Folks,
Greetings from the Burgh today; it’s been a hectic fundraising day for our legal defense fund. (ICYMI: Read Semafor’s Ben Smith’s story on how NewsGuild is subpoenaing us to obtain the names of sexual assault survivors).
$1,550 Raised for Legal Defense Fund
Big thanks to all readers who have donated to our legal defense fund. While we have a pro-bono lawyer, we still have to pay $3,000 – $5,000 for court reporters to monitor our depositions.
Donate today to help us cover the cost of court reporters. Please, sign up as one of our 760 recurring donors today.
Starbucks Threatens to Sue Union over Palestinian Solidarity
Last week, Starbucks Workers United shared a social media post that expressed ‘Solidarity with Palestine”. (The post has since been deleted).
Now, Starbucks is threatening to sue the union because of their support of Palestinian rights. The company says that the company has received boycott threats and over 1,000 complaints about the workers since Florida Senator Rick Scott denounced the union for supporting Palestinian rights.
“Anger against Starbucks persists because your organization’s actions have fueled the inaccurate perception that Starbucks supports violence against civilians,” wrote Starbucks counsel Rocky Tsai in a letter to the union.
U.E. Opposes Military Aid for Israelis
One group that isn’t running from their support for Palestinian rights is the United Electrical Workers (UE). The union is the only union in the U.S. that has consistently supported targeted boycotts of warmakers in Israel and is denouncing the attack by Israel on Gaza.
“We certainly don’t support any killing, whether it’s in the form of bombs, guns, starving people through blockades, or through apartheid, from any side,” UE Secretary-Treasurer Andrew Dinkelaker told In These Times. ”U.S. military aid going in is pouring gasoline onto a fire. It encourages that there be military solutions, and military solutions will get more people killed.”
For more, check out In These Times.
Gaza Hospital Staff Drinking Water Out of IV
Meanwhile, water is in such short supply in Gaza that hospital staff are drinking water out of IV bags. From the Washington Post:
To keep the lights on in Gaza City’s largest hospital, Wissam AbuJarad, an anesthetist, said staff were collecting gas from dwindling stocks in the area to maintain a steady supply to their generators.
“If we run out of fuel, then we will lose all of the patients in the ICU, the babies in the incubators, and the patients who need surgery,” AbuJarad said.
He said that some staff had been reduced to drinking from IV solution bags because Israel had cut off water supplies to the enclave.
For more, check out the Washington Post.
Alright folks, that’s all for today. Keep sending tips, story ideas, comments, and suggestions to melk@paydayreport.com
Donate to our legal defense fund to help us protect our services. Please, if you can, sign up as one of our 760 recurring donors today.
See yinz tomorrow,
Melk
