Category: Uncategorized

Update: The Union In Quebec Is Prepping Another “Unfair Labor” Charge / Admin. Litigation — Against Amazon’s Mass Closures, There…

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Normally, I’d only put up one Amazon-labor related post a month nowadays, but it infuriates me that Bezos’ lawyers think that they can ignore controlling Canadian labor law — and just “run away bride” — while likely transferring essentially all these operations and facilities to new contractors (as well as keep selling online in Canada), solely to avoid mandatory, binding collective bargaining / arbitration, there.

Bezos seeks to keep the bulk of his profitable cash from operations flowing, while ignoring fair wages for his workforce. Damn.

And so… here are the highlights, from the English language version of the timeline the union has laid out, as it preps litigation:

…May 10, 2024 | The Administrative Labour Tribunal determines that the union represents the majority of workers at Amazon’s DXT4 warehouse. The Laval Amazon Workers Union—CSN is certified and becomes the first — and only — Amazon union in Canada….

July 31, 2024 | Administrative Labour Tribunal Judge Henrik Ellefsen orders Amazon to remove and destroy all the anti-union posters the company has put up at its facilities, ruling that the messages “constitute warnings to employees about sensitive issues and are clearly likely to alarm them about the possible consequences of joining a union.” Judge Ellefsen also orders Amazon to pay the union $30,000 in moral and punitive damages….

October 22, 2024 | The ALT rejects Amazon’s constitutional argument on the grounds that Amazon has neither the standing nor the interest to seek revocation of the certification decision. In her ruling, Judge Irène Zaïkoff dismisses Amazon’s constitutional challenge out of hand, as well as its motion for revocation of the decision to certify the DXT4 warehouse union. Soon afterwards, Amazon announces that it will appeal….

January 2025 | Knowing the provisions of the Labour Code, Amazon’s lawyers agree to the union bargaining team’s suggestion that they get their house in order and agree on as many clauses as possible in order to reduce the scope of the decision of the arbitrator who will be named following the request for first collective agreement arbitration….

January 22, 2025 | A final bargaining session is scheduled between Amazon and the union. In the early hours of the morning, Amazon’s lawyers inform the union negotiators that all 300 DXT4 employees have been laid off and Amazon is closing its seven warehouses and outsourcing all of its Québec operations….

Yep — there it is — the way billionaires like Musk and Bezos treat people barely making living wages… is deplorable.

नमस्ते

In The Rhode Island Version Of The Freeze TRO Proceedings, There Will Be An “In Chambers Only, Counsels Only” Conference With The Able USDC Judge On Thursday…

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This might most probably be… to figure out if there will be need for discovery/trial, or whether (more probably) Team Tangerine 2.0 intends to make an immediate, interlocutory appeal to the Second Circuit.

I doubt very much that it might be to discuss sanctions, sua sponte by the able Judge — for the “contrary to controlling law” positions the Trump attorneys took on last Friday, but one never knows. More likely (since TROs once granted are considered “urgent, limited time orders“), it is to privately figure out whether immediate hearings need to be docketed in Rhode Island trial level courts, whilst not inadvertently tipping the hands of counsel, for their respective clients, prematurely:

…NOTICE of CONFERENCE:

In-Chambers Conference via Zoom scheduled for Thursday 2/6/2025 at 9:30 AM as a Remote Conference before Chief Judge John J. McConnell, Jr. This conference is for COUNSEL ONLY and Zoom Meeting information has been provided to counsel under separate cover.

THIS IS NOT A PUBLIC HEARING. (Jackson, Ryan)….

Now you know. And I am… (unreasonably) proud, of my new frozen poo-graphic above. Hah. Out.

नमस्ते

A “Later-Gram”: At ~$17.9 Million, Amazon Nearly Doubled The Major Pharmacos, In Election Year Lobby Spending — Stayed Steady With Its Prior Year…

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Okay — this is the end of the lobbying series.

To be clear, I will only detail the medical / health-care delivery items, and (of course!) employee welfare related spend items, from Q4 2024 below, for Amazon. It spends LOTS on hauling / shipping regulations, and FTC issues… and worker/unionization rights / NLRB issues, of course — with nearly 2 million workers globally now.

In any event, here is what the company kept on bending Congressional and agency ears about — even as the 2024 national election took place:

…▲ Issues related to broadband access and affordability, satellite communications, space safety, spectrum, including the Spectrum and National Security Act of 2024 (S. 4207), device accessibility, Section 230 reform, content moderation, and online video, including the Satellite and Telecommunications Streamlining Act (S. 4010), the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2024 (H.R. 8467), and implementation of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (P.L. 117-58)….

▲ Issues related to intellectual property, including copyright reform and artificial intelligence; counterfeits, including the SHOP Safe Act (S. 3934 / H.R. 8684), music licensing, and issues related to patent reform, intermediary liability, and rights of publicity. Issues related to patent reform, including the PREVAIL Act (S. 2220) and the Patent Eligibility Restoration Act (S. 2140)….

▲ Issues related to taxes, including renewable energy tax credits, digital goods and services, international and corporate taxation, and implementation of the Tax Cut and Jobs Act (P.L. 115-97)….

▲ Issues related to data protection, encryption, data retention, data breach notification, data security, cross border data flows, privacy, including the American Privacy Rights Act of 2024 (H.R. 8818), law enforcement access, fraud prevention, product safety related to the sale of counterfeit and/or stolen products, including the Combating Organized Retail Crime Act (H.R. 895 / S. 140), cloud computing, including the American Data Privacy and Protection Act (H.R. 8152), Esther’s Law (S. 4298), and implementation of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (P.L. 110-314). Issues related to artificial intelligence safety and research and development, including the Future of AI Innovation Act (S. 4178), the AI Research Innovation, and Accountability Act (S. 3312), the Protecting Consumers from Deceptive AI Act (H.R. 7766), the National AI Commission Act (H.R. 4223), and the Create AI Act (S. 2714)….

▲ Issues related to postal rates, service performance, implementation of the Postal Service Reform Act of 2022 (P.L. 117-108), and the transportation of hazardous materials….

▲ Issues related to immigration, high-skilled immigration, and non-immigrant visas, including issues related to employment-based visas, green card backlog, and the STEM visa exemption provision….

▲ Issues related to US trade policy, including USMCA, the World Trade Organization, the World Customs Organization, China, country of origin labeling, US customs policy and procedures, US tariffs, foreign direct investment… including in the EU, Asia, and Latin America, the COOL Online Act (H.R. 6299 / S. 1421), and the ENFORCE Act (H.R. 8315)….

▲ Issues related to USDA SNAP online purchasing, including reauthorization of the Agricultural Improvement Act of 2018 (P.L. 115-334), the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2024 (H.R. 8467), Electronic Benefit Transfer, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), and food safety….

▲ Issues related to veterans hiring and training, employee compensation and benefits, workplace safety, competition, contracting, and minimum wage, including the AMERICA Act (S. 1073), and the Warehouse Worker Protection Act (H.R. 8639 / S. 4260)….

▲ Issues related to STEM education, computer science education, and job training in the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 (P.L. 117-167), and implementation of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024 (P.L. 118-31)….

▲ Issues related to IT modernization, cybersecurity… implementation of the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018 (P.L. 115-435)….

▲ Issues related to health information technology, Medicare, healthcare and telehealth, including the Telehealth Expansion Act (H.R. 1843 / S. 1001), the Telehealth Benefit Expansion for Workers Act (H.R. 824), the CONNECT for Health Act (S. 2016 / H.R. 4189), the Telehealth Modernization Act (H.R. 7623 / S. 3967), and the Primary Care Enhancement Act (H.R. 3029 / S. 628); issues related to pharmacy, including the Better Mental Health Care, Lower-Cost Drugs, and Extenders Act (S. 3430); and issues related to Fiscal Year 2025 appropriations bills and the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2025 (H.R. 9029)….

▲ Issues related to Amazons Climate Pledge, including alternative fuel vehicles, electric vehicle charging infrastructure, renewable electricity data, federal fleet electrification, maritime and shipping decarbonization, data center energy, sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), low-carbon R&D, and plastics. Issues related to energy and environmental provisions in the Infrastructure and Jobs Investment Act (P.L. 117-58) and the Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2025 (H.R. 8998)….

And… there you have it — all while the company fires 2,000 team members in Quebec, Canada for joining a union. Closed shop. Damnation.

नमस्ते

IAVI Begins First Doses In “Open Label” Investigational Clinical Trial — Ebola Sudan Strain Vaccine, Deployed — In Kampala, Uganda…

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Well… it turns out that at least the first dosings in Kampala will not be the one under development at/by Soligenix.

The non-profit international alliance for vaccines, IAVI, will use a self-developed Sudan variant vaccine candidate with these first 44 contacts in Kampala. Here’s that story:

…The first participants have been vaccinated with an investigational Ebola Sudan vaccine candidate provided by IAVI, a nonprofit scientific research organization, as part of a World Health Organization (WHO)-led ring vaccination trial taking place at Makerere University Lung Institute in Kampala. WHO prioritized evaluation of IAVI’s candidate vaccine, which was already prepositioned in Uganda, as part of a global collaborative effort supporting the country’s Ebola outbreak response.

This is Uganda’s sixth outbreak of Ebola Sudan, which causes severe hemorrhagic fever disease with a case fatality rate of up to 50%. No licensed vaccines or therapeutics are available for Ebola Sudan, a Category A priority pathogen. Existing Ebola Zaire vaccines are not cross-protective for Ebola Sudan….

Onward, grinning into warmer (if rather gray) weather now… be excellent to one another.

नमस्ते

Merck Delivers Solid GAAP Results, But China HPV Franchise Sales Still Sluggish… Thus, An NYSE Dip.

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Not even remotely… surprising (if you are a regular reader, here). The NYSE decline is overwrought, though — to be sure.

So much so, that an eleven year old legacy graphic fits today’s news — nicely. Heh.

And my twelve month target remains at $130/share — due to the earnings juggernaut that is pembrolizumab (continuing to about 2032). But China is not vaccinating with Gardasil at the levels it used to, so the NYSE pre-market is showing a ~7% down-bubble (pre-market):

…Fourth-quarter adjusted earnings of $1.72 a share topped Wall Street’s call for $1.61, while global sales of $15.6 billion beat the FactSet consensus of $15.5 billion.

For the full year, earnings of $7.65 a share surpassed estimates of $7.53. Sales of $64.2 billion also beat expectations….

Now you know — and the decline in trading price will be a temporary dip — onward, grinning.

नमस्ते

Yawn. Scott Thinks The Black Sharpie Scribble Means… Anything?! Nope.

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Scott writes that Tangerine 2.0’s scribbles with a Sharpie (of last week, already!) are the “greatest policy changes in a century”.

Hilarious — and charmingly… naive.

They (aspire to be, at least) among the most radical. But they are not even putative “changes”.

All of the things he attempts (and Scott cheers), require new legislation from Congress, and Scott knows it.

As to this specific Sharpie scribble — a purported “change” to EEO laws (which Scott trumpets), there would need to be a revision to the 14th Amendment — and/or an overruling of about now 70 years of United States Supreme Court jurisprudence.

Read: not gonna’ happen.

But whatever son… Believe whatever you want.

He is, after all your “special ed” child.

And Now, In The Purported “No More Birthright” Case, There Will Also Be Public Audio Feeds, Via YouTube, This Thursday — I’ll Listen In…

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As promised, here it is — the Thursday motion for a preliminary injunction against Tangerine 2.0, that’s set for a hearing on February 6. [Tangerine claims he can eliminate specific sections of the Fourteenth Amendment — with one swipe of his black Sharpie. Poppycock.]

In any event, here is the public audio feed / YouTube listeners’ link, for that day and time:

…NOTICE TO THE PARTIES: The Court [in the Western District of Washington] will provide remote audio public access for the Preliminary Injunction Hearing set for 2/6/2025 at 10:00 AM in Courtroom 16206 before U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour.

Remote public audio access has been authorized for the Preliminary Injunction Hearing in State of Washington, et al. v. Donald Trump, et al. Case number 2:25-cv-00127-JCC.

The hearing begins at 10:00 a.m. PST, on Thursday, February 6, 2025.

Audio access will be provided via YouTube at the following link:

https://youtube.com/live/jbFNoCkakV0?feature=share….

Now you know — he will get shellacked, again.

नमस्ते

Tangerine 2.0’s “Freeze” Argument… “Strains Credulity…” “The Court Can Think of Few Things More Disingenuous…” Ouch.

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The roundly-expected 30 page TRO, and reasoned opinion — of the able USDC Judge AliKhan is now published — minutes ago to the public docket, in full. Do read it all.

But let’s quote the nearly unprecedented take-down — of a sitting POTUS’s lack of candor, and thus — loss of credibility, with the courts. He’s lost the “presumption of good faith” most governmental actors are accorded in federal court. Ouch:

. . .Defendants are correct that courts of this circuit generally hesitate “to impute such manipulative conduct to a coordinate branch of government.” Pub. Citizen, Inc., 92 F.4th at 1128-29 (quoting Clarke v. United States, 915 F.2d 699, 705 (D.C. Cir. 1990) (en banc)). But this reluctance does not apply when the government defendant deliberately acts “in order to avoid litigation.” Alaska v. U.S. Dep’t of Agric., 17 F.4th 1224, 1229 (D.C. Cir. 2021) (quoting Am. Bar Ass’n v. Fed. Trade Comm’n, 636 F.3d 641, 648 (D.C. Cir. 2011)). Here, Defendants’ plea for a presumption of good faith rings hollow when their own actions contradict their representations. . . .

Within hours of OMB’s rescission, White House Press Secretary Leavitt announced that the rescission was to have no tangible effect on “the federal funding freeze.” Leavitt, X (formerly Twitter) (Jan. 29, 2025), https://perma.cc/99C4-5V6G. Moreover, she explained that the primary purpose of the rescission was “[t]o end any confusion created by the court’s injunction.” Id. That statement unambiguously reflects that the rescission was in direct response to this court’s issuance of an administrative stay on January 28.5 For Defendants to innocently claim that OMB’s post stay actions were merely a noble attempt to “end[] confusion,” ECF No. 26, at 8, strains credulity….

By rescinding the memorandum that announced the freeze, but “NOT… the federal funding freeze” itself, id., it appears that OMB sought to overcome a judicially imposed obstacle without actually ceasing the challenged conduct. The court can think of few things more disingenuous. Preventing a defendant from evading judicial review under such false pretenses is precisely why the voluntary cessation doctrine exists. The rescission, if it can be called that, appears to be nothing more than a thinly veiled attempt to prevent this court from granting relief….

Yep. That’s… a banger! You’ll need to get some ice on that Mr. Trump. Your back porch? It’s very bright… red, from the whuppin’ — one you richly earned, and deserved. Out — heh.

नमस्ते

And The Monthly Amazon Labor Item? From Quebec, Canada… And Timely. AMZN Abandons 2,000 Workers Immediately After They Vote In A Union.

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[I apologize — I’m a little late on this development, but Tangerine’s silly “flood the zone” efforts, down here in the lower 48 keep us hoppin’.]

Here’s that Bezos / carpet-bagger item: Wow. I gather Mr. Bezos brazenly fancies himself some form of a latter day Canadian railroad baron. Damn. [This would have been a second, and much larger, unionized facility in Quebec — see legacy graphic below, at right.]

I suppose he thinks he’s at least a lil’ like Elon — can do whatever he likes. He’s in for a rude awakening, on this. [And do consider his on record statements, about stepping away from inclusive workforce initiatives, here in the US.] Here’s The Hill, on it all:

…Last week, Amazon made a stunning decision to shutter its operations in Quebec, laying off approximately 2,000 workers. The reason? Workers at the company’s facilities in the Canadian province had just unionized.

This move — clear and brazen retaliation against organized labor — has reverberated beyond Canada’s borders. It’s not just a story about Quebec, Amazon or the 2,000 workers who now face sudden unemployment. It’s a global story — one with significant implications for the U.S. and the broader fight for workers’ rights….

To be clear, this is in no small measure why — at Raptors games played up north now, the Canadian fans have taken (since the end of January) to booing, when the US national anthem is played, after “Oh! Canada“. Holy smokes. Out.

नमस्ते