e-News bulletin 14 October 2016

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E-NEWS BULLETIN
Your weekly round up of alternative news you ought to know • 14 October 2016     
CONTENTS
SOUTH AFRICA:
1. Redefining Treason
2. Wits SRC will continue protesting for free, decolonised education
3. Nzimande: Free higher education for all won’t be government policy for a long time
4. Urgent letter from an academic at Wits University
5. Dramatic student protests – a harbinger of revolutionary developments

INTERNATIONAL
MIDDLE EAST:
1. Thousands Of Israelis Take To The Streets Calling For Palestinian Genocide
2. Palestinian worker injured by Israeli bullet fire in Bethlehem
3. New Clinton email reveals direct support for ISIS from two powerful Western allies
4. UN sets out position on Israeli settlement football clubs in letter to Fifa

LABOUR
SOUTH AFRICA:
1. Statistics South Africa releases 2015 Labour Market Dynamics
2. GM strike looms over packages
3. Deputy Minister of Labour Inkosi Phathekile Holomisa convenes first of countrywide dialogues on the failure to implement Employment Equity
4. Northam deal extends mine’s life

INTERNATIONAL:
1. Transport Workers’ Union Condemns Attack and Arrest of Striking Korean Truck Drivers
2. Fiat Chrysler Deal With Union Averts Strike in Canada
3. Subcontractor workers at factories that supply Samsung and LG left blinded by chemicals
4. Will Labor Unions Survive In The Era Of Automation?
5. Free online course on International Labour Standards
6. Before Europe Lets Uber Run Wild, It Should Consider What It Did to US Workers
7. The sharing economy blues

MEDIA & TECHNOLOGY
1. All That New Google Hardware? It’s a Trojan Horse for AI
2. CIA ‘Siren Servers’ Can Predict Social Uprisings 3-5 Days in Advance
3. Police Use Surveillance Tool to Scan Social Media, A.C.L.U. Says
4. Facebook is talking to the White House about giving you ‘free’ Internet. Here’s why that may be controversial.
5. “Imagine A Day Without Censorship” Speakout At Facebook Zuckerberg’s SF Mansion
SOUTH AFRICA: Redefining Treason
“Following a day of unprecedented violence in and around the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, two sinister but connected occurrences rocked South Africa on Tuesday morning, both of which bore the shadowy hand of our silent, absent president.” read more…http://www.dai
SOUTH AFRICA: Wits SRC will continue protesting for free, decolonised education
“The Wits SRC have released a statement on the events of Monday 10 October 2016, distancing themselves from acts of arson and looting.” read more…https://www.the
SOUTH AFRICA: Nzimande: Free higher education for all won’t be government policy for a long time
“Another bruising showdown is looming between student formations and higher education minister Blade Nzimande, after he said that free higher education for all was not government policy and “it’s not going to be government policy for a long time to come”.

Nzimande was making his presentation before the commission of inquiry that was tasked with investigating the feasibility of providing fee-free higher education.” read more…http://mg
SOUTH AFRICA: Dramatic student protests – a harbinger of revolutionary developments
“This week has seen a dramatic escalation in the student protests which have flared up on a national scale over the past four weeks. The protest movement is sweeping across the country and shows no signs of abating. Protests of the scale and scope of these have not been seen since the student uprisings of the mid-1980s.” read more…http://www.mar
MIDDLE EAST: Thousands Of Israelis Take To The Streets Calling For Palestinian Genocide
“Massive rallies and Facebook campaigns calling for Palestinian genocide are ignored by Western mainstream media and Facebook despite concerns and collaborations aimed at stopping “calls to violence”.” read more…http://www.min
MIDDLE EAST: DWRC organizes its seventh annual democratic trade union forum, toward a unified democratic trade union movement.
“On October 1st, 2016, the Democracy and Workers’ Rights Center in Palestine (DWRC) concluded its seventh annual democratic trade union forum, which was held in Bethlehem between 29/09/2016 and 01/10/2016. This year, the forum’s objective was to gather male and female union representatives from across the spectrum of the Palestinian trade union movement to strengthen ties among them, develop their understanding of common issues and concerns, and discuss the principles for unifying the trade union movement and strengthening its capacity to defend Palestinian workers’ rights and interests.” read more…http://www.dw
MIDDLE EAST: Palestinian worker injured by Israeli bullet fire in Bethlehem
“A Palestinian worker was shot and injured by the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) in eastern Bethlehem province on Monday morning on his way to his workplace in Occupied Jerusalem.

A PIC news correspondent quoted sources at the Palestinian Red Crescent as stating that they received a call to rescue a Palestinian citizen who was left injured near Dar Salah village, to the east of Bethlehem.” read more…https://eng
MIDDLE EAST: New Clinton email reveals direct support for ISIS from two powerful Western allies
“A new Hillary Clinton email published by WikiLeaks as part of the ongoing release of hacked campaign files confirms that Daesh (Isis/Isil) has state backing. And from powerful Western allies, no less.

Anti-terrorism analysts have long seen Daesh as a non-state-affiliated actor which grew out of an al-Qaeda insurgency in Iraq (and later Syria). But the email sent by Clinton herself (dated 27 September 2014) shows there’s much more to the story.” read more…http://www.the
MIDDLE EAST: UN sets out position on Israeli settlement football clubs in letter to Fifa
“A senior United Nations official has written to Fifa to reiterate that the UN regards Israeli settlements – and by extension Israeli football teams that play in them – to be “without validity” and “illegal under international law”.

Wilfried Lemke, the UN special adviser on sport for development and peace, said all clubs playing in Fifa-recognised competitions should abide by its statutes – a demand being invoked by pro-Palestinian campaigners who want six settlement clubs to either relocate to Israeli territory or be banned from Fifa competition.” read more…https://www.the
SOUTH AFRICA: Statistics South Africa releases 2015 Labour Market Dynamics
“Statistics South Africa released the Labour Market Dynamics in South Africa, 2015 report which shows that between 2009 and 2015 employment increased from 14,2 million to 15,7 million. This rise, however, did not keep pace with the increase in the working age population and as such the absorption rate, at 43,7% in 2015 was still 2,2 percentage points below the 2008 pre-recessionary high.” read more…http://www.gov.
SOUTH AFRICA: GM strike looms over packages
“Workers facing potential retrenchment from General Motors South Africa (GMSA) may down tools if their demands for negotiated severance packages are not met.

The National Union of Metal Workers of South Africa (Numsa) said yesterday that neither the affected workers nor the union would accept severance packages devised unilaterally by the Port Elizabeth company.” read more…http://www.her
SOUTH AFRICA: Deputy Minister of Labour Inkosi Phathekile Holomisa convenes first of countrywide dialogues on the failure to implement Employment Equity
“The Department of Labour’s (DOL) branch that deals with the Inspections and Enforcement Services (IES) led by Deputy Minister Inkosi Phathekile Holomisa will convene a dialogue session with organised business, labour and community in the Western Cape due to the perpetuation of non adherence to employment equity provisions of the Employment Equity Act (EEA).” read more…http://www.lab
SOUTH AFRICA: Northam deal extends mine’s life
“Northam Platinum said on Tuesday it had agreed to buy a portion of a mining right from Anglo American Platinum that would allow it to extend the life of the Zondereinde mine beyond 30 years.” read more…http://www.iol
AUSTRALIA: Transport Workers’ Union Condemns Attack and Arrest of Striking Korean Truck Drivers
“The Transport Workers’ Union has condemned police attacks and arrests of striking truck drivers in South Korea.

Several activists were injured and arrested after members of the Korean Public Services and Transport Workers’ Union Cargo Truckers’ Solidarity Division (KPTU-TruckSol) began a national strike in opposition to the government’s plan for deregulation of the trucking transport market.” read more…http://www.twu
CANADA: Fiat Chrysler Deal With Union Averts Strike in Canada
“Fiat Chrysler Automobiles avoided a strike late Monday night by about 10,000 employees at three plants in Canada.

The company reached a last-minute settlement with the workers’ union, Unifor, which mirrors the main points in a contract that workers reached last month with General Motors of Canada.” read more…http://www.nyt
KOREA: Subcontractor workers at factories that supply Samsung and LG left blinded by chemicals
“At a press conference on Oct. 12 at the National Assembly press center in Seoul, a 29-year-old surnamed Kim said, “I summoned the courage in the hopes that there wouldn’t be any more victims like me.” Kim was speaking to demand industrial accident insurance coverage after he lost his eyesight from poisoning with toxic methyl alcohol (methanol).” read more…http://en
USA: Will Labor Unions Survive In The Era Of Automation?
“Labor unions have been protecting the rights of workers as far back as the 18th century.

It’s because of collective bargaining and worker protests that some work forces today enjoy the right to argue for wage increases, access affordable healthcare, and improved working conditions within the workplace among many other achievements. In fact, Labor Day, a public holiday celebrated in many countries at various times of the year, was created at the insistence of organized labor unions.” read more…http://www.for
INTERNATIONAL: Free online course on International Labour Standards
“The GLU’s Massive Open Online Courses and short courses are a great opportunity to learn, to share experiences and to network globally around labour rights.It is a low-cost and dynamic tool to bring a large number of people together.

To reach as many people as possible we ask you to help spread the word about our Online Courses.

It takes only a few minutes but will have a big impact in reaching those who want to learn more about how to defend workers’ rights.” read more…http://www.glo
USA: Before Europe Lets Uber Run Wild, It Should Consider What It Did to US Workers
“An unregulated Uber has helped to create an economy where part-time, low-wage, on-demand work is the new norm. Should Europe really follow suit?.” read more…http://www.yes
USA: All That New Google Hardware? It’s a Trojan Horse for AI
“The focus of Google’s big hardware event this week wasn’t the hardware at all. It was Assistant, the artificially intelligent digital helper that caters to your every whim and powers your every interaction.” read more…https://www.wir
USA: The sharing economy blues
“On January 13, 2015, around 70 of Portland’s 460 Taxi cabs protested fair taxi laws by parking in Pioneer square. Organizers want city leaders to make ride-sharing companies play by the same rules as cabs and Town cars.” read more…https://can
USA: CIA ‘Siren Servers’ Can Predict Social Uprisings 3-5 Days in Advance
“The CIA claims to be able to predict social unrest days before it happens thanks to powerful super computers dubbed Siren Servers by the father of Virtual Reality, Jaron Lanier.” read more…http://soc
USA: Police Use Surveillance Tool to Scan Social Media, A.C.L.U. Says
“A Chicago company has marketed a tool using text, photos and videos gleaned from major social media companies to aid law enforcement surveillance of protesters, civil liberties activists say.” read more…http://www.nyt
USA: Facebook is talking to the White House about giving you ‘free’ Internet. Here’s why that may be controversial.
“Facebook has been in talks for months with U.S. government officials and wireless carriers with an eye toward unveiling an American version of an app that has caused controversy abroad, according to multiple people familiar with the matter.” read more…https://www.was
USA: “Imagine A Day Without Censorship” Speakout At Facebook Zuckerberg’s SF Mansion
“A speak out was held on John Lennon’s birthday at the San Francisco mansion of Facebook owner Mark Zuckerberg. He is censoring Facebook with critics of Israel and is colluding with the police and US government to stop live streams from Standing Rock by Native People in North Dakota and also shut off the video stream of Korryn Gaines and then killed her. Facebook is also seeking to privatize the internet.” read more…https://www.ind