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Happy Mother’s Day 2022: As NLRB Indicates There Is Merit To Violations Claims By Amazon Union, At Staten Island…

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First, an important “corrective” note: CNBC’s story on these developments contains a pretty egregious typo. It prints “employee” in place of “employer”, in its bullets and its text. So I won’t link it. The NLRB hasn’t previously held that EMPLOYEES are allowed to mandate “all employee meetings”, to hear a union pitch… ever.

No, as outlined in April 2022, in an official agency memo of law, here is how the General Counsel, Jennifer Abruzzo (also a mom!) of the NLRB describes these rights. This, in turn leads to a finding last week, that Amazon the company, violated eployees’ rights by holding mandatory anti-union organizing meetings, during the regularly scheduled shifts, and cattle-calling all employees into them, leading up to a vote they lost at one plant, and apparently prevailed in — at the second. Here is the relevant part:

…Section 7 guarantees employees “the right to self-organization, to form, join, or assist labor organizations, to bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing, and to engage in other concerted activities for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection.” 29 U.S.C. § 157. It also provides employees with “the right to refrain from any or all of such activities….”

Section 8(a)(1) makes it unlawful for an employer “to interfere with, restrain, or coerce employees in the exercise of the rights guaranteed in section 7.” 29 U.S.C. § 158(a)(1)….

Over 75 years ago, the [NLRB] recognized that the Act protects employees’ right to listen as well as their right to refrain from listening to employer speech concerning the exercise of their Section 7 rights.

Forcing employees to listen to such employer speech under threat of discipline — directly leveraging the employees’ dependence on their jobs — plainly chills employees’ protected right to refrain from listening to this speech in violation of Section 8(a)(1). The fact that a threat arises in the context of employer speech does not immunize its unlawful coercive effect. The Supreme Court has made clear that threats fall outside the scope of employers’ statutory and constitutional free-speech protections [NLRB v. Gissel Packing Co., 395 U.S. 575, 617 (1969)]….

So — the NLRB is strongly suggesting to Amazon that, if litigated in a federal courthouse, the outcome will be an immediate order to begin bargaining with the union — since the NLRB as an agency now supports the so-called “Joy Silk” doctrine which essentially prevents endless delays, once a clear majority is shown in favor of the union. Joy Silk (a 1949-era case) says that where an employer violated the law (here, mandatory meetings) during the campaign period — if the union wins (as it did, clearly), the company must certify the union and enter negotiations for a contract, almost immediately.

The vote in the larger Staten Island warehouse was about 2 to 1 in favor of unionizing. Game… effectively over. Of course, Amazon will squawk, but the end is in sight. Mr. Smalls will, through his union — bargain for better conditions for the people of Amazon, not just those who voted for his union. All of them. Cheers!

नमस्ते

Just A Minor, But Stupefying… Candace Owens Update. But I Repeat Myself.

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Today on Twitter, Candace Owens copiously documented (in real time video feeds) her clear violation of California Civil Code § 1708.8.

She posted video evidence of her violation on Instagram.

And then the ditz linked to it, on Twitter.

I think she should consider taking her own advice (from her video feed, offered as ostensible advice to the object of her harassing behavior):

“It just doesn’t work this way (in LA), sweetheart!“

See — California Civil Code § 1708.8 imposes liability on those using devices to visually record (or attempt to capture) private or personal activities, at a person’s home — for example.

Go ahead and see for yourself. It is in Candace’s Twitter feed at the top, right now.

Hilarious.

This one stupidly unlawful act (because she assumed Tennessee law applied… in Glitterati LA County — it does NOT)… may cost her several hundred thousand dollars in legal fees and damages, payable to BLM. That alone would be… poetic… justice.

Welp. This Is… Gonna’ Leave A Mark. “Veritas” Is Nothing Of The Sort.

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Each of Steve, Scott and John have written longish pieces decrying what they claim to be appalling attacks on “journalism” [as if, in their Owellian world, receiving — and then trying to broker, for profit — plainly stolen property in excess of $5,000 (See, 18 USC § 2315, et seq.)… is mere journalism!] — in the SDNY’s ongoing presentations to a grand jury — the object of which will be to return one or more felony indictments against Mr. O’Keefe and his “Project”.

Here is the actual law — a primer on how the Fourth Amendment works (filed last night in Manhattan by the able federal government lawyers), and in particular, its interplay with any claim of “journalistic privileges.”

Fun fact: Rudy Giuliani’s case is also specifically discussed, as to the propriety of seizing multiple cell phones under warrants. “Your indictments are about to ‘pop-over’ — almost… fresh outta’ the oven, here boys….”

This is going to be the end… of O’Keefe’s “project”.

Just stay tuned.

We Are Woefully Overdue On This Merck People Announcement…

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And, as is often true in pharma — the news has already shifted, since April. The outdated item is that Mr. Romanelli will lead Human Health International, returning to Merck from China’s XiJing Pharmaceuticals. . . but since this announcement, as we did timely report, Arpa Garay has already left Merck to become Chief Commercial Officer of Moderna. So he is likely to have parts of that role, as well — in international, at least.

Here is the belated April item, on Mr. Romanelli — and a bit:

…Merck… announced that Joseph Romanelli will lead Human Health International, and join Merck’s Executive Team, effective August 1, 2022. He will report directly to Robert M. Davis, chief executive officer and president, Merck. As previously announced, Arpa Garay [Ed. Note: has now become CCO of Moderna] leads Human Health Global Marketing, and Jannie Oosthuizen leads Human Health U.S., both also reporting to Davis.

“Joe’s remarkable track record of driving growth, unwavering commitment to keep patients at the center, deep knowledge of the global competitive landscape and passion for Merck’s purpose to save and improve lives make him the ideal leader for our growing and expansive international Human Health business,” said Mr. Davis. “I’m excited to welcome Joe back to Merck, and I am confident that our company and stakeholders will greatly benefit from his leadership, delivery and contributions.”

In this role, Romanelli will have P&L responsibility for Merck’s $22 billion international human health business and lead a team of 14,000 colleagues in more than 75 markets outside of the U.S.

Romanelli returns to Merck after serving as chief executive officer of JiXing Pharmaceuticals, a China-based biopharmaceutical company, since 2021….

“Life moves pretty fast — if you don’t stop and look around… you might just miss it…” said young Mr. Beuller. And he was not… wrong:


नमस्ते

The New York Times Has An Exclusive — That Amazon Fired At Least Six Senior Managers — In The Warehouse Where The Company Lost The Union Vote.

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Well… we can’t say we are at all surprised. [One of my recent backgrounders, here.]

Though firing managers, over losing a union vote — is a 19th Century tactic, I suspect a more complex, more nuanced, game is afoot here.

My conjecture (and conjecture it is, to be certain — not fact) is that Amazon’s lawyers recently received what they regarded as credible evidence, that at least some of these managers at the losing Staten Island facility… violated the organizers’ rights.

This would now be a game of “optics” — of putting one’s “best foot forward” with the NLRB, as Amazon has already challenged the Union’s win, with the first level of the NLRB… and it will need to show that it “nipped in the bud” any lawless tactics, by “terming” the associated actors — as soon as company lawyers became aware of the situation. So this may also be seen as a more proactive fallout management approach, but it sure is poor… optically (per the NYT):

…After Amazon employees at a massive warehouse on Staten Island scored an upset union victory last month, it turned the union’s leaders into celebrities, sent shock waves through the broader labor movement and prompted politicians around the country to rally behind Amazon workers. Now it also appears to have created fallout within Amazon’s management ranks….

On Thursday, Amazon informed more than half a dozen senior managers involved with the Staten Island warehouse that they were being fired, said four current and former employees with knowledge of the situation, who spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear of retaliation.

The firings, which occurred outside the company’s typical employee review cycle, were seen by the managers and other people who work at the facility as a response to the victory by the Amazon Labor Union, three of the people said. Workers at the warehouse voted by a wide margin to form the first union at the company in the United States, in one of the biggest victories for organized labor in at least a generation.

Word of the shake-up spread through the warehouse on Thursday. Many of the managers had been responsible for carrying out the company’s response to the unionization effort. Several were veterans of the company, with more than six years of experience….

Workers who supported the union complained that the company’s health and safety protocols were too lax, particularly as they related to Covid-19 and repetitive strain injuries, and that the company pushed them too hard to meet performance targets, often at the expense of sufficient breaks. Many also said pay at the warehouse… was too low to live on in New York City….

Now you know — this is literally… “the revenge of the six(th)”… for old Amazon last century tactics. Sheesh. Onward, grinning — with Beethoven’s Fourth, and the CSO, at Orchestra Hall tomorrow night.

नमस्ते

Excellent Follow-On, To Cave Art — From Erstwhile Anon. — On Sustainable, And Thus Essentially… Endless Protein-Rich Diet Sources, In The Archaeological Record: Indigenous Peoples

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This is… astonishing. Either there were millions of original Americans, along the coasts — before the arrival of Europeans, for say 1,000 years… or, there were smaller numbers (well under a million), but living and thriving along the same seaways, for perhaps over 50,000 years — prior to 1492.

The staggering number of shells, in some of these mounds, essentially force either of these conclusions — on sheer mathematics. But I will focus, as Anon. did — on whether, perhaps — the ancestors of the Alabama cave paintings’ artists… we highlighted yesterday, may also have dined on oysters, in antiquity. It is not at all unlikely, given the wide array of midden sites, and given that the peoples of what came to be called the Americas were eating them, sustainably… as I say, for 20,000 years minimum. There has been no disclosure of the precise location of the Alabama caves, to prevent vandalism. But it is possible that they are near the gulf coast… which would make it all… triangulate. Smile….

Here is the story from Anon. (and CNN):

…Mound Key contained the shells of some 18.6 billion oysters harvested by the region’s Calusa tribe, the study estimated. About 200 miles (322 kilometers) north in Cedar Key, Florida, a site known as Shell Mound features the remains of an estimated 2.1 billion oysters….

“Oyster harvesting didn’t start 500 years ago with the arrival of Europeans,” said study coauthor Bonnie Newsom, an assistant professor of anthropology at the University of Maine and citizen of the Penobscot Indian Nation, in the statement.

“Indigenous peoples had a relationship with and understood this species well enough to use it as part of their subsistence and cultural practices. Indigenous peoples have a lot to offer in terms of how to engage with this natural resource in ways that are sustainable….”

We need to learn what these wise peoples long ago knew — and we have ignored: the Earth is our… mother. Show more… respect. Smile… Updated guesses, below. [See prior post on the cave art for background]:

नमस्ते

[U: And, John’s Clickbait Headline Alert.] In Which Hinderaker… Struggles To Be… Relevant, In Any Way.

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Updated, after 11 PM EDT: I gather Hinderaker is truly flailing about, now — for new crisis actor / right wing outrage topics. His headline in a post tonight is not remotely supported by even the “in-Minn” facts offered within the body of his post. Yawn. No one is cancelling Lincoln Hinderaker. Do take a seat. End, update.

Tonight, John pretends to support Elon Musk — (against a non-flattering report in the NYT about Musk’s time in all white elite lower schools, in apartheid era South Africa), likely because he thinks Musk will let fascism run free if he gets control of Twitter. Or give John money — or both.

What Hinderaker lacks in discernment… would fill several oceans.

I’ll simply observe that Elon will bury all these far right white separatists… as soon as he is done using their anger to drive his agenda.

Stupid, Johnny — very stupid. And there is zero chance he’ll send your think tank a red cent. But whatever.

You remain… singularly… irrelevant.

Out.

[U, X2: Hidden From Human Eyes For A Thousand Years.] This Is… A Mystery.

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Here it is. I will have more on it, later today.

But for now, Without any pre-determined context or narrative to guide you… what do you… see? [I’ve updated a second time, now — to color-code my decidedly uninformed, amateurish guesses — about what I see as an overlaid series of images, telling a story, through time… at the bottom, centered — so don’t scroll down yet, if you don’t want a spoiler. Heh.]

Update @ 1:30 pm EDT: Here is the story, then from CNN’s Science desk, reporting (do go read it all, for at least one scholar’s interpretation of the image at right):

…Massive Native American drawings — which remained unseen in an Alabama cave for more than 1,000 years — have been unveiled by a team of scientists. It’s the largest known cave art ever discovered in North America.

The art was practically invisible until researchers investigated the cave and used 3D scans to reveal the works, including one stretching for 11 feet (3.4 meters) in length. A study detailing their findings published Tuesday in the journal Antiquity.

The large artwork was discovered inside 19th Unnamed Cave in Alabama, which has been kept anonymous to protect the site from vandalism….

Although its location was first found in 1998, the tight confines of the cave made the sprawling art, drawn in mud, impossible to see, so it was missed. But hundreds of smaller images were discovered throughout the cave at that time….

The first North American cave art was found in Tennessee in 1979 and was 750 to 800 years old. Since that initial discovery, 89 other sites have been found across southeastern North America. The oldest site dates back 7,000 years, but much of the cave art was created between 800 and 1600 AD….

Smile… so many memories leap to mind.… of fine art, truly available (and visible!) only to those willing to trek into the dark, behind the gallery walls, as it were — to fully appreciate it. This is indeed an allegory — about all of life, Frist or no. Grinning ear to ear. Have a great weekend, one and all!

नमस्ते