Feed items
Source: NY Times
VANCOUVER, WA (October 1, 2013) – Members of Congress are voicing concern over Japan’s entry into the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) while Japanese conglomerates have locked out ILWU grain workers in Washington and Oregon for months. In a letter sent this week, several House members urge U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman to help resolve the lockout by working with his Japanese counterpart to urge Japanese companies Mitsui and Marubeni to negotiate a fair contract with its workers. The U.S. government is one of 12 member nations to negotiate a free trade agreement that the Obama Administration hopes will be finalized by the end of the year.
In a letter dated September 30, 2013, the Congressional delegates wrote, “The continued intransigence by Marubeni and Mitsui is placing great stress on workers dependent on these facilities for their livelihoods. The lockout is negatively affecting wheat and grain farmers in the Pacific Northwest and other states that depend on grain export terminals.”
The letter is signed by six members of Congress, Representatives Jim McDermott, Adam Smith, Rick Larsen, Suzan DelBene, Denny Heck and Derek Kilmer. The letter echoes...
The Chong Chon Gang was intercepted on July 10 as it tried to enter the Panama Canal. Authorities uncovered 25 containers of military hardware, including two Soviet era MiG-21 fighter jets, air defense systems, missiles and command and control vehicles. The ship’s 35 crew members are being detained at a former US military base in Panama on arms trafficking charges. They face up to 12 years in prison if convicted.
The Panama Canal Authority announced Thursday that it slapped a $1 million fine on a North Korean cargo ship caught with an undeclared shipment of Cuban weapons in July.
The Panamanian government said last month that a United Nations report found that the shipment was a violation of UN sanctions against arms transfers to North Korea’s communist regime.
Warships or vessels carrying military and even nuclear material regularly cross the 50-mile (80-kilometer) long waterway, but they have to warn the local authorities beforehand so they can take security measures.
More at AFP
Source: Inside Bay Area
Source: UNI Global Union
Source: Reuters
Source: AFL-CIO
Source: EconoMonitor
Source: WSJournal
Please log in to view content
To view the content on this page, please log in to your account.
