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Workers at Freedom Mobile unionize, ink first collective agreement

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 22:11:39 GMT

LAVAL, Que. — Teamsters Canada says retail and call centre workers at Freedom Mobile across the country have unionized after a six-month organizing drive and negotiated their first collective agreement. Teamsters national president François Laporte says the union negotiated an immediate two-per-cent bonus for all members and ensured four-per-cent annual pay increases for the next four years. In May this year, Teamsters said the Freedom Mobile workers had expressed interest in unionizing after Shaw Communications Inc. agreed to sell Freedom Mobile to Quebecor’s Videotron.The sale was a condition of the merger between Rogers Communications Inc. and Shaw. In a news release Monday, Laporte says the employer did not oppose its organizing campaign, taking “a more progressive approach to labour relations.” He says there has never been more interest in joining a union in the aftermath of the pandemic and in the face of rising inflation.“This is a clear sign that the tides are shifting, and ...

Teachers in Portland, Oregon, strike for a 4th day amid impasse with school district

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 22:11:39 GMT

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Schools remained closed in Portland, Oregon, on Monday as a teacher’s strike entered its fourth day, prompting state lawmakers to increasingly weigh in and call on the district to negotiate in good faith.At a news conference with a Portland teachers union leader, state legislators representing the Portland area said they were frustrated by the district’s claim of a lack of funding. The Legislature this year approved a record $10.2 billion budget for K-12 schools. But Portland Public Schools has said the money isn’t enough to meet the union’s demands of higher pay for educators.“It feels a little disingenuous to have them come back and say, “Actually, we can’t do it because you didn’t give us enough money,’” state Sen. Elizabeth Steiner said of the district. “We did everything that schools asked us for and then some.”In a letter to Portland Public Schools last week, Portland-area legislators including Steiner called on t...

Hundreds of thousands still in the dark three days after violent storm rakes Brazil’s biggest city

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 22:11:39 GMT

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — At least 400,000 customers in Brazil’s biggest city still had no electricity Monday, three days after a violent storm plunged millions into darkness around Sao Paulo, the power distribution company Enel said.The storm, with winds of up to 100 kph (62 mph), caused at least seven deaths, authorities said, and uprooted many large trees, some of which fell on power lines, blacking out entire neighborhoods. At one point on Friday, 4.2 million residents had no power, the newspaper Folha de S. Paulo reported. In some apartment buildings, condo associations delivered bottles of drinking water to older residents.José Eraudo Júnior, administrator of a 15-floor building in Sao Paulo’s Butanta neighborhood that didn’t get power back until Monday evening, said electricity went out for all 430 apartments Friday night.Water in the roof tanks ran out by Saturday evening, while underground reserves could not be tapped because there was no power to run the pump...

Illinois lawmakers scrutinize private school scholarships without test-result data

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 22:11:39 GMT

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Critics of an Illinois program providing private school scholarships say there’s no proof it improves academic achievement. But state education officials have never reported the academic performance of participating students as required by the Invest in Kids Act, a hot issue as lawmakers reconvene Tuesday. The five-year-old program expires at year’s end. Supporters want it reauthorized before the General Assembly adjourns for the year on Thursday. Opponents say it’s a drain on public education and want it ended.The Invest in Kids Act requires participants to take the same standardized test as their public-school counterparts each spring to measure their progress and judge the program’s success. Critics led by teachers’ unions wonder where the numbers are. They haven’t been collected.The coronavirus pandemic essentially shut down annual statewide student assessments in 2020 and 2021, the first two years of Invest in Kids. T...

Toronto mother calls for reversal of Bill 60 after nurses caring for her child move to private clinic

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 22:11:39 GMT

A Toronto mother says she is in a desperate situation as she loses publicly-funded nurses for her complex special needs child to the private sector.Nicole Payette-Kyryluk is urging the Ford government to reverse funding cuts and legislation that she says is privatizing the healthcare system.Her 12-year-old daughter, Alexa, was born with a rare neurodegenerative disorder. She is non-verbal and palliative and wasn’t supposed to survive past the age of two.Payette-Kyryluk describes her life as every parent’s worst nightmare because in recent months, access to care has become unimaginably difficult.“She has a lot of different things, health wise. And she requires a lot of suctioning,” said Payette-Kyryluk. Alexa’s condition has worsened. She now requires a ventilator and round-the-clock care.“She’s also tube-fed so we have a feeding pump there. We have to nebulize her so we have equipment here to clear her airway,” explained Payette-Kyrylu...

Crescent Point solidifies Montney dominance in $2.55B deal for Hammerhead Energy

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 22:11:39 GMT

CALGARY — Crescent Point Energy Corp. says it has signed a $2.55-billion deal to purchase Hammerhead Energy Inc, a Calgary-based energy company with assets in the Montney oil-producing region of northwest Alberta.The deal positions Crescent Point as a dominant player in the Montney, one of North America’s largest unconventional petroleum plays.As a result of the deal, Crescent Point will acquire approximately 800 drilling locations.This will immediately make Crescent Point the largest landowner in the Alberta Montney’s volatile oil fairway, in addition to already being the largest landowner in the adjacent Kaybob Duvernay play.The purchase will make Crescent Point the seventh-largest oil and gas exploration and production company in Canada by volume, with production expected to total over 200,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day once the deal is closed.The deal, which includes approximately $455 million of Hammerhead’s net debt, will see Hammerhead shareholders receive $21 pe...

Man hit by bottle during altercation on CTA train

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 22:11:39 GMT

CHICAGO — A man was hospitalized early Monday morning after he suffered cuts to his arms after being hit with a bottle during an altercation on a CTA train, police say.According to Chicago police, the 23-year-old man was riding on a train near the 1100 block of South State Street on the Near South Side when the altercation broke out between him and another man just before 3 a.m. FBI-Chicago warns of charity fraud amid ongoing conflict between Israel, Hamas Police say amid the altercation, the victim was hit with a liquor bottle, leaving him with lacerations to his arms. Officers say Chicago firefighters transported the victim to the hospital in good condition.Currently, it is unclear what led to the altercation, and police say no arrests have been made.  Chicago City Council committee holds hearing on Peoples Gas rate hike request Authorities have not yet identified the man involved and say an investigation is underway.Anyone with information that could help police in their...

FBI-Chicago warns of charity fraud amid ongoing conflict between Israel, Hamas

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 22:11:39 GMT

CHICAGO — The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is offering a warning to the public about scammers seeking fraudulent donations amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas.According to Robert Wheeler Jr., the special agent-in-charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI, criminals are using the tragedies unfolding in the Middle East to solicit fraudulent humanitarian donations, before using the money for their own expenses or to support criminal enterprises. Chicago City Council committee holds hearing on Peoples Gas rate hike request What is charity fraud?According to the FBI, charity fraud, which is also known as "disaster fraud," can come in many different forms. Special agent Wheeler said some perpetrators taking part in these types of crimes may prey on victims within the local community by claiming to collect funds for victimized families abroad. Foreign terrorist organizations may also take part in these types of crimes by establishing fake charities on soc...

Second Colorado officer acquitted in Elijah McClain's death

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 22:11:39 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) — A suspended Aurora police officer has been acquitted of charges in the 2019 death of Elijah McClain, a 23-year-old Black man who died after he was pinned with a carotid hold by Aurora, Colorado, police officers and injected with a potent sedative by paramedics.Nathan Woodyard was charged with and found not guilty of reckless manslaughter and the lesser included charge of criminally negligent homicide after being on trial for the 2019 death of Elijah McClain. The trial included two and a half weeks of testimony and a jury began deliberations just after 1 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 3. The verdict was returned on Monday, Nov. 6, around 3 p.m.The trial focused on what had ultimately killed McClain, who was stopped walking home from a convenience store on Aug. 24, 2019. He was reported to 911 as suspicious for wearing a black ski mask and listening to music. After the police stopped him, officers quickly became physical with McClain.McClain went into cardiac arrest and never re...

Marijuana use increases risk of heart attacks, new studies suggest

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 22:11:39 GMT

(The Hill) – Two new studies suggest that regular use of marijuana could be linked to a higher risk of heart failure or heart attack, especially among older people. The preliminary findings of the studies, which have yet to be published, will be presented next week at the American Heart Association’s (AHA) Scientific Sessions 2023 in Philadelphia.The first study followed 156,999 people for 45 months. It found that those who used marijuana daily had a 34 percent increased risk of developing heart failure, when compared to those who said they never used marijuana. Throughout the study, nearly 2 percent – 2,958 people – developed heart failure.When accounting for coronary artery disease, however, the risk dropped from 34 percent to 27 percent, which researchers said could reveal that “coronary artery disease is a pathway through which daily marijuana use may lead to heart failure.” If marijuana is rescheduled, will it be legalized nationwide? The survey looked at “using marijuana whe...