if all goes according to plan.

Mia Lindeque
Eyewitness News

JOHANNESBURG - The lawyer representing thousands of miners in a class action suit says that disagreements with 32 gold mine companies still need to be resolved before an out of court settlement can be announced.

The companies and representatives of the nearly 100,000 eligible miners who contracted silicosis and turburculosis intend to settle the matter on Thursday, if all goes according to plan.

If the agreement is signed, it will be an historic moment which could pave the way forward for other class action lawsuits in the country.

The lawyer acting on behalf of the miners, Richard Spoor: "There's a process that needs to follow any signing, in which the terms of which the terms of agreement are communicated to people across the sub-continent as interested parties and they get an opportunity to comment on the agreement before the court will sign it off."

OVER 30 MINES SIGN SETTLEMENT IN SILICOSIS MATTER

This class action lawsuit is seen as a landmark case which is the first of its kind in South Africa.

Members of the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) & Sonke Gender Justice protesting outside court to show their support for ex-miners seeking compensation for contracting silicosis while working underground. Picture: Gia Nicolaides/EWN

Mia Lindeque
Eyewitness News

JOHANNESBURG - More than 30 gold mine companies have signed an out of court settlement, which will pave the way for compensation for thousands of miners who contracted tuberculosis and silicosis.

There are still no details about the amount involved or how much each miner will receive.

The miners' legal representative Richard Spoor says the aim is for a trust to be established, which will be run independently.

“It’s been a long time coming, we began this litigation in 2005 and we established the right to sue in 2011. It’s huge in terms of the number of people covered and affected by it, I think in terms of the parties as well.”

This class action lawsuit is seen as a landmark case which is the first of its kind in South Africa.

GOLD MINE COMPANIES SIGN R5BN CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENT IN SILICOSIS CASE

Lawyers representing miners say the agreement with the 32 gold mine companies provides meaningful compensation to all eligible workers.

Members of the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) & Sonke Gender Justice protesting outside court to show their support for ex-miners seeking compensation for contracting silicosis while working underground. Picture: Gia Nicolaides/EWN

Masechaba Sefularo
Eyewitness News

JOHANNESBURG - Gold mine companies have signed a R5 billion class action settlement with law firms representing thousands of miners who contracted silicosis and tuberculosis.

The settlement agreement comes after nearly three years of negotiations.

Lawyers representing miners say the agreement with the 32 gold mine companies provides meaningful compensation to all eligible workers suffering from the lung diseases who worked on the mines from 12 March 1965 to date.

Lawyer for the workers Richard Spoor says the agreement will also benefit the dependents of deceased miners once ratified.

“That agreement still needs to be ratified by the court, approved by the court and then it will result in the establishment of a trust that will compensate mineworkers who worked in the goldmines and contracted lung diseases.”

This development is seen as a historic moment which paves the way for similar lawsuits in the country.

If ratified by the courts, the agreement will see thousands of workers and their dependents receive payouts ranging from R70,000 to R250,000.

Spoor says he’s confident the settlement will get a nod from the courts.

“I think there’s a lot of confidence that the settlement will get the approval of the court. I’m very hopeful that we can get the court to endorse it.”

Spoor says trust fund will be set up to manage the funds and trace claimants eligible for compensation.

Little Caesars Sued by African-American Ex-Employee Who Claims Co-Workers Called Him the N-Word, Shook Metal Chains at Him

May 2, 2018 at 11:55 am PDT
By Daniel Goldblatt

Little Caesars is being sued for $1 million by an ex-employee who claims his former co-workers routinely called him the N-word, physically attacked him and even shook metal chains at him and asked if they “looked familiar.”

According to court documents obtained by The Blast, Dionte Lawrence says he worked at a Little Caesars in Chicago from September 2015 until he was let go on January 11, 2017.

Lawrence claims that during his employment, he was racially harassed on an escalating basis, even after repeatedly complaining to human resources.

Shortly after he started his job, Lawrence says he asked a co-manager why all the black employees were placed in the back of the store while all the Hispanic employees were placed in the front of the store to interact with customers. He says he never got an answer and was later told to stop asking the question.

Lawrence says he then contacted human resources who told him, “We don’t mean to be racist, but this is a predominately Hispanic neighborhood.”

Shortly thereafter, Lawrence claims he was reassigned to the front of the store and immediately his co-workers started harassing him by calling him a “negro” and a “slave.”

He claims the racial harassment escalated and says his co-workers said things to him like: “Ni**er lives matter,” “You don’t worship Santa Claus, you worship Colonel Sanders,” “Don’t you miss Africa,” “I hate the texture of your hair – can I touch it?”

On one occasion, Lawrence says his co-workers called him a “slave” and then one of them “picked up and shook metal chain links” and asked him if they “looked familiar.”

He claims the racial slurs became more frequent and his HR complaints did not result in change.

In another incident, that took place in mid-November 2016, Lawrence claims his co-workers again called him a “ni**er” and pulled his hat off, grabbed his hair, and threatened to shoot him.

Then in December 2016, he claims he was cleaning when a co-worker physically assaulted him. He says another co-worker joined in beating him and kicking him in the head, which eventually caused him a broken nose.

Lawrence claims he was suspended and then terminated due to the incident.

He is suing for $1,000,000 and claims he has suffered depression, anxiety, emotional distress, loss of income and loss of enjoyment of life.

A rep for Little Caesars tells The Blast, “Little Caesars has a zero tolerance policy against any forms of discrimination or harassment. We take this extremely seriously and we are investigating the alleged incidents. We cannot comment further on pending litigation.”

Black Men Arrested at Starbucks Settle With the Company

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Two black men arrested for sitting at a Philadelphia Starbucks without ordering anything settled with the world’s biggest coffee-shop chain Wednesday for an undisclosed sum and an offer of a free college education.

Separately, they reached a deal with the city for a symbolic $1 each and a promise from officials to set up a $200,000 program for young entrepreneurs.

The men portrayed the twin settlements as an effort to make sure something positive came out of the April 12 incident, which touched off a furor around the U.S. over racial profiling.

“We thought long and hard about it, and we feel like this is the best way to see that change that we want to see,” said Donte Robinson, one of those arrested. “It’s not a right-now thing that’s good for right now, but I feel like we will see the true change over time.”

Business partners Robinson and Rashon Nelson, both 23, were led away in handcuffs and accused of trespassing last month after the manager of a Starbucks in the city’s well-to-do Rittenhouse Square neighborhood called police, saying the men refused to buy anything or leave. After spending hours in jail, they were released and no charges were filed.

The men said they were there waiting for a meeting with a third man about a potential real estate opportunity.

The incident proved a major embarrassment for Starbucks, which has long projected an image as a socially conscious company.

On Wednesday, Starbucks announced it reached a financial settlement with the men. The amount was not disclosed.

The company said they will also be given the opportunity to complete their bachelor’s degrees, their tuition fully covered, through a Starbucks partnership with Arizona State University. The online college education program was created in 2014 for Starbucks employees.

Also, the men will be given the chance to discuss their experience and share their recommendations for changes at Starbucks with former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder.

During the uproar, Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson came to Philadelphia to apologize to the men. He also announced that more than 8,000 Starbucks stores in the U.S. would close on the afternoon of May 29 so nearly 175,000 employees can get training in unconscious bias.

Under the deal with the city, the men’s arrest records will be expunged, and a program will be created to offer counseling and mentoring to entrepreneurs from Philadelphia high schools.

“I am pleased to have resolved the potential claims against the city in this productive manner,” Mayor Jim Kenney said. “This was an incident that evoked a lot of pain in our city and put us under a national spotlight for unwanted reasons.”

Philadelphia Police Commissioner Richard Ross, who is black, at first defended his officers’ conduct, but days later issued a televised apology for the way the Starbucks call was handled.

Robinson and Nelson, who grew up in an economically depressed section of the city, said the settlements are a good start, aimed at transforming their community and creating the types of opportunities that did not exist when they were younger.

Nelson said he considers the Starbucks incident a case of being at “the wrong place at the right time because of the outcome that can come out of it.”

Black Men Arrested at Starbucks Settle for $1 Each, and a Promise of $200K for Young Entrepreneurs Program

In this Wednesday April 18, 2018 photo, Rashon Nelson, left, and Donte Robinson, right, pose for a portrait. Their arrests at a local Starbucks quickly became a viral video and galvanized people around the country who saw the incident as modern-day racism. (Jacqueline Larma / AP)

Errin Haines Whack
Associated Press

Two black men arrested for sitting at a Philadelphia Starbucks without ordering anything settled with the city Wednesday for a symbolic $1 each and a promise from officials to set up a $200,000 program for young entrepreneurs.

The men and their lawyer told The Associated Press the settlement was an effort to make sure something positive came out of the incident.

"We thought long and hard about it and we feel like this is the best way to see that change that we want to see," said Donte Robinson, one of those arrested. "It's not a right-now thing that's good for right now, but I feel like we will see the true change over time."

The arrest of Rashon Nelson and Robinson on April 12 touched off a furor around the U.S. over racial profiling. They were led away in handcuffs and accused of trespassing after the manager called police, saying the men refused to buy anything or leave. After spending hours in jail, they were released and no charges were filed.

Their arrest record will be expunged as part of the deal.

The men said they were waiting at the coffee shop in the city's well-to-do Rittenhouse Square neighborhood for a business meeting with a third man about a potential real estate opportunity.

"I am pleased to have resolved the potential claims against the city in this productive manner," Mayor Jim Kenney said. "This was an incident that evoked a lot of pain in our city and put us under a national spotlight for unwanted reasons."

The entrepreneur program will be for Philadelphia public high school students.

Nelson said he considers the incident a case of being at "the wrong place at the right time because of the outcome that can come out of it."

Philadelphia Police Commissioner Richard Ross, who is black, at first defended his officers' conduct, but days later issued a televised apology for the way the Starbucks call was handled.

During the uproar, Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson came to Philadelphia to apologize to the men. He also announced that more than 8,000 Starbucks stores in the U.S. would close on the afternoon of May 29 so nearly 175,000 employees can get training in unconscious bias.

Illinois Among Top States for Mosquito-bite Diseases: CDC

Illinois saw the number of mosquito- and tick-borne diseases jump from 226 in 2004 to 772 in 2016, according to CDC data. (James Gathany / AP)

Elyssa Cherney
Chicago Tribune

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is warning about a rise in insect-borne diseases — and Illinois is right up there, ranking sixth among states with the most mosquito-related illnesses.

Between 2004 and 2016 nationwide, diseases from mosquito, tick and flea bites tripled to more than 640,000 cases, according to the study released Tuesday.

Illinois saw the number of mosquito- and tick-borne diseases jump from 226 in 2004 to 772 in 2016, according to CDC data. Data for flea-borne illness couldn’t be located for those individual years.

Examining mosquito-related diseases alone, such as West Nile virus, Illinois logged more than 2,580 such cases during that 13-year stretch, according to the report. That’s behind only Colorado, Florida, New York, Texas and California, which had the most cases — 9,254. Except for Colorado, the states with more cases than Illinois are also more populous, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

The rise in mosquito-transmitted diseases nationwide is likely related to the spike in West Nile virus, which hit Illinois particularly hard starting in 2002, said Chris Stone, who studies mosquitoes for the Illinois Natural History Survey.

“Illinois was just one of the major states where the West Nile epidemic had a peak, and it continues to be quite prevalent,” Stone said. “In part, that must be due to the Chicago area airports being so large and having lots of imported cases.”

Urban centers filled with retention ponds and storm drains that hold sitting water for a period of time can also create an environment that nurtures mosquitoes, Stone said.

Nationwide, the CDC report found the U.S. is vulnerable for another epidemic if it does not improve its local and state health departments to control mosquito and tick populations. The report also found that nine new germs spread by mosquitoes and ticks have been discovered or introduced since 2004. The report was conducted by analyzing data from the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System, which is also run by the CDC, for 16 types of insect-borne illnesses.

Here are the five takeaways from the study, including how to protect yourself this summer:

1. West Nile virus is the top mosquito-borne disease in Illinois, the report said. At its height, Illinois led the nation in the disease in 2002 with 884 diagnoses and 67 deaths, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health. Last year there were 89 cases of West Nile in 80 different counties, the health department said. West Nile virus, which is carried by the Asian tiger mosquito, is especially dangerous for people older than 50 or those with weak immune systems. It causes flu-like symptoms and can lead to death in some cases.

2. The most common type of tick-borne illnesses was Lyme disease, the report said. In the time period examined by the CDC, 352 cases of Lyme disease were reported. The most common type of biting ticks in Illinois are the American dog tick and the lone star tick.

3. Most mosquito bites in Illinois don’t come from the bug that carries West Nile. The most ubiquitous biting insect in Illinois is the Indian floodwater mosquito, which rarely transmits any diseases, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health. These mosquitoes lay their eggs in soil that is flooded and are particularly active along riverbanks and other low-lying places.

4. It’s unlikely you will contract the Zika virus from a bug bite in Illinois, according to the health department. In 2017 there were eight cases of Zika among Illinois blood donors who did not experience any symptoms, according to the CDC. Those cases were related to people who traveled to areas where the virus was prevalent. Zika, which poses extreme problems for pregnant women, has not been transmitted through bug bites in the state.

5. To ward off mosquitoes and ticks, choose an insect repellent with DEET, Stone said. DEET doesn’t kill insects, but it works by making it harder for them to identify the human scent, according to the federal Environmental Protection Agency, which has found the product safe to use.

echerney@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @elyssacherney

Tick and Mosquito Infections Spreading Rapidly, C.D.C. Finds

By DONALD G. McNEIL Jr.
New York Times
MAY 1, 2018

More Americans are living in wooded suburbs near deer, which carry the ticks that spread Lyme disease, anaplasmosis, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, babesiosis, rabbit fever and Powassan virus. Credit Scott Camazine/Science Source

Farewell, carefree days of summer.

The number of people getting diseases transmitted by mosquito, tick and flea bites has more than tripled in the United States in recent years, federal health officials reported on Tuesday. Since 2004, at least nine such diseases have been discovered or newly introduced here.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention did not suggest that Americans drop plans for softball games or hammock snoozes. But officials emphasized that it’s increasingly important for everyone — especially children — to be protected from outdoor pests with bug repellent.

New tickborne diseases like Heartland virus are showing up in the continental United States, even as cases of Lyme disease and other established infections are growing. On island territories like Puerto Rico, the threat is mosquitoes carrying viruses like dengue and Zika.

Warmer weather is an important cause of the surge, according to the lead author of a study published in the C.D.C.’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

But the author, Dr. Lyle R. Petersen, the agency’s director of vector-borne diseases, declined to link the increase to the politically fraught issue of climate change, and the report does not mention climate change or global warming. Many other factors are at work, he emphasized, including increased jet travel and a lack of vaccines.

“The numbers on some of these diseases have gone to astronomical levels,” Dr. Petersen added.

C.D.C. officials called for more support for state and local health departments. Local agencies “are our first line of defense,” said Dr. Robert Redfield, the new director at the agency, which is facing its own deep budget cuts. “We must enhance our investment in their ability to fight these diseases.”

Although state and local health departments get brief infusions of cash during health scares like the Zika epidemic in 2016, they are chronically underfunded. A recent survey of mosquito control agencies found that 84 percent needed help with such basics as surveillance and testing for resistance to pesticides, Dr. Petersen said.

Between 2004 and 2016, about 643,000 cases of 16 insect-borne illnesses were reported to the C.D.C. — 27,000 a year in 2004, rising to 96,000 by 2016. (The year 2004 was chosen as a baseline because the agency began requiring more detailed reporting then.)

The real case numbers were undoubtedly far larger, Dr. Petersen said. For example, the C.D.C. estimates that about 300,000 Americans get Lyme disease each year, but only about 35,000 diagnoses are reported.

The study did not delve into the reasons for the increase, but Dr. Petersen said it was probably caused by many factors, including two related to weather: ticks thriving in regions previously too cold for them, and hot spells triggering outbreaks of mosquito-borne diseases.

Other factors, he said, include expanded human travel, suburban reforestation and a dearth of new vaccines to stop outbreaks.

More jet travel from the tropics means that previously obscure viruses like dengue and Zika are moving long distances rapidly in human blood. (By contrast, malaria and yellow fever are thought to have reached the Americas on slave ships three centuries ago.)

A good example, Dr. Petersen said, was chikungunya, which causes joint pain so severe that it is called “bending-up disease.”

In late 2013, a Southeast Asian strain arrived on the Dutch Caribbean island of St. Maarten, its first appearance in this hemisphere. Within one year, local transmission had occurred everywhere in the Americas except Canada, Chile, Peru and Bolivia.

Tickborne diseases, the report found, are rising steadily in the Northeast, the Upper Midwest and California. Ticks spread Lyme disease, anaplasmosis, babesiosis, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, rabbit fever, Powassan virus and other ills, some of them only recently discovered.

Ticks need deer or rodents as their main blood hosts, and those have increased as forests in suburbs have gotten thicker, deer hunting has waned, and rodent predators like foxes have disappeared.

(A century ago, the Northeast had fewer trees than it now does; forests made a comeback as farming shifted west and firewood for heating was replaced by coal, oil and gas.)

Most disease outbreaks related to mosquitoes since 2004 have been in Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and American Samoa. But West Nile virus, which arrived in 1999, now appears unpredictably across the country; Dallas, for example, saw a big outbreak in 2012.

For most of these diseases, there are no vaccines and no treatment, so the only way to fight back is through mosquito control, which is expensive and rarely stops outbreaks. Miami, for instance, was the only city in the Western Hemisphere to halt a Zika outbreak with pesticides.

The only flea-borne disease mentioned in the C.D.C. report is plague, the bacterium responsible for the medieval Black Death. It remains rare but persistent: Between two and 17 cases were reported from 2004 to 2016, mostly in the Southwest. The infection can be cured with antibiotics.

Dr. Nicholas Watts, a global health specialist at University College London and co-author of a major 2017 report on climate change and health, said warmer weather is spreading disease in many wealthy countries, not just the United States.

In Britain, he said, tick diseases are expanding as summers lengthen, and malaria is becoming more common in the northern reaches of Australia.

But Paul Reiter, a medical entomologist at the Pasteur Institute, has argued that some environmentalists exaggerate the disease threats posed by climate change.

The 2003-2014 period fell during what he described as “a pause” in global warming, although the notion is disputed by other experts.

Still, the dynamics of disease transmission are complicated, and driven by more than temperature. For example, transmission of West Nile virus requires that certain birds be present, too.

In the Dust Bowl years of the 1930s, St. Louis encephalitis, a related virus, surged, “and it looked like climate issues were involved,” Dr. Reiter said. But the increase turned out to depend more on varying hot-cold and wet-dry spells and the interplay of two different mosquito species. St. Louis encephalitis virtually disappeared, weather notwithstanding.

“It’s a complicated, multidimensional system,” Dr. Reiter said.

A. Marm Kilpatrick, a disease ecologist at the University of California, Santa Cruz, said many factors beside hot weather were at work in the United States, including “a hump-shaped relationship between temperature and transmission potential.”

Warm weather helps mosquitoes and ticks breed and transmit disease faster, he explained. But after a certain point, the hotter and drier it gets, the more quickly the pests die. So disease transmission to humans peaks somewhere between mildly warm and hellishly hot weather.

Experts also pointed out that the increase in reports of spreading disease may have resulted partially from more testing.

Lyme disease made family doctors begin to suspect tick bites in patients with fevers. Laboratories began looking for different pathogens in blood samples, especially in patients who did not have Lyme. That led to the discovery of previously unknown diseases.

 MABUZA: OUR DIFFERENCES MUST NOT DIVIDE US

Deputy President David Mabuza has been addressing hundreds of Cosatu members at Curries Fountain at the Durban leg of the Workers' Day commemorations.

Ziyanda Ngcobo

DURBAN - African National Congress (ANC) Deputy President David Mabuza says the unity among the alliance partners needs to be restored even more so ahead of 2019’s general elections.

Mabuza has been addressing hundreds of Cosatu members at Curries Fountain at the Durban leg of the Workers' Day commemorations.

He has urged workers to go out in their numbers to campaign for the ANC.

“We call for unity within our ranks. Our differences must not divide us. We’ve got many more challenges ahead of us and it’s important to forge unity.”

Hundreds of Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) affiliates marched through the Durban CBD as a part of the nationwide Workers' Day demonstrations.

After a slow start to the march on Tuesday morning, hundreds later made their way through the Durban CBD, with the final destination being Curries Fountain.

The venue has a historical significance as it’s where Cosatu was launched in 1985 and it’s also fondly known as the workers’ stadium.

Mabuza is on the programme as the senior affiliate from the African National Congress. Provincial leaders including KwaZulu-Natal premier Willies Mchunu are also present.

Also marching on Tuesday are some church leaders who’ve been staunch allies of former president Jacob Zuma, giving prayers to accused number one outside the Durban High Court in Apri

COSATU Takes to the Streets to Demand Jobs and An End to State Capture

By Adam Yates
1 May 2018

In honour of May Day, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) held a march in Cape Town to demand accountability from those in power on a variety of issues. The march focused on a safer and more reliable public transportation system, accepting a minimum wage, creating jobs, and serving justice to those responsible for State Capture.

In the hours leading up to the official start of the Cosatu May Day March, protesters gathered to sing songs, dance, and celebrate the rights of workers on International Workers’ Day. Following a few brief kick-off speeches, the march began.

The energetic songs of the march echoed down the Cape Town streets bringing nearby residents to their windows to observe the protesters traverse the city.

Outside the headquarters of the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA), Cosatu representatives read a memorandum that demanded safer public transportation, reliable transportation services, and the reinstatement of the bus systems. Cosatu representatives promised that if the demands weren’t enacted, Cosatu would take over PRASA’s headquarters from the inside and force accountability. A PRASA representative signed the memorandum, promised to pass it on to his superiors, and then the march proceeded to Parliament.

After a brief walk, the protesters made their final stop of the official march at Parliament.

Outside Parliament, Cosatu speakers presented a second memorandum that called on the ANC to stay true to its promises and rid the government of corruption. The memorandum also sought proper punishment for those responsible for State Capture, and asked for better worker rights as well as an approved national minimum wage.

An ANC representative signed the memorandum and gave a passionate speech to the crowd of “comrades” promising live up to Cosatu’s demands.

Following the rally at Parliament, the march then returned to the Castle of Good Hope, where a festival celebration was set up for the enjoyment of the protesters. Inflatable slides were available for the children of the marchers, food concessions were sold, artists played live music, and a series of speakers from Cosatu, the ANC and other partner organizations gave closing speeches to the crowd. DM

"No idea is above scrutiny and no people are beneath dignity."

~ Maajid Nawaz

RAMAPHOSA: UNITED TRIPARTITE ALLIANCE CAN HELP SA DEFEAT POVERTY, INEQUALITY

President Cyril Ramaphosa says the tripartite alliance will continue to work towards advancing the rights of workers.

Thando Kubheka

JOHANNESBURG - President Cyril Ramaphosa says it’s only through a united tripartite alliance that the country can defeat poverty and inequality.

Ramaphosa was speaking at this year’s main May Day rally in Port Elizabeth.

In 2017, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) workers' day event in Bloemfontein had to be cancelled after it degenerated into chaos. A scuffle broke out between pro- and anti-former president Jacob Zuma supporters.

Ramaphosa has praised today’s rally, describing it as very peaceful.

He says the tripartite alliance will continue to work towards advancing the rights of workers.

“It’s only through the united action of this alliance that we’ll be able to defeat poverty, unemployment and inequality.”

‘PROPOSED MINIMUM WAGE IS A FOUNDATION FOR BETTER SALARIES’

Ramaphosa says despite its criticism by some trade unions, the proposed national minimum wage is a victory for workers.

Ramaphosa has acknowledged that R20 per hour is not a normal living wage but says it’s a good start.

The president says the proposed minimum wage is a foundation for better salaries.

“Cosatu and the other federations, the National Council of Trade Unions and the Federation of Unions, took it up as their revolutionary duty to make sure that we lift 6.6 million workers in our country so that we can start the process of doing away with wage inequality.”

SACP general-secretary Blade Nzimande has congratulated Cosatu for the victory on the minimum wage.

“Let’s not act opportunistically on the minimum wage. Six million workers in this country earn less than R3,500. We can’t, therefore, say no, it’s all or nothing, if the minimum wage is going to benefit those workers, that’s infertile and ultra-left.”

Working Class Must Stand Up Against State Capture: Nzimande

01 May 2018 - 14:01
BY NALEDI SHANGE

South Africa’s working class has the responsibility to stand up against things that threaten to cripple the country‚ including issues like state capture‚ the SACP’s general secretary‚ Blade Nzimande‚ said on Friday.

Speaking at the Cosatu May Day rally held in Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape‚ Nzimande said: “We are saying to the workers: stand up and defend the national sovereignty of this country… You fought to liberate South Africa‚ you cannot stand by while this happens.”

He said while the media had played its role in exposing state capture‚ they had also spoken up against it.

Nzimande acknowledged the changes brought forward by President Cyril Ramaphosa‚ saying his efforts of appointing new boards to Eskom‚ Prasa and the SABC had not gone unnoticed.

“We support you‚” he said.

“Comrades‚ I am glad the president is here‚” Nzimande said‚ adding that they wanted to express their concerns.

“We don't like this thing of the VAT increasing. The looters must pay for our programmes... not the working class. We support Cosatu and we say tax the super rich. They must take a lead in subsidising our programmes‚” Nzimande said.

He called for unity amongst the working class.

“We need broad working class unity. You cannot have a trade union federation that goes on a strike and attacks other unions… Let’s unite around the things that unite us‚” he said.

May Day and Its Signification

May 1, 2018
by Anwar A. Khan

“When work is a pleasure, life is a joy. When work is a duty, life is a slavery.” — Maxim Gorky

( May 1, 2018, Dhaka, Sri Lanka Guardian)

International Workers’ Day, also known as Labour Day or Workers’ Day in some countries and often referred to as May Day is a celebration of labourers and the working classes that is promoted by the international labour movement which occurs every year on 1st May Day.

The date was chosen by a pan-national organisation of socialist and communist political parties to commemorate the Haymarket affair, which occurred in Chicago on 4th May 1886.

The 1904 Sixth Conference of the Second International, called on all Social Democratic Party organisations and trade unions of all countries to demonstrate energetically on the First of May for the legal establishment of the 8-hour day, for the class demands of the proletariat, and for universal peace.

International working classes have existed since the development of agriculture, about ten thousand years ago. Serfs, slaves, trades people and others were forced to turn over the fruits of their labour to an exploiting class. But the modern working class, whose exploitation is hidden by the wage system, is only several hundred years old. Men, women and children forced to work long hours in miserable conditions just to eke out a living. These conditions gave rise to demands for limitations on the working day. Utopian socialist, Robert Owen of England, had raised the demand for a ten-hour day as early as 1810, and instituted it in his socialist enterprise at New Lanark. For the rest of the English workers, progress was slower. Women and children were only granted a ten-hour day in 1847.

French worker’s demand for a 12-hour day was granted after the February revolution of 1848. In the United States, where May Day was born, Philadelphia carpenters campaigned for a ten-hour day in 1791. By the 1830s, this had become a general demand. In 1835, workers in Philadelphia organised a general strike, led by Irish coal heavers. Their banners read, “From 6 to 6, ten hours work and two hours for meals.” From 1830 to 1860, the average work day had dropped from 12 hours to 11 hours.

Already in this period, the demand for an eight-hour day was being raised. In 1836, after succeeding in attaining the ten-hour day in Philadelphia, the National Labourer declared, “We have no desire to perpetuate the ten-hour system, for we believe that eight hours’ daily labor is more than enough for any man to perform.” At the 1863 convention of the Machinists’ and Blacksmiths’ Union, the eight-hour day was declared a top priority. The heart of the movement was in Chicago, organised mainly by the International Working Peoples’ Association.

A few years later, in 1872, a hundred thousand workers in New York City struck and won the eight-hour day, mostly for building trades workers. It was in this protracted campaign for an eight-hour day that May Day was born. The movement for the eight-hour day was linked to the date of 1st May at an 1884 convention of the three-year-old Federation of Organized Trades and Labour Unions of the United States and Canada, the forerunner of the American Federation of Labor. It was resolved to hold the demonstration on 1st May 1890 in keeping with the American Federation of Labour’s 1886 demonstrations of 1st May.

The call was a resounding success. On 1st May 1890, May Day demonstrations took place in the United States and most countries in Europe. Demonstrations were also held in Chile and Peru. In Havana, Cuba, workers marched demanding an eight-hour working day, equal rights for all and working-class unity. Although the 1889 resolution called for a once-off demonstration on 1st May, the day quickly became an annual event. Throughout the world workers in more countries marked the celebration of labourers rights on May Day.

May Day was celebrated for the first time in Russia, Brazil and Ireland in 1891. By 1904 the Second International called on all socialists and trade unionists in every country to demonstrate energetically annually on 1st May for the legal establishment of the eight-hour day, for the class demands of the proletariat, and for universal peace. Chinese workers celebrated their first May Day in 1920, following the Russian socialist revolution. In 1927, workers in India observed May Day with demonstrations in Kolkata, Chennai and Bombay. By that time, May Day was truly a world workers’ day.
Ironically, while May Day gained momentum across the world it lost steam in the United States where the celebration originated. Today May Day is celebrated as a public holiday throughout most countries with the exception of the United States, because of the holiday’s association with Communism. Mayday has been celebrated unofficially in South Africa since the 1980s. However, 1st May only became an officially recognised public holiday after the democratic elections of 1994. South Africa’s mining industry’s history and the development of strong Trade Unions and communist ideologies has largely determined the country’s labour history and the workers struggle.

May Day is also a labour holiday in many areas of the world, and that part of its history is a thornier story. May Day has shared a date with International Workers’ Day since the 1880s. At the time, labour movements around the world were fighting for fair work accommodations like eight-hour workdays and unions. The date was chosen because it aligned with the anniversary of the Haymarket affair in Chicago, where police killed four people at a peaceful protest after someone threw a bomb into the crowd. The event had a huge impact on labour movements across the world.

The demand for an eight-hour day . . . is the demand of the whole proletariat, presented, not to individual employers, but to the government as the representative of the whole of the present-day social and political system, to the capitalist class as a whole, the owners of all the means of production. The decision to declare 1st May as International Labour Day or May Day arose from the historic struggle launched by the American workers for an eight-hour workday and the brutal attack by the police on the workers at a protest rally held at Haymarket Square in Chicago, U.S.A. on May 4, 1886. In that rally, the American workers struck work on 1st May 1, 1886 demanding an eight-hour workday.

The working class across the world attaches great importance to May Day rallies to show their strength. Red has been selected as the colour of the workers in recognition of the blood-shed in the eight-hour workday struggle. May 1st of each year is now looked upon by the organised wage-workers and the observing public as a sort of new Independence Day upon which they will every year strike a blow for emancipation and steadily weaken the shackles of wage slavery. And that is significance of May Day.

Initially, May Day was intended to be a one-off protest, and in some ways quite a solemn affair. May Day did not merely enact internationalism and working class solidarity; it celebrated these things with the familiar paraphernalia of badges, flags, art, sporting events… May Day is now most commonly associated as a commemoration of the achievements of the labour movement. The holiday may also be known as Labour Day or International Worker’s Day and is marked with a public holiday in over 80 countries including Bangladesh.

The first of May is a national public holiday in many countries worldwide, in most cases as “Labour Day”, “International Workers’ Day” or some similar name. The 1st May popularly known as the May Day is an official holiday in Bangladesh. All labour-oriented organisations celebrate the day with great honour and dignity. On the following stanzas, what comrade Lenin said is of immense significance:

“May Day is when the workers of all lands celebrate their awakening to a class-conscious life, their solidarity in the struggle against all coercion and oppression of man by man, the struggle to free the toiling millions from hunger, poverty, and humiliation. Two worlds stand facing each other in this great struggle: the world of capital and the world of labour, the world of exploitation and slavery and the world of brotherhood and freedom.

On one side stand the handful of rich blood-suckers. They have seized the factories and mills, the tools and machinery, have turned millions of acres of land and mountains of money into their private property. They have made the government and the army their servants, faithful watchdogs of the wealth they have amassed. On the other side stand the millions of the disinherited. They are forced to beg the moneybags for permission to work for them. By their labour they create all wealth; yet all their lives long they have to struggle for a crust of bread, beg for work as for charity, sap their strength and health by back-breaking toil, and starve in hovels in the villages or in the cellars and garrets of the big cities….

The great struggle of labour against capital has cost the workers of all countries immense sacrifices. They have shed rivers of blood in behalf of their right to a better life and real freedom. Those who fight for the workers’ cause are subjected by the governments to untold persecution. But in spite of all persecution the solidarity of the workers of the world is growing and gaining in strength…. “ We wish to finish off today in the words of Martin Luther King Jr., “All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance, and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence.”

Workers, Activists Mark May Day With Defiant Rallies Around the World

ALEXANDER ZEMLIANICHENKO/AP

Russian opposition activist Sergey Udaltsov leads a group of his supporters during a Communist rally to mark May Day in Moscow, Russia.

Workers and activists marked May Day on Tuesday with rallies to demand their government address labour issues.

International Workers' Day is a public holiday in many countries, though activities are restricted in some places, sometimes leading to confrontations.

Hundreds of thousands marched and rallied from major countries in Europe to southeast Asia to South Africa.

A look at some of the events around the world:

RUSSIA

More than 100,000 people came out on the streets on Moscow to march in the traditional May Day parade.

Moscow's Federation of Trade Unions said about 120,000 people marched from the Red Square on the main streets of the Russian capital to mark May Day.

Over recent years, the parade became a highly orchestrated show of power by Russian authorities and the ruling United Russia party, with the demonstrators refraining from criticising the government.

In St Petersburg, Russia's second-largest city, however, Russians unhappy with the Kremlin's attempts to curtail internet freedom joined the official May Day demonstration.

Several hundred people braved the rainy weather and joined the column marching across St Petersburg to protest the government's ban of popular messaging app Telegram.

About 10,000 people rallied in Moscow on Monday to protest the blocking of Telegram.

TURKEY

Police detained dozens of demonstrators during May Day events around Istanbul, most of them protesters who tried to march toward the city's symbolic main square in defiance of a ban.

Turkey declared Taksim Square off-limits to May Day demonstrations citing security concerns. Police blocked roads leading to the square but allowed small groups of labour union representatives to lay wreaths and flowers at monuments there.

Still, small groups of demonstrators, chanting "Long live May 1" and "Taksim cannot be off limits on May 1" tried to push their way into the square throughout the day, leading to scuffles with police. At least 45 demonstrators were detained.

Major trade unions gathered at a government-designated area in Istanbul for a large rally. At least six people were detained following scuffles with police at a security checkpoint leading to the rally ground.

Taksim holds a symbolic value for Turkey's labor movement. In 1977, 34 people were killed there during a May Day event when shots were fired into the crowd from a nearby building.

Protesters shouts slogans during a rally organised by the Communist-affiliated PAME labour union outside the Greek parliament, in central Athens.

GREECE

Thousands of Greeks are marching through central Athens in at least three separate May Day demonstrations.

Museums were also shut while ferries remain were tied up in port and public transport operated on a reduced schedule in strikes marking labor day.

Police said at least 7000 people were at the first demonstration in Athens, which was organised by a communist party-led union. The protesters marched by parliament and headed up a major avenue to the United States Embassy.

Another four demonstrations were planned in Greece's second largest city of Thessaloniki in the north.

Trains, the suburban railway, urban trolleys and ferries to and from the islands suspended operations for the day, while buses and the Athens metro system were operating on reduced schedules.

GERMANY

Tens of thousands of workers marched across Germany and Austria rallying for their rights in the face of globalisation.

In Vienna, some 12,000 people gathered in front of city hall, some carrying banners with slogans against planned welfare cuts by the new government.

Meanwhile, around 4000 union supporters marched on different routes through Berlin, before assembling at the German capital's landmark Brandenburg Gate.

"We have more rich and even richer people than we ever had before," said protester Aimo Tuegel in Berlin. "And, on the other hand, work and working conditions for workers continuing to get worse."

In Nuremberg, where the German Confederation of Trade Unions, or DGB, held its main event this year, some 6500 protesters cheered as the group's leader, Reiner Hoffmann, said the unions "managed to civilize industrial capitalism some 100 years ago" and would also be able to tackle contemporary challenges like digitalisation.

The DGB said that altogether some 340,000 people participated in almost 500 May Day events across Germany.

SCANDINAVIA

Danish labor union officials and left-leaning lawmakers started the day with traditional addresses to employees at work places throughout the Scandinavian country. Later in the day, thousands gathered in large parks around the country, despite rain, chilly temperatures and winds, to listen to May Day speeches that often criticised the center-right government.

While May Day was mainly a left-leaning event in Denmark, the right and the left flanks held speeches in Sweden and Norway.

Swedish Social Democratic Prime Minister Stefan Lofven suggested retired people should get more as he toured elderly homes while the center-right opposition rejected the idea. Parliamentary elections in Sweden are scheduled Sept. 9

In Norway, Sylvi Listhaug, a former justice minister until she resigned in March for writing a Facebook post claiming the opposition Labor Party was more interested in protecting the rights of terrorists than the Norwegian people, lashed out at its leader Jonas Gahr Store who heads Norway's largest party, for not being folksy, and warned against a weak immigration line.

SPAIN

More than 70 cities across Spain have held May Day marches calling for gender equality, higher salaries and pensions now that the country's economy is back on track.

The demonstration in Madrid was among the biggest, with thousands rallying behind the slogan "Time to win."

CCOO union official Unai Sordo says that "a social majority is emerging from the psychosis of the (global financial) crisis" in 2008 that hit Spain hard.

Pepe Alvarez, the secretary general of UGT, the other main union in Spain, said that meeting the demands of feminists, youths and pensioners are necessary to "redistribute wealth" in the country.

Spain's economy, the fourth-largest in the 19-country eurozone, has in recent years posted some of the fastest economic growth in Europe.

FRANCE

Hundreds of demonstrators marched across Paris as part of May Day protests taking place in French cities to oppose economic policies pursued by President Emmanuel Macron.

Some participants smashed the windows of a McDonald's restaurant in the French capital's Left Bank as the demonstration heated up. Protesters also wore masks and threw firecrackers.

During the march, workers and students waved anti-capitalist flags and brandished banners with phrases such as "Risks to Disrupting the Peace," "Let's Derail the Government" and "Macron Gives Us a Dark Hatred."

Organisers hope the protests will send a robust riposte to the centrist Macron's plans to end some worker protections.

MACEDONIA

Hundreds of trade union members gathered outside the Macedonian government building in the capital on May Day to protest poor labor conditions and to call for the protection of workers' rights.

The National Federation of Trade Unions led Tuesday's protest march from downtown Skopje to the government building, seeking legal changes that would protect workers and improve collective wage agreements in both the private and public sectors.

The Independent Union of Journalists and Media Workers joined the protest, demanding decent working conditions and better salaries.

"We have received many promises, but the situation has not improved at all," union head Tamara Chausidis said.

Macedonia's Confederation of Trade Union Organisations protested the large fines debt collectors impose, leaving citizens with blocked bank accounts.

SRI LANKA

Sri Lanka's government has postponed the rallies and processions that mark May Day because the weeklong celebrations of the national festival of Vesak carry on until May 2 this year.

The government said in a statement that the decision was taken following requests by leading Buddhist monks, who are very influential in this majority Buddhist country. Vesak is also known as Buddha Purnima and marks the enlightenment of Lord Buddha.

The government has asked political parties and trade unions not to hold rallies on May 1. Some have said they will ignore the government directive and mark the day.

Usually, Sri Lankan political parties and trade unions celebrate the International Workers' Day with colourful parades and giant rallies to showcase their political and organisational strength.

The government said it will mark International Workers' Day on May 7.

PHILIPPINES

About 5000 people from various groups rallied near the presidential palace in Manila to protest the failure of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte to fulfill a major campaign promise to end contractualisation, the widespread practice of short-term employment.

The protesters also demanded that the government address issues including low wages, unemployment and trade union repression.

SOUTH KOREA

Thousands of labour union members rallied in downtown Seoul for a higher minimum wage and other demands.

They chanted slogans urging the government to implement a 10,000 won (NZ$13.30) minimum wage and convert all non-regular employees to regular workers with equal pay and treatment.

The rally was organised by the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions. The police estimated the crowd at 10,000 people.

The union members also demanded that the government scrap the restructuring of the shipbuilding and automobile industries, and reform the huge conglomerates that dominate the South Korean economy.

INDONESIA

About 10,000 workers from various labor groups rallied near the presidential palace in Jakarta to voice their demands.

Most of the workers came from Jakarta and nearby suburbs, but some travelled from West Java and Surabaya.

The protesters urged the government to avoid outsourcing, and to raise their wages. They also asked the government to stop foreign labourers from working in Indonesia, saying it decreases employment opportunities for local workers.

CAMBODIA

About 2000 garment workers gathered at a park in Cambodia's capital, Phnom Penh, for a rally organised by a garment union coalition.

The workers wanted to march to the National Assembly to urge lawmakers to help them address labor-related concerns, but the group was stopped by riot police.

Prime Minister Hun Sun spent May Day with some 5000 garment workers just outside Phnom Penh. He thanked the workers by announcing that each of them will receive 50,000 riel (NZ$17.70). With a general election coming up in July, Hun Sen for the past year has been courting the large bloc of garment workers, whose unions traditionally have been strong supporters of the opposition.

 - AP

May Day - Deputy Lands Minister Congratulates All Workers

Lawyer Barbara Oteng-Gyasi appreciates workers on this day

Deputy Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Lawyer Barbara Oteng-Gyasi has congratulated all workers in Ghana and beyond for a great work done.

As workers worldwide celebrate the International Workers Day otherwise known as "May Day" today, Ghanaian trade unions and labour associations across the country mark the day with a parade.

The Deputy Minister who doubles as a Member of Parliament for Prestea-Huni Valley, has indicated that the celebration is not meant for long speeches but to socialize with others and forge ahead with new hope.

She used the celebration to congratulate all gallant workers and wished them the very best in their endeavours.

Below is the full statement :

Hon. Lawye r(Mrs.) Barbara Oteng-Gyasi salutes workers on May Day

Today marks International Workers Day popularly referred to as May Day and I would like to congratulate all workers in Ghana and beyond especially our gallant workers in the Prestea Huni Valley Constituency/Municipality for your hardwork and dedication to duty.

This country and it's vibrant economy undoubtedly rests on your shoulders. It is your hardwork day and night is what puts us on the pedestal. I am proud of you and also proud to be celebrating this auspicious day with all workers.

I am aware that at the Labour Front there are many challenges which need urgent governmental attention. I can assure you that government is not resting on it's oars. The ultimate objective of government is to ensure that the Ghanaian worker becomes better off and that is exactly what we are committed to achieving within the shortest possible time.

May Days are not for long speeches but socializition, fraternal exchanges, networking, taking stock of the past, making new resolutions and forging ahead with new hope and tenacity of purpose. I would therefore like to once again congratulate our gallant workers and wish you the very best in all your endeavors.

Let me take this opportunity to extend sincerest condolences to the wife and family of the fallen hero, a hardworking Police Officer No 47108 G/L Nicholas Duku from Tarkwa Division who was shot dead by four (4) masked armed robbers at Bogoso on Sunday 29th April, 2018. He died through service to God and country and we are deeply saddened by the loss. I trust the Ghana Police Service to clamp down on the perpetrators of this heinous crime and bring them to book with all the alacrity it deserves. I will personally go and commiserate with the wife and family in due course.

Thank you and may the Almighty God continue to bless us workers and grant all our heart desires.

Long Live Workers

Long Live Prestea Huni Valley

Long Live Ghana

IMF Approves $191m Credit Facility for Ghana After Reviews

May 01 , 2018 , 09:10
Graphic.com.gh

The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Monday completed the fifth and sixth reviews of Ghana’s economic performance under the program supported by an Extended Credit Facility (ECF) arrangement.

Completion of the reviews enables the disbursement of about US$191 million, bringing total disbursements under the arrangement to about US$764.1 million.

A statement from the Fund said during the review, adjustments were made to the program to ensure that it remains on track and to enhance its prospects of success. In this context, the Executive Board also granted waivers, including for deviations in a few program targets.

Ghana’s three-year arrangement was approved on April 3, 2015 for about US$955.2 million or 180 percent of quota at the time of approval of the arrangement.

It aims to restore debt sustainability and macroeconomic stability in the country to foster a return to high growth and job creation, while protecting social spending .

Following the Executive Board’s discussion on Ghana, Mr. Tao Zhang, Acting Chair and Deputy Managing Director, said “Implementation of the ECF-supported program has significantly improved in 2017. Growth has rebounded, the fiscal deficit has declined, leading to a primary surplus for the first time in fifteen years, the external position has strengthened, generating a build-up of external buffers, and key steps have been taken to address fragilities in the financial sector. Reforms should continue to entrench these hard-won gains”

“ The authorities’ commitment to fiscal discipline and the expenditure restraint shown in 2017 to meet the end-year deficit target are commendable. The government should continue to implement its fiscal consolidation program, with the adjustment focused mainly on increased domestic revenue mobilization. The recent announcement to enact revenue measures in the context of the mid-year budget review in July is welcome. Such measures will be critical to ensure that Ghana’s fiscal policies can be sustained over time.

“Gains from fiscal consolidation and macroeconomic stability need to be underpinned by continued efforts to implement wide-ranging and ambitious reforms. The public financial management regulations recently submitted to Parliament should help strengthen budget formulation and execution. Stronger oversight over the management of public finances should continue to be pursued, also in line with recommendations from the audit of unpaid bills.

“As the debt burden remains elevated, continued prudence in debt management is essential to reduce the risks associated with market-based borrowing. It will be important as intended, to undertake liability management operations with part of the proceeds from the planned Eurobond to help mitigate foreign-exchange roll-over risk and smooth the debt maturity profile.

“Monetary policy should continue to be focused on achieving the inflation target. In this context, while the decision to extend and publish the memorandum of understanding on zero financing of the government by the Bank of Ghana is welcome, additional amendments to the Bank of Ghana Act would be a more robust way to eliminate the prospect of fiscal dominance.

“The authorities should continue addressing fragilities in the financial sector. Further actions to tackle the overhang in non-performing loans and more progress on regulatory reforms and in strengthening oversight and cleaning up the microfinance sector will help support credit to the private sector. The recent bank intervention should be followed up with decisive action to restore the bank’s solvency and financial viability.

“The Fund is looking forward to the successful completion of the ECF arrangement in the coming year and stands ready to continue to support Ghana in the future.”

Blast Kills at Least 24 in Northeast Nigeria: Police

Residents say two suicide bombers detonated explosives at a mosque and a market in Mubi town.

At least 24 people have been killed in a double suicide attack on a mosque and a market in northeast Nigeria, police say.

More than a dozen were hurt in the explosions in the town of Mubi on Tuesday.

Abdullahi Yerima, police commissioner in Adamawa state, said a suicide bomber detonated explosives at the mosque at about 1pm (12:00 GMT) and a second bomber exploded a device 200 metres away as worshippers fled, Reuters news agency reported.

"As I am talking to you now, 24 persons are confirmed dead and the scene is cordoned off by anti-bomb squads and other security personnel," state police spokesman Othman Abubakar was quoted as saying by The Associated Press.

Two local residents who had attended the funerals of the victims told AFP news agency that more than 60 people were killed in the attack.

It was the second time in six months that dozens have been killed in an attack on a Mubi mosque. Last November, a teenage suicide bomber attacked worshippers as they gathered for morning prayers, killing at least 50 people in one of the region's deadliest assaults in years.

Haruna Hamman Furo, the head of the Adamawa state emergency management agency, described Tuesday's attack as "devastating".

Roof 'blown off'

Residents said they saw a young man wearing a suicide vest entering the mosque with the worshippers.

Isa Danladi said he was about to leave his house near the mosque when he heard the blast.

"The mosque roof was blown off and the prayer was midway when the bomber, who was obviously in the congregation, detonated his explosives," Danladi said. "This is obviously the work of Boko Haram."

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but the blasts bore the hallmarks of the armed Boko Haram group, which has waged a deadly campaign of violence in Africa's most populous country since 2009, and often deploys suicide bombers in crowded places.

More than 20,000 people have been killed in the insurgency, which has also forced some two million to flee their homes.

Boko Haram held territory in Adamawa state in 2014, but troops pushed the group out in early 2015 and Mubi was relatively peaceful until the suicide bomb attack in November 2017 that killed 50 people.

Insecurity has become a politically charged subject in the run-up to a national election next year that President Muhammadu Buhari - who took office in 2015 with a promise to end Boko Haram's push to create an Islamic state in the northeast - has said he wants to contest.

Reporting from Abuja, Al Jazeera's Jamela Alindogan said the attack came at a "critical time".

"The Nigerian army launched an intensive operation around Lake Chad where it is believed that Boko Haram members with allegiance and connections to ISIL are based out of," she said.

"The Nigerian army has put a deadline to finish the presence of the Boko Haram group in at least about four months, but many question whether that's possible given that the majority of the focus is on a military solution and not on a societal one."

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES

60 Worshippers Killed in Twin Bomb Attacks in Mubi

May 2, 2018 2:25 am 63 0
ThisDay

• Buhari orders recruitment of 6,000 policemen nationwide

• Says lazy youths controversy, media creation

Daji Sani in Yola with agency report

No fewer than 60 worshippers were killed and 68 others injured as twin-bomb explosions which bore the unmistaken signature of the Boko Haram terror sect on Tuesday rocked a mosque in Mubi, Adamawa State, North-east of Nigeria while the worshippers were holding the Zuhr (afternoon) prayer.

Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the recruitment of 6,000 additional policemen as part of fresh measures to address the nation’s security challenges including the farmers/herdsmen clashes across the country.

The president dropped the hint in a special interview session with Voice of America, Hausa service, in Washington, United States on Tuesday morning, reported the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

According to the accounts of two local residents who attended funerals of the victims as reported by the AFP, the deaths toll is likely to rise as more bodies could be recovered from the twin bomb blast scene.

One of them, Muhammad Hamidu, confirmed that: “I took part in the burial of 68 people. More bodies were being brought by families of the victims.”

Another resident, Abdullahi Labaran, said: “We left 73 freshly dug graves where each victim was buried.”

Although the police spokesperson in the state, Othman Abubakar, a superintendent of police, gave an initial figure of 24 persons who died in the first blast which occurred at about 1:00 p.m; another eyewitness who claimed to be at the scene of the rescue operations said 31 bodies were counted.

Rescue worker Sani Kakale said: “In my presence, 42 dead bodies were taken to the hospital and 68 injured.”

A source at Mubi General Hospital told AFP they had “so far” received 37 bodies and dozens of the injured, many of them critically.

Although neither an individual nor group has claimed responsibility for the attacks, suspicion immediately fell on Boko Haram, the jihadist group whose quest to establish a hardline Islamic state in northeast Nigeria has left at least 20,000 dead since 2009.

“While people were evacuating the victims of the first blast, another explosion occurred,” Abubakar told PREMIUM TIMES.

‘’As I am talking to you now, 24 persons are confirmed dead. The scene has been cordoned off by the anti-bomb squad and other security personnel,’’ Mr Abubakar said.

Eyewitnesses had earlier reported that ‘’many lives were lost and several persons injured”.

The explosion was allegedly triggered by a teenage boy wearing a suicide vest.

Garba Habu, a local resident, said he counted over eight corpses at the scene.

‘’A boy of about 18-19 -years wearing a suicide vest was said to have entered the mosque along with other worshippers. Immediately after the prayers, he detonated the bomb,” he said.

Another resident, Isa Danladi, said he was about to leave his house near the mosque when he heard the blast

“Many people died on the spot and several others were taken to hospital with severe injuries,” he said.

“The mosque’s roof was blown off. The prayer was mid-way when the bomber detonated the explosives. This is obviously the work of Boko Haram,” he said.

Haruna Hamman Furo, head of Adamawa State Emergency Management Agency, described the blast as “devastating”, saying there were “high casualties”.

‘’It was a twin-blast and the detail is sketchy but we are in touch with our partners of Red Cross and others that are helping now.

“For now dead bodies are being evacuated and those injured have been taken to hospitals. Right now we are on our way to Mubi,’’ he said.

The insurgents briefly overran Mubi in late 2014 as they rampaged across North-east Nigeria, seizing towns and villages in a quest to establish an Islamic state.

The insurgents changed the town’s name to Madinatul Islam, or “City of Islam”, during their brief occupation period.

But it has been peaceful since the Nigerian military and civilian militias ousted them and recovered the town, which is a commercial hub and host of the Adamawa State University.

In recent months, Boko Haram’s activities had been concentrated in the far north of the state around Madagali, near the boundary with Borno State.

There have been repeated suicide bombings in the area, which lies close to the Sambisa Forest in Borno where the militants had a base.

Boko Haram fighters are also said to be hiding in the Mandara mountains in the east of Adamawa State and on the border with Cameroon.

The Adamawa State Head of Operations, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Imam Ambani Garki, also confirmed the incident but said the agency has deployed personnel to ascertain the situation as the agency could not confirm the number of deaths.

He said it has been for a long time such an incident has occurred and NEMA is making effort to respond quickly to the situation.

Mubi has been repeatedly targeted in attacks blamed on Boko Haram since it was briefly overrun by the militants in late 2014.

Nigeria’s government and military have long maintained that the Islamic State group affiliate is a spent force and on the verge of defeat.

But there has been no let-up in attacks in the northeast, particularly in Borno State, adjacent to Adamawa, which has been the epicentre of the violence.

Last Thursday, at least four people were killed when suicide bombers and fighters attempted to storm the Borno State capital, Maiduguri, raising fresh questions about security.

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has been in the United States this week and met his US counterpart Donald Trump, who pledged more support in the fight against Boko Haram.

Nigeria has bought a dozen A-29 Super Tucano light fighter aircraft in a $496-million (413-million-euro) deal. Trump indicated a further order for attack helicopters was also in the pipeline.

“These new aircraft will improve Nigeria’s ability to target terrorists and protect civilians,” Trump told a joint news conference with Buhari in Washington on Monday.

In Mubi, local volunteer Habu Saleh, who was involved in the rescue effort, described the situation as “chaos all over the place”.

“We have evacuated dozens of dead and injured people to the hospital and the rescue operation is still ongoing,” he said.

Health workers from the hospital mobilised to attend to the victims, despite being on strike over pay and conditions.

Mubi resident Abdullahi Labaran said the first bomber mingled with worshippers who had gathered for prayers at the mosque at the edge of the market.

He detonated his explosives “five minutes before the prayer started”, he added.

The second bomber blew himself up among the crowds of worshippers, traders and shoppers who fled the mosque towards the butchery section of a nearby market.

On November 21, 2017, at least 50 people were killed when a suicide bomber blew himself up in a mosque during early morning prayers in the Unguwar Shuwa area of Mubi.

In October 2012, at least 40 people were killed in an attack on students housing in Mubi that was widely blamed on Boko Haram.

In June 2014, at least 40 football supporters, including women and children, died in a bomb attack after a match in the Kabang area of the town.

Buhari Orders Recruitment of 6,000 Policemen Nationwide

President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the recruitment of 6,000 additional policemen as part of fresh measures to address the nation’s security challenges including the farmers/herdsmen clashes across the country.

The president made this known in a special interview session with Voice of America, Hausa service, in Washington, United States on Tuesday morning.

President Buhari, who is in the U.S. on the invitation of the American President Donald Trump, revealed that additional security measures were being put in place to check cases of insecurity in Nigeria.

“We will put in place more measures to check insecurity in the country including increasing the number of policemen and train them.

“I have approved the recruitment of 6,000 policemen by the police authorities and I directed that those recruited must come from all the 774 local government areas of the federation.

“Even if it means recruiting one person each from the 774 they should do that instead of going to motor parks, railway stations or market for the recruitment exercise.

“I gave (Police authorities) them this directive,’’ he said.

The president, who expressed reservation on the call for the establishment of state police as being advocated by state governors, said Nigerians must abide by constitutional provision in regard to the matter.

The Chairman, Nigeria Governors’ Forum, Governor Abdulaziz Yari, had in February said creation of state police would help in addressing the spate of insecurity in the country.

Yari, who is also the Zamfara State Governor, said this at the end of a two-day summit organised by the Senate Ad hoc Committee on Review of Current Security Infrastructure in Nigeria.

He said: “Today we have reiterated the position of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.

“And the position of the security summit we held in August, that there is a need for the state police; we can say it is the only answer.”

However, President Buhari maintained that the creation of state police would not augur well for the finances of the states, adding that some of them were finding it difficult to meet their financial obligations to workers and other state needs.

“We must carefully look at the position of the nation’s constitution on the issue of state police before we take final decision on the matter if the constitution allows state police so be it.

“But don’t forget that many times the Federal Government gave out what we referred to as bail out to state governments for payment of workers’ salaries. How many states can pay salary promptly? and you want to add more financial burden to the states.

“It is not proper to employ a person, train him on how to handle weapons and then refuse to pay him – you can imagine what would happen in such situation,’’ he said.

Lazy Youths Controversy, Media Creation

On his purported comment on youth while in London, President Buhari dismissed the report, saying that the media only preferred to interpret and report what they like instead of concentrating on developmental journalism.

He said: “You know Nigeria’s population is now between 180 and 190 million and 60 per cent of this population is youth that is 30 years down ward.

“You know in the North most youths are uneducated or school dropouts. If not because we had good harvests in the last two farming seasons the situation would have been deteriorated.

“These youths even if they travel out of the North for greener pasture they hardly make it economically because what they earn as income cannot afford them to meet their basic needs or return home.

“All these explanations I made, they refused to highlight them in their report and you know the media in Nigeria in most cases only do what they like.

“For instance the nation’s achievements in the agricultural sector where millions of Nigerians benefitted financially were left unreported by the media.

“Even when the Minister of Information and Culture wanted to reply that abusive letter written by former President Olusegun Obasanjo, I had wanted Lai not to reply the letter but I said I should allow him to highlight the achievements of our administration.’’

President Buhari also used the opportunity to debunk the insinuation that Christians were being killed by herdsmen.

He said that clashes between farmers and herdsmen had been in existence for the past years, saying that Nigerian herdsmen were not in the habit of carrying dangerous weapons while moving their animals around the country.

On what he does during his leisure time, President Buhari said he hardly listened to music but rather always obeyed his doctors’ advice on the need to eat and have enough rest.