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News releases, reports, statements and associated documents from U.S. foundations.
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Workers in Three-Year Push for Vote to Oust Union Rebut NLRB Chairman's Argument That Their Election Should Be Blocked
SPRINGFIELD, Virginia, Aug. 4 (TNSPol) -- The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation issued the following news release:
Workers at a Memphis branch of Geodis Logistics filed a brief with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) asking the Board to finally hold a union decertification election the workers have been requesting for over three years. The brief blasted a dissenting opinion by NLRB Chairman Lauren McFerran that argued the workers' petition should be blocked and the NLRB should not even review their case.
In March 2018, Geodis employee Mary Alexis Ray collected the requisite
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SPRINGFIELD, Virginia, Aug. 4 (TNSPol) -- The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation issued the following news release:
Workers at a Memphis branch of Geodis Logistics filed a brief with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) asking the Board to finally hold a union decertification election the workers have been requesting for over three years. The brief blasted a dissenting opinion by NLRB Chairman Lauren McFerran that argued the workers' petition should be blocked and the NLRB should not even review their case.
In March 2018, Geodis employee Mary Alexis Ray collected the requisitenumber of her coworkers' signatures and submitted a petition to NLRB Region 15 requesting a vote to remove officials of the United Steel Workers union from her workplace. Union officials initially signed an election agreement, but later filed unfair labor practice charges against Geodis, which the Region used as justification to cancel the election.
Because of those pending union "blocking charges" against Geodis, NLRB Region 15 would not grant an election under the presumption that Geodis's alleged wrongdoing had impacted the workers' opposition to the union. In response, Ray collected signatures on a second petition, but was again shot down by the Region.
Two years later, Geodis settled the unfair labor practice charges with no admission of wrongdoing. Given that the charges used to block the decertification petitions had been settled, Geodis asked Region 15 officials to reinstate the workers' petition, but their request was rejected once again. Geodis then asked the full NLRB to review the Region's decision, and the Board's majority agreed to review the case and requested briefs from all parties. But NLRB Chairman Lauren McFerran dissented, arguing the workers' petition should not be reinstated at the employer's request.
With free legal aid from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, Ray, who previously had acted on her own without a lawyer, filed a response brief that excoriated McFerran, currently the Board's lone Democratic appointee. McFerran is poised to soon lead a new Biden majority when two longtime union lawyers nominated by President Biden will both be seated.
In her dissent, McFerran wrote: "An employer has no statutory standing to seek the reinstatement and processing of a decertification petition that has been dismissed by a Regional Director." She added that, because "the employee who filed these petitions has not sought their reinstatement," the employer "is not free now to take over an employee-initiated decertification effort that employees themselves seem to have abandoned."
That Ray filed a response brief disproves McFerran's baseless assertion that the petition was abandoned by the workers. The brief took McFerran to task for her faulty reasoning: "The legal definition of abandonment requires intentionality...Petitioner Ray never contacted the Region and attempted to withdraw the petition and nothing suggests the unit composition had radically changed, or that the employees repudiated the original decertification effort."
The workers did not know whether Geodis had complied with its settlement, and could not have known when it was appropriate to file for reinstatement of their petition. As Ray's brief states, "The fact that Petitioners did not have their own labor lawyers to push the case forward when they did not have the necessary information or means to do so, does not show a lack of interest in, or an abandonment of, these proceedings."
One party did have the requisite information to file for reinstatement: Geodis. Accordingly, the employer filed for reinstatement of the workers' petition once it had settled the blocking charges. But McFerran objected, saying that employers lack the legal standing to call for such reinstatements.
Ray's brief explains that exclusion of employers makes it nearly impossible for workers to carry out their own decertification efforts because they have little knowledge of the employer-union disputes that are blocking their elections. Instead, the brief argues, "the entity with the most knowledge of the underlying facts would be best suited to file a Request for Review and/or a request to reinstate the petition--and that entity is the employer, not the petitioning employee."
"Chairman McFerran apparently desires to neuter employees' decertifications by making it impossible for their petitions to be defended." Employers are not supposed to interfere in employee decertification efforts, but that clearly is not the situation in this case. As Ray's brief contends, "It is farcical to say that an employer 'interferes' 'restrains' or 'coerces' employees by filing a legal brief asking for reinstatement of the petition the employees themselves collected and filed."
Given that McFerran's arguments are "farcical" under current law, Ray's brief suggests McFerran may have derived them from laws-yet-to-be. As the brief puts it, her dissent "appears to herald a backdoor administrative effort to adopt a provision of the so-called Protecting the Right to Organize Act ('PRO Act') that would disqualify employers as parties in all election cases - without regard to whether Congress ever passes such unprecedented and radical legislation."
In the intervening three years since she filed her petitions, Ray was promoted to a management position outside the union's control. Her brief therefore asks that Geodis employee Charyl Cathey be made the new petitioner, and asks the Board to schedule a decertification vote without delay.
"The workers at Geodis Logistics have waited over three years for a vote, but the NLRB Chairman wants them to wait even longer, and in fact probably never wants the employees to have any vote to remove the unwanted union," said National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation President Mark Mix. "Mary Alexis Ray went through the effort of collecting signatures on not one, but two, decertification petitions, and after years of NLRB-approved legal delays, Lauren McFerran had the nerve to suggest that employees have abandoned their petition."
"McFerran's position, like the so-called PRO-Act, is just another blatant attempt to rig federal labor law further in favor of union bosses to the detriment of rank-and-file workers opposed to union affiliation."
Statement by Dr. Rajiv J. Shah on the IMF Approval of $650 Billion Allocation of Special Drawing Rights
NEW YORK, Aug. 4 -- The Rockefeller Foundation issued the following statement on Aug. 3, 2021:
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The Rockefeller Foundation thanks the International Monetary Fund's Board of Governors for its approval yesterday of a general allocation of $650 billion in Special Drawing Rights (SDRs). Right now, too few countries have the necessary liquidity to respond to the health and economic crises created by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Thanks to the bold leadership of President Kristalina Georgieva and the support of shareholder nations, the IMF has now taken the decisive action necessary to provide billions
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NEW YORK, Aug. 4 -- The Rockefeller Foundation issued the following statement on Aug. 3, 2021:
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The Rockefeller Foundation thanks the International Monetary Fund's Board of Governors for its approval yesterday of a general allocation of $650 billion in Special Drawing Rights (SDRs). Right now, too few countries have the necessary liquidity to respond to the health and economic crises created by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Thanks to the bold leadership of President Kristalina Georgieva and the support of shareholder nations, the IMF has now taken the decisive action necessary to provide billionsof dollars to help the world respond to and recover from Covid-19.
The next step is for advanced economies to meet this moment. They should recycle their new SDR allocations to provide the resources developing nations need to vaccinate and revaccinate their populations at sufficient levels and restart their economies.
Doing so would constitute a historic act of statesmanship, one that provides not just a much needed jolt of liquidity but also a boost to the cause of multilateralism. The IMF's action this week is another important step, one that demonstrates the world can together take the bold actions necessary to finally end this pandemic for everyone.
MasterCard Foundation: Oẏateki Partnership Brings Together Three Leading Institutions to Foster System Change in Service of Saskatchewan Indigenous Youth
SASKATOON, Ontario, Aug. 4 (TNSOps) -- The MasterCard Foundation issued the following news release:
The Oẏateki Partnership is a unique collaboration designed to transform the education and employment systems in Saskatchewan in service of Indigenous young people. Over the next five years, this bold initiative will support 32,000 First Nations and Metis youth: on their path to post-secondary education, throughout their education and training, and as they transition to meaningful employment and entrepreneurship opportunities.
This unprecedented partnership is co-implemented by the Gabriel Dumont
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SASKATOON, Ontario, Aug. 4 (TNSOps) -- The MasterCard Foundation issued the following news release:
The Oẏateki Partnership is a unique collaboration designed to transform the education and employment systems in Saskatchewan in service of Indigenous young people. Over the next five years, this bold initiative will support 32,000 First Nations and Metis youth: on their path to post-secondary education, throughout their education and training, and as they transition to meaningful employment and entrepreneurship opportunities.
This unprecedented partnership is co-implemented by the Gabriel DumontInstitute (GDI), Saskatchewan Indian Institute of Technologies (SIIT), and the University of Saskatchewan (USask) alongside First Nations and Metis youth, communities, and organizations. The Oẏateki Partnership builds on a history of collaboration across the three partner institutions, the unique strengths and relationships that each institution holds, and a strong desire to create a more dynamic, integrated, 'wholistic', and responsive education system that meets the needs of Indigenous youth.
"The Mastercard Foundation has provided us the amazing opportunity to deepen relationships between GDI, SIIT, and USask by engaging in work that transforms educational systems and structures to comprehensively support Indigenous students through their entire educational experience and through to the workforce and careers of choice," said Jacqueline Ottmann, Vice-Provost Indigenous Engagement at USask, "The culturally appropriate programming and initiatives that are identified in the 5-year plan meet the students where they are at and challenges and transforms ineffective pedagogies, methodologies, policies, and practices within our institutions - this is systems change."
This partnership would not be possible without the generous support of the Mastercard Foundation through its EleV Initiative. EleV, launched by the Foundation in 2017, aims to support Indigenous youth in their pathways through education and on to meaningful work and livelihoods reflecting their values, traditions, and aspirations.
"Supporting success for young Indigenous people means transforming education and employment systems based on the direction of Indigenous youth, communities and Nations," said Jennifer Brennan, Head, Canada Programs for Mastercard Foundation. "The Oyateki Partnership is truly innovative in that it will deepen collaboration across the institutions to directly meet the unique, diverse, and evolving needs of First Nations and Metis youth and communities and accelerate their success."
The outcomes of the partnership are ambitious and targeted.
* Support successful transitions to post-secondary for Indigenous youth.
* Increase positive outcomes for Indigenous learners while at post-secondary.
* Support successful transitions from post-secondary into meaningful careers and work for Indigenous youth.
* Strengthen coordination, communication, and integration of the post-secondary and employment systems for Indigenous youth.
These outcomes will drive all activities and ensure the development of a truly inclusive system.
Riel Bellegarde, President and CEO of SIIT explains, "As a post-secondary institution governed by First Nations leaders, we take very seriously our mandate to serve First Nations people and communities. This founding belief extends to our partners, GDI and USask. With the support of the Mastercard Foundation, we have the capacity to drive successful outcomes for Indigenous learners across the province. There is no more important time than now for our province and communities to ensure meaningful Indigenous inclusion in the labour force and the economy."
Indigenous people make up 16% of the total population in Saskatchewan and, since 2006, have grown at a rate four times faster than the non-Indigenous population. Indigenous people in Saskatchewan are also significantly younger, on average, than the non-Indigenous population (28 vs. 41). However, historical systemic barriers have resulted in Indigenous people having higher unemployment rates (~10% higher) and being less likely to have received a post-secondary education than the non-Indigenous population (12% vs. 29%). Despite these realities, Saskatchewan is home to strong, resilient, and culturally grounded Indigenous peoples, Nations, and organizations as well as non-Indigenous allies and organizations committed to furthering reconciliation, decolonization, Indigenization and addressing inequities faced by Indigenous young people. The three partner organizations have been at the forefront of this work. GDI is a Metis-led post-secondary institution, SIIT is a First Nation-led post-secondary institution, and USask is a non-Indigenous university with deep commitments to serving Indigenous learners and communities.
On an individual level, the Oẏateki Partnership seeks to improve levels of self-determination among Indigenous young people in Saskatchewan by increasing their engagement with post-secondary schooling and improving educational attainment and labour market outcomes. Achieving these short-term results will positively and meaningfully contribute to the overall 'wholistic' health, wellbeing, and socio-economic impacts for Indigenous individuals, families, and communities that will be felt in society.
"The Mastercard Foundation's investment in the Oyateki partnership is a huge step forward in closing the education gap for Metis youth across the province. For this, we are so thankful. GDI is proud to contribute to this partnership in a way that creates meaningful change in Metis post-secondary education," said Lisa-Bird Wilson, GDI Executive Director.
With the agreement signed, the partners are excited to begin the search for a managing Director for this ground-breaking collaboration. The position offers a singular opportunity for the right change agent. The Oẏateki Director will have the resources and support to make a significant difference in the economic and social development of Saskatchewan and provide a template for future change across the country.
The concept of Oẏateki as a symbol of this collaboration was gifted to the partnership by Kunsi Connie Wajunta of Standing Buffalo Dakota Nation. Oẏateki is a Dakota word meaning: all people together and leaving no people behind. This sense of gathering holds two meanings for this collaboration. Firstly, the three post-secondary organizations come together in their commitment to empowering Indigenous youth. Secondly, this partnership endeavours to bring all people together into self-determination, the invitation of all people to the table, and the elimination of those barriers that keep us apart.
Lightstrike Mobile Laser Tag Wins Heart Foundation Grant
SUBIACO, Australia, Aug. 4 -- The Heart Foundation issued the following news release:
Children who suffer from motor neuron impairment and are wheelchair bound will be given the chance to play laser tag with able-bodied people as part of a winning project in the Heart Foundation's 2021 Active Australia Innovation Challenge.
The challenge invited tertiary institutions, schools, councils and other organisations to submit innovative ideas for getting people in their communities moving. The winners will each receive a grant of $10,000 to make their project a reality.
Lightstrike Mobile Laser Tag
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SUBIACO, Australia, Aug. 4 -- The Heart Foundation issued the following news release:
Children who suffer from motor neuron impairment and are wheelchair bound will be given the chance to play laser tag with able-bodied people as part of a winning project in the Heart Foundation's 2021 Active Australia Innovation Challenge.
The challenge invited tertiary institutions, schools, councils and other organisations to submit innovative ideas for getting people in their communities moving. The winners will each receive a grant of $10,000 to make their project a reality.
Lightstrike Mobile Laser Tagis an Adelaide-based business delivering immersive laser tag scenarios to a range of groups including social groups and school children. They have won a grant to help create a specially designed and manufactured system for motorised wheelchairs.
Local children who are wheelchair bound but can operate self-control motorised wheelchairs have been asked to help design, test and implement the system. This innovative project is a fun and unique way to exercise.
The grant will go towards purchasing electronic components for the system to create as many wheelchair units for laser tag as possible.
The Heart Foundation received 619 entries in this year's Active Australia Innovation Challenge. This is double the number of 2020 entries and almost five times the number submitted for the first challenge in 2018.
"The initiative has been growing in popularity year-on-year, but even we were surprised by the huge number of entries received for this year's challenge," said the Heart Foundation's SA CEO, Imelda Lynch.
"The Heart Foundation could not be more pleased by this increased participation, given more than two thirds of people in South Australia are not active enough for good heart health. This is a real concern, because being inactive is a risk factor for heart disease.
"One reason for the spike in entries could be that the pandemic has sparked interest in physical activity at a grass-roots level. Being stuck at home for long periods is making everyone appreciate their communities more and think creatively about ways to stay healthy and active.
"Over the four years we've been running this challenge, the Heart Foundation has awarded grants to 45 organisations nationally. A big congratulations to all this year's winners, including Lightstrike Mobile Laser Tag. We look forward to working with you to bring the 'inclusive laser tag' project to life."
Heart Foundation: Queensland Winners Announced in 2021 Active Australia Innovation Challenge
SUBIACO, Australia, Aug. 4 -- The Heart Foundation issued the following news release:
An exercise and health education program for amputees in the Darling Downs and fitness activities for children in an Indigenous community in the state's far north have been named as winning projects in the Heart Foundation's 2021 Active Australia Innovation Challenge.
The challenge invited tertiary institutions, schools, councils and other organisations to submit innovative ideas for getting people in their communities moving. The winners will each receive a grant of $10,000 to make their project a reality.
... Show Full Article
SUBIACO, Australia, Aug. 4 -- The Heart Foundation issued the following news release:
An exercise and health education program for amputees in the Darling Downs and fitness activities for children in an Indigenous community in the state's far north have been named as winning projects in the Heart Foundation's 2021 Active Australia Innovation Challenge.
The challenge invited tertiary institutions, schools, councils and other organisations to submit innovative ideas for getting people in their communities moving. The winners will each receive a grant of $10,000 to make their project a reality.
MET Phys clinic at Highfields has won a grant to start a healthy lifestyle educational program for amputees, their partners and family members in the Darling Downs region in southern Queensland.
According to MET Phys, there are currently no local support groups accessible to amputees, who experience many lifestyle changes that affect their wellbeing and create barriers to being active.
There are also disparities in access to health services in regional areas, despite having high rates of physical inactivity and chronic disease, with amputees at increased risk.
This program aims to give amputees the education and support to make healthy lifestyle changes, be more physically active and build up social support networks. It will be delivered locally by allied health professionals and will alternate between exercise and educational sessions.
The Generation Rising Indigenous Initiative has also won a grant in this year's challenge to host weekly children's fitness activities to support families under pressure in the Northern Peninsula Area and Torres Strait Islands.
With limited opportunities for regular children's sporting activities outside of school in this small Indigenous community in far North Queensland, this group wants to bring back fun, fitness and the great outdoors.
The project will target children aged 7-17, with the aim of building strong youth through positive physical activity. Activities will range from obstacle courses and beach volleyball to nature adventures, making cultural knowledge part of the fun.
The Heart Foundation received 619 entries in this year's Active Australia Innovation Challenge. This is double the number of 2020 entries and almost five times the number submitted for the first challenge in 2018.
"The initiative has been growing in popularity year-on-year, but even we were surprised by the huge number of entries received for this year's challenge," said the Heart Foundation's Director of Active Living, Adjunct Professor Trevor Shilton.
"The Heart Foundation could not be more pleased by this increased participation, given almost seven in 10 people in Queensland are not active enough for good heart health. This is a real concern, because being inactive is a risk factor for heart disease.
"One reason for the spike in entries could be that the pandemic has sparked interest in physical activity at a grass-roots level. Being stuck at home for long periods is making everyone appreciate their communities more and think creatively about ways to stay healthy and active.
"Over the four years we've been running this challenge, the Heart Foundation has awarded grants to 45 organisations nationally. A big congratulations to all this year's winners, including MET Phys and the Generation Rising Indigenous Initiative. We look forward to working with you to bring these projects to life."
Foundation for Individual Rights in Education: Lhamon Fails to Advance Out of Senate Committee
PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania, Aug. 4 (TNSPol) -- The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education issued the following news release:
The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions considered Catherine Lhamon's nomination to be the next assistant secretary for civil rights at the Department of Education, a position she held during the Obama administration from 2013-2016.
Since her nomination was announced, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education has warned about the dangers of Lhamon returning to her former position. Lhamon's Office for Civil Rights ordered schools to
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PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania, Aug. 4 (TNSPol) -- The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education issued the following news release:
The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions considered Catherine Lhamon's nomination to be the next assistant secretary for civil rights at the Department of Education, a position she held during the Obama administration from 2013-2016.
Since her nomination was announced, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education has warned about the dangers of Lhamon returning to her former position. Lhamon's Office for Civil Rights ordered schools toviolate student rights, and she failed to recognize the statutory limits on her authority. Since leaving OCR, she has repeatedly expressed contempt for due process protections.
While Education Secretary Miguel Cardona received bipartisan support from the committee in February, Lhamon's nomination was split on a party-line vote, 11-11, meaning that she did not advance from the committee.
Now, Lhamon's nomination stays in the committee, unless Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer offers a motion to bring her nomination to the Senate floor. That motion would receive four hours of floor debate, and would only advance her candidacy if it passes.
"Between her record and her failure to win the committee vote -- in a committee that voted 17-5 to approve her would-be boss -- it's clear that Catherine Lhamon is the wrong person for this job," said FIRE Executive Director Robert Shibley. "If the Senate is serious about having the Department of Education treat all students' rights seriously, it cannot confirm a nominee with such an abysmal record on campus free speech and due process."
Lhamon had the opportunity during her nomination hearing to state on the record that if she were confirmed, she would keep key procedural protections provided by the Department's Title IX regulations. On each occasion, she declined to do so. Lhamon's repeated refusal to take seriously the rights of all students in Title IX proceedings means she should not be charged with protecting civil rights at the Department of Education.
The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to defending and sustaining the individual rights of students and faculty members at America's colleges and universities. These rights include freedom of speech, freedom of association, due process, legal equality, religious liberty, and sanctity of conscience -- the essential qualities of liberty.
[Category: Education]
Conservation Law Foundation: Merrimack Station Permit Sent Back to Drawing Board
BOSTON, Massachusetts, Aug. 4 (TNSOps) -- The Conservation Law Foundation issued the following news release:
After a challenge from Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) and the Sierra Club, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will be required to revise the water discharge permit it issued to the Merrimack Station coal-fired power plant. The permit failed to include critical water pollution protections that the agency itself had previously proposed, and it would have resulted in unacceptable thermal pollution and killed thousands of fish.
"The Merrimack Station coal plant is destroying the
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BOSTON, Massachusetts, Aug. 4 (TNSOps) -- The Conservation Law Foundation issued the following news release:
After a challenge from Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) and the Sierra Club, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will be required to revise the water discharge permit it issued to the Merrimack Station coal-fired power plant. The permit failed to include critical water pollution protections that the agency itself had previously proposed, and it would have resulted in unacceptable thermal pollution and killed thousands of fish.
"The Merrimack Station coal plant is destroying thehealth of the Merrimack River and it's time they're held accountable," said Greg Cunningham, Vice President and Director of CLF's Clean Energy and Climate Change program. "The permit for this fossil fuel plant must do more to protect this iconic waterbody, and the appeals board clearly agrees. CLF will continue to work with the EPA to make sure the next iteration of this permit protects the wildlife that call the river home."
The EPA's Environmental Appeals Board ordered that the Merrimack Station Clean Water Act wastewater discharge permit must go back to the EPA for reconsideration in a ruling issued today.
Experts are available for further comment.
