The fight for worker’s rights throughout the world, and—you guessed it—another severe weather event! Editor’s note: mentions of death.
Happening in the World: A second wave of protests has occurred in France amid French President Emmanual Macron’s plan to raise the retirement age. Over 1 million marchers took to the streets, along with thousands who took part in a strike. Although opinion polls suggest that two-thirds of voters are opposed to the plan, it is still unclear if Macron will back down. Eight key unions were involved in the strike, particularly affecting schools, transportation, and oil industries. The workers involved cited low wages and worsening working conditions along with rising anxiety that their retirement may too be in jeopardy. (BBC)
Happening in the US: An ice storm led to severe transportation issues starting on Tuesday, delaying almost 2 thousand flights and stalling highway traffic. Severe weather watches and warnings plagued from Texas all the way to West Virginia, hitting some regions more than once. Emergency personnel responded to hundreds of highway and road incidents, some of which led to major injuries and at least two deaths. Along with roads and air travel, power outages and school cancellations increased drastically as the storm moved across the states. (AP)
Happening in NYC: New York City mayor Eric Adams is facing pressure from the teacher’s union to raise wages after their contract expired in September of last year. On Monday, thousands of public school teachers staged a series of “teach-ins” in order to raise awareness and set aside time to discuss their contract. Wage negotiations have been slowed by the switching of retired city workers to privatized health care and the inflation crisis. The push for higher wages by the unions was not abated by Adam’s recent State of the City address in which he focused on aiding the working class, with many Union leaders and city workers doubting the sincerity of his speech. (The Gothamist)
Happening in Our Community: University Life and Columbia Health are hosting a self-compassion workshop today led by Staff Psychologist and the Assistant Clinical Director for Outreach and Community Clinical Services for Counseling and Psychological Services Aisha Holder, PhD. Dr. Holder will discuss the building blocks of self-compassion, and participants will be invited to engage in exercises. The workshop will be held in Pulitzer Hall from 12 to 1:30 pm, and will also be available to stream on University Life’s website.
Protest via Flickr
1 Comment
@Anonymous We all need some self-compassion!