Overcoming Barriers to People of Color in Union Leadership

[Excerpt] It has been 10 years since the report on full participation. In preparation for the 2005 AFL-CIO Convention, the AFL-CIO, under the direction of the Executive Council’s Civil and Human Rights Committee, initiated a study to consider what other steps can be taken to address the underrepresentation of people of color in union leadership. It is hoped that this report will serve as a complement to a similar report on working women that was submitted to the Executive Council by the Executive Council’s Working Women’s Committee in March 2004, entitled, “Overcoming Barriers to Women in Organizing and Leadership.”

We'll Close! Plant Closings, Plant-Closing Threats, Union Organizing and NAFTA

This article is based on Final Report: The Effects of Plant Closing or Threat of Plant Closing on the Right of Workers to Organize. The report was commissioned by the tri-national Labor Secretariat of the Commission for Labor Cooperation (the NAFTA labor commission) "on the effects of the sudden closing of the plant on the principle of freedom of association and the right of workers to organize in the three countries."

Union-Management Training Programs in the Public Sector: The New York Experience

[Excerpt] New York State has a long history of union-management education and training programs, making it unique in public sector employment. This chapter examines the programs undertaken at both state and city levels, as well as the applicability of the New York experience to other public sector jurisdictions. Although the profile of the New York State and city work force differs from that of the rest of the nation, there is much of value here for educators, union leaders, and others involved in public sector employment.

A strategic approach to mitigating the impacts of wild canids: proposed activities of the Invasive Animals Cooperative Research Centre

Wild canids (wild dogs and European red foxes) cause substantial losses to Australian livestock industries and environmental values. Both species are actively managed as pests to livestock production. Contemporaneously, the dingo proportion of the wild dog population, being considered native, is protected in areas designated for wildlife conservation. Wild dogs particularly affect sheep and goat production because of the behavioural responses of domestic sheep and goats to attack, and the flexible hunting tactics of wild dogs. Predation of calves, although less common, is now more economically important because of recent changes in commodity prices. Although sometimes affecting lambing and kidding rates, foxes cause fewer problems to livestock producers but have substantial impacts on environmental values, affecting the survival of small to medium-sized native fauna and affecting plant biodiversity by spreading weeds. Canid management in Australia relies heavily on the use of compound 1080-poisoned baits that can be applied aerially or by ground. Exclusion fencing, trapping, shooting, livestock-guarding animals and predator calling with shooting are also used. The new Invasive Animals Cooperative Research Centre has 40 partners representing private and public land managers, universities, and training, research and development organisations. One of the major objectives of the new IACRC is to apply a strategic approach in order to reduce the impacts of wild canids on agricultural and environmental values in Australia by 10%. In this paper, the impacts, ecology and management of wild canids in Australia are briefly reviewed and the first cooperative projects that will address IACRC objectives for improving wild dog management are outlined.

Evidence for extensive population structure in the white-spotted eagle ray within the Indo-Pacific inferred from mitochondrial gene sequences

The white-spotted eagle ray Aetobatus narinari is a species complex that occurs circumglobally throughout warm-temperate waters. Aetobatus narinari is semi-pelagic and large (up to 300 cm disc width), suggesting high dispersal capabilities and gene flow on a wide spatial scale. Sequence data from two mitochondrial genes, cytochrome b (cytb) and NADH dehydrogenase subunit 4 (ND4), were used to determine the genetic variability within and among 18 sampling locations in the central Indo-Pacific biogeographical region. Populations in the Indo-Pacific were highly genetically structured with c. 70% of the total genetic variation found among three geographical regions (East China Sea, Southeast Asia and Australia). FST was 0.64 for cytb and 0.53 for ND4, with φST values being even larger, that is, 0.78 for cytb and 0.65 for ND4. This high-level genetic partitioning provides strong evidence against extensive gene flow in A. narinari. The degree of genetic population structuring in the Indo-Pacific was similar to that found on a global scale. Global FST was 0.63 for cytb and 0.57 for ND4, and global φST values were 0.94 for cytb and 0.82 for ND4. This suggests that the A. narinari complex may be more speciose than the two or three species proposed to date. Further sampling and genetic analyses are likely to uncover the ‘evolutionarily significant’ and ‘management’ units that are critical to determine the susceptibilities of individual populations to regional fishing pressures and to provide advice on management options. Network analyses showed a close genetic relationship between haplotypes from the central Indo-Pacific and South Africa, providing support for a proposed dispersal pathway from the possible centre of origin of the A. narinari species complex in the Indo-Pacific into the Atlantic Ocean.

Rabbi Leo Baeck's arrival at La Guardia Airport, New York from London for the Union of American Hebrew Congregations American Jewish Cavalcade Portraits; Groups

Sitting l-r Leo Baeck, Maurice N. Eisendrath, Oscar M. Lazrus; Standing l-r Jane Evans, Henry W. Levy, Saul Elgart, Rabbi Daniel L. Davis, Louis Rittenberg and Leonard H. Spring

First convention of the World Union for Progressive Judaism; Herrenhaus, Berlin Organizations

Verso: "In the chair: Claude Montefiore others on the platform Lily Montegu, Israel Mattuck, Leo Baeck"

Rabbi Leo Baeck, E.L. Ehrlich of Basel, Herbert Strauss of Bern, and Rabbi Eugen Messinger of Bern outside of the West End Synagogue, London, at the International Meeting of the World Union for Progressive Judaism.

Digital Image

Rabbi Eugen Messinger of Bern, Dr. Herbert Strauss of Bern and E.L. Ehrlich of Basel outside of the West End Synagogue, London, at the International Meeting of the World Union for Progressive Judaism.

Digital Image

Outdoor group portrait of attendees of the International Meeting of the World Union for Progressive Judaism; London.

Includes Rabbi Leo Baeck, E.L. Ehrlich of Basel, Herbert Strauss of Bern, and Rabbi Eugen Messinger of Bern

Herbert Strauss at a Zurich train station returning from the International Meeting of the World Union for Progressive Judaism in London.

Strauss completed his PhD examinations summa cum laude before leaving for the meeting, and was on his way to the American Consulate to get a visa for the United States

Rabbi Leo Baeck's arrival at La Guardia Airport, New York from London for the Union of American Hebrew Congregations American Jewish Cavalcade Portraits; Groups

Sitting l-r Leo Baeck, Maurice N. Eisendrath, Oscar M. Lazrus; Standing l-r Jane Evans, Henry W. Levy, Saul Elgart, Rabbi Daniel L. Davis, Louis Rittenberg and Leonard H. Spring

Genetic diversity of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) and European whitefish (Coregonus lavaretus) in the Baltic Sea

We described the patterns and extent of microsatellite DNA variation in historical and present-day Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) stocks in the Baltic Sea and neighbouring areas, and in European whitefish (Coregonus lavaretus) ecotypes, populations and run-timing types in Finland. Moreover, the amount and pattern of genetic diversity in historical salmon populations before human impact were described, and the proportion of diversity maintained in the present hatchery stocks evaluated. Salmon populations in the Baltic Sea were, on average, significantly less variable than eastern Atlantic populations, and the diversity of landlocked populations (Lakes Vänern, Saimaa, Onega and Ladoga) was in turn significantly lower than that of anadromous salmon populations in the Baltic Sea populations. Within the Baltic Sea, the anadromous populations of Atlantic salmon formed three clear groups, corresponding to the northern (Gulf of Bothnia), eastern (Gulf of Finland and eastern Baltic Main Basin) and southern (western Baltic Main Basin) regions. Based on microsatellite data, three salmon population groups in the Baltic Sea were considered potentially different colonization lineages. In short- and long-term breeding programmes of Atlantic salmon, the average observed rate of loss of alleles was 4.9% and 2.0% per generation and the average rate of loss of heterozygosity was 1.4% and 1% per generation, respectively. When comparing the genetic parameters of stocks before and after hatchery breeding of several successive generations (Rivers Iijoki and Oulujoki), statistically significant changes in allele frequencies were common, while large wild stock in the Teno River has remained temporally very stable over 56 years. Despite the observed losses of genetic diversity in broodstock breeding, a large proportion of the genetic resources of the extirpated stocks are still conserved in the broodstocks. Genetic differentiation among European whitefish ecotypes was generally low, thus giving support to the hypothesis of one native European whitefish species in Fennoscandia. Among the ecotypes, the northern, large sparsely rakered, bottom-dwelling whitefish was the most unique. The known genetic differences in quantitative traits have thus either developed independently of potential phylogenetic lineages, or the lineages have mixed and the quantitative traits of the ecotypes, like gill-raker number, have later changed according to environment and selection pressures. Overall, genetic distances between the anadromous whitefish populations along the Finnish coast, especially in the Bothnian Bay area, were small. Wild whitefish populations studied had slightly higher allelic diversity than hatchery-reared populations in corresponding rivers.

A review of potential contaminants in Australian livestock feeds and proposed guidance levels for feed

Contaminants of man-made and natural origin need to be managed in livestock feeds to protect the health of livestock and that of human consumers of livestock products. This requires access to information on the transfer from feed to food to inform risk profiles and assessments, and to guide management interventions such as regulation or Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point approaches. This paper reviews contaminants of known and potential concern in the production of livestock feeds in Australia and compares existing but differing state and national regulatory standards with international standards. The contaminants considered include man-made organic chemical contaminants (e.g. legacy pesticides), elemental contaminants (e.g. arsenic, cadmium, lead), phytotoxins (e.g. gossypol) and mycotoxins (e.g. aflatoxins). Reference is made to scientific literature and evaluations by regulators to propose maximum levels that can be used for guidance by those involved in managing contamination incidents or developing feed safety programs. © 2013 CSIRO.