In this week's Justice Beat, we’re keeping an eye on workers rights, news from the EU and a lawsuit over a Chinese technology ban in the US.
Quote of the day
“It has a very serious chilling effect on legitimate protest.” - Environment activists are fighting a fracking injunction in the Court of Appeal
Work work work
1. There’s some eyebrow-raising going on, as a wage increase brought in by Amazon coincides with a move to slash workers’ hours, often undermining any wage gains, the Guardian reports. Amazon established a $15/hr minimum wage for those working at supermarket chain Whole Foods, which Amazon owns, but simultaneously cut workers’ hours, leaving some worse off.
2. Speaking of workers’ rights, we’ve now seen the first victory for gig economy workers in the public sector, according to the Independent. 27 artists and lecturers who worked at the National Gallery were recognised as having ‘worker’ status, after an Employment Tribunal concluded it was “unsustainable” to describe them as self-employed. The workers raised £77,000 on CrowdJustice.
Can EU believe it?
3. More murkiness surrounds social media advertising and Brexit, after Facebook refused to give a parliamentary committee details of a group pressuring people to protest the Prime Minister’s Brexit deal. Techcrunch reports that Facebook declined to disclose details of users behind ‘Mainstream Network’, a group calling for the UK to leave the EU without a deal, whose ads have reached around 10 million people.
4. More EU-related news this week sees the European Parliament plan for some states to stop using daylight savings time (as if it isn’t confusing enough already). Deutsche Welle reports that the days of EU-mandated twice-yearly time shifting are numbered, and from 2021 states will be free to decide what time to set their clocks to, and when. The UK, it appears, will be sticking with the old rules.
A diplomatic issue?
Already-fragile relations between the US and China are even more precarious after Chinese electronics firm Huawei announced that it is suing the US government over a ban on Huawai’s products, the New York Times reports. The company argues that its products have been unfairly restricted, but officials claim that Huawei’s tech poses a security threat, possibly enabling Chinese authorities to spy on the US.
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This week on CrowdJustice
Foster carers of the Parsons Green bomber are raising funds to sue Surrey County Council, which they say failed to inform them that he’d been trained by ISIS, traders working in Elephant and Castle are fundraising for fair regeneration of their local area, and residents of Ilford South are raising funds to challenge healthcare provision they argue is discriminatory.
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