Folks,
Greetings from the Burgh, but the big news this week is back in Brasil.
Reports: Brazilian Attorney General Wants to Arrest Bolsonaro
Earlier this week, Trump placed 50% tariffs on Brasil in retalation for Bolsonaro facing trial for his role in attempting to assassinate Lula in 2022.
Now, several major outlets, including O Globo, Metropoles, and Revista Forum, with which Payday has partnered in the past, are reporting that Brazilian Prosecutor General Gonet is going to request that Bolsonaro be arrested.
The decision to arrest Bolsonaro would need to be approved by the Brazilian Supreme Court, where Bolsonaro is facing trial.
For more, check out Metropoles.
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Farm Worker Killed in ICE Raid
In Ventura Country, Califronia, a farm worker was killed during an ICE raid yesterday. The death occurred when the worker, who was attempting to flee ICE, fell 30 feet off a ladder.
ICE then occupied the farm for 8 hours, including detaining several American citizens working on the farm.
“US citizen workers report only being released after they were forced to delete photos and videos of the raid from their phones,” the United Farm Workers reported on twitter.
Garbage Workers Strike Spreads to Atlanta & Southern California
On Wednesday, Payday reported that a strike of garbage workers employed by the private contractor, Republic Services, has spread to Illinois, Georgia, Washington State, and Massachusetts.
Now, the strike has spread to Atlanta as well as to Southern California in Orange County and the suburbs of San Diego.
“Republic abuses and underpays workers across the country,” Sean M. O’Brien, Teamsters president, said in a statement Wednesday. “We will flood the streets and shut down garbage collection in state after state. Workers are uniting nationwide, and we will get the wages and benefits we’ve earned, come hell or high water.”
For more on the growing strike, check out the San Diego Union-Tribune.
Fenway Park Workers Inspired by Garbage Workers
The strike of garbage workers employed by Republic Services was cited as inspiration by Fenway Park concession workers, members of UNITE HERE Local 26, who are threatening to go on strike.
“The Union and Aramark remain very far apart in terms of our primary demands — non-tipped wages that match the citywide standard and guardrails on automation,” a spokesperson for Unite Here Local 26 told the Boston Herald.
For more, check out the Boston Herald.
One Third of US Counties Don’t Have a Full-Time Reporter Equivalent
Finally, a new report by Rebuild Local News and Muck Rack, a PR company, presents a troubling picture of how few journalists are left in the country. From the Nieman Lab:
The report found that more than 1,000 counties — one out of three in the nation — do not have the equivalent of even one full-time local journalist.
“And the ‘better off’ parts of the country are in lousy shape, too,” the report states. “More than 2,000 counties have less than the national average,” which is an 8.2 Local Journalist Equivalent.
Moreover, the new data indicates that journalists haven’t just been fading from rural areas or communities suffering from population decline. The Bronx in New York City, for example, has fewer Local Journalist Equivalents per 100,000 people than Falls County, Texas with its population of 17,000.
Notably, fast-growing areas like Fort Bend County near Houston, or the Washington County suburb of Portland, have about five Local Journalist Equivalents — a low number, the report states.
The authors offer a potential reason for why that might be.
“Before the advent of online news, more residents meant more paid subscribers and more advertising revenue,” the report reads. “Now, more residents means more news but no extra resources to cover that news.”
For more, check out the Nieman Lab.
News & Headlines Elsewhere
- LGBTQ+ suicide hotline workers in NY and NJ face layoffs after federal funding cut
- Iowa City’s Center for Workers Justice to close following “several external threats”
- Indeed and Glassdoor to lay off 1,300 workers as AI shakes up job search business
- Politico Union heads to arbitration today over POLITICO’s AI violations
- New Orleans nurses prepare for two-day strike against management retaliation
- Loft Cinema workers in Tucson Vote Unanimously to Join IATSE Local 415
- Missouri Gov. Kehoe signs bill repealing paid sick leave
- Finally, Georgia police arrest farmworkers — then get warrants From DHS
Alright see yinz next week. Keep sending tips, story ideas, and comments to melk@paydayreport.com
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Love & Solidarity,
Melk
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