Truthout is an indispensable resource for activists, movement leaders and workers everywhere. Please make this work possible with a quick donation.
Workers in Canada Striking
According to the Ottawa Citizen, unions and legislators are gradually addressing labor disputes as locked-out workers strike for better benefits. Air Canada employees in Canada are returning to work Monday after the union representing its customer service staff reached a deal with the airline – but the New Democratic Party (NDP) said it will block legislation that would require Canada Post employees to return to work, saying it prevents the Canada Post from coming to a fair agreement with unionized postal workers. The legislation for the debate will be introduced early this week.
Regulators Reduce Safety Rules for Nuclear Power Industry
The Associated Press (AP) reports that federal regulators have kept aging nuclear reactors technically sound for operation by repeatedly lowering the safety standards. The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) loosened regulations many times by arguing that the safety margins could be reduced without danger, but the result has seen a greater amount of leakage from cracked valves, corroded metals and rusty underground pipes, broken nozzles and seals, and other problems linked to aging reactors that could increase danger if an accident occurred. The NRC called the standards “unnecessarily conservative,” but Demetrios Basdekas, a retired NRC engineer, told the AP, “[that's] what they say for everything, whether that's the case or not.”
US Grants Asylum to Mexican Human Rights Activist
Human rights activist Cipriana Jurado, who worked for the Center for Investigation and Worker Solidarity in Juarez, Mexico, investigating stories from locals who said the Mexican military had abducted, tortured and sometimes murdered their family members, on Friday received political asylum in the US, New America Media writes. Jurado's case is the first in recent history in which the US recognized persecution of an activist by the Mexican military, attorney Carlos Specter said. The US doesn't recognize “that there's violence coming from the state towards the Mexican community, specifically from the federal officers and the military,” Specter said, which is what makes Jurado's case significant.
Important Message: Please Read
For 25 years, Truthout has survived by publishing impactful investigative journalism and analysis; distributing full editions 365 days a year; and building a community of readers who support us with small, hard-earned donations.
Eighty percent of our $3 million yearly budget comes from small donors alone. Of those, 8,000 readers support us with monthly donations. Back in 2018, when Facebook decided to suppress the circulation of posts made by organizations, thereby cutting readers off from seeing many articles shared by the news organizations they had intentionally decided to follow, Truthout’s total traffic declined by 40 percent, as nearly all of our traffic from that platform disappeared.
Now, Google has recently rolled out its AI search bar, providing AI summaries instead of directing readers to our site. Google Search is our single largest source of traffic; it’s the route by which nearly one third of our readers find us. Much like in 2018, a shocking 40 percent of our Google traffic has disappeared overnight.
It will not be easy for Truthout to shoulder this blow. Nor will it be easy for our peers and collaborators — news sites that depend on traffic and aren’t bankrolled by large corporations.
If you can support Truthout with a donation today, you can help us resist the AI onslaught. Please give today.