UNITED States rights groups have filed an appeal against US President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin for their complicity in the Israeli regime’s months-long genocide of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
On Monday, the Centre for Constitutional Rights, a New York civil liberties group, filed an appeal on behalf of the Palestinian human rights organisations Al-Haq and Defence for Children International as well as Palestinians in Gaza and Palestinian Americans in the US.
In their appeal at the Ninth District Court of Appeals in San Francisco, the plaintiffs’ lawyers asserted that Biden, Blinken and Austin are complicit in the ongoing Israeli genocide in Gaza, which has left more than 37,000 Palestinian people killed since October.
The original lawsuit filed in November in federal court was dismissed in January on jurisdictional grounds.
One of the Palestinian plaintiffs in the case, who has lost five members of her family in the Israeli regime forces’ brutal atrocities, said she had vowed to seek justice.
Laila El-Haddad said: ‘I promised my surviving family members in Gaza that I would do everything in my power to advocate on their behalf.’
Meanwhile, The International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA), which represents union workers at East Coast and Gulf Coast ports, said on Monday that it has suspended talks with the United States Maritime Alliance over a new contract.
The ILA said it cancelled the talks with ports management to discuss a new deal after discovering that automated technology was being used by APM Terminals and Maersk, the world’s second-largest shipping company and APM Terminals’ parent company, to process trucks at port terminals without union labour.
The union says an ‘auto gate’ system was initially identified at the Port of Mobile, Alabama, but the union indicated that it believes the technology is in use at other ports.
Harold J. Daggett, the ILA president said: ‘Here we go again! This is another example of USMX members unilaterally circumventing our coast-wide Master Contract.
‘This is a clear violation of our agreement with USMX, and we will not tolerate it any longer.
‘There’s no point trying to negotiate a new agreement with USMX when one of its major companies continues to violate our current agreement with the sole aim of eliminating ILA jobs through automation.’
A Maersk spokesman said in an emailed statement that APM Terminals remains ‘in full compliance with the ILA/USMX Master Contract’.
The ILA’s master contract with the United States Maritime Alliance – which represents terminal operators and ocean carriers – is set to expire on 30th September.
17th May was the initial cutoff date set by the union for the local contracts to be agreed to so an overall master contract could then be negotiated.
The ILA said its decision to stop talking arose amidst ‘ongoing negotiations of local agreements under the coast-wide Master Contract.’
Back in July, Daggett had said he wanted a good economic deal for his members, which included union opposition to port automation and exclusive port contracts for its members.
During a speech before union members that month, Daggett vowed the ILA would not take a back seat to anyone.
The ILA indicated in its release that it will not meet with USMX until the ‘auto gate’ issue is resolved.
Despite the history of this union and the ports reaching agreements in recent decades, logistics companies and shippers are showing concern about the risk of a strike, with more cargo orders for peak shipping season moving back to West Coast ports.
- The Port of Baltimore shipping channel has fully reopened, 11 weeks after the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed when it was struck by a cargo ship.
The US Army Corps of Engineers said the passageway where the Key Bridge buckled was now ‘safe for transit’.
The 700ft (213 metres) wide and 50ft (15 metres) deep channel has been restored to its original operational dimensions.
The Dali ship veered into the span on 26 March, cutting off the shipping artery and killing six construction workers.
Crews have had to remove 50,000 tonnes of wreckage, the US Army Corps of Engineers said.
2,000 salvage responders, including hundreds of specialists from around the world, worked to remove the heap of steel and concrete with the help of a fleet of tugboats and more than a dozen floating cranes.
The crash left the vessel trapped under the wreckage in the Patapsco river.
Last month, the Dali was moved by tugboats, marking one of the last steps needed to clear up shipping routes before Monday’s reopening.
The FBI and US Coast Guard are investigating the incident.
Last month, the National Transportation Safety Board said the Dali lost power several times before it rammed into the bridge.
Rebuilding the span will take more than four years and cost up to $1.9 billion (£1.5 billion), state authorities in Maryland have said.
- United Farm Workers and current and former workers at Windmill Farms, a mushroom producer in Sunnyside, Washington state, will rally outside the Yakima County Courthouse as it hears Windmill Farms’ motion to move worker lawsuits against the company to private arbitration.
The lawsuit addresses severe labour rights violations, including illegal firings, intimidation, and harassment of pro-union workers.
Windmill Farms is introducing a motion to compel those workers who have taken legal action against Windmill into private arbitration, citing contracts Windmill coerced them into signing as a condition of employment when Windmill Farms took over what had been Ostrom Mushroom Farm in Sunnyside.
The lawsuit addresses violations of the Washington Little Norris-LaGuardia Act, including unlawful terminations of UFW union supporters. Since 2022, workers at Ostrom-Windmill have sought a UFW union contract, which the various owners have refused to recognise or negotiate with.
UFW President Teresa Romero said: ‘The UFW condemns Windmill Farms’ attempt to escape accountability by taking workers’ justified lawsuit to private arbitration.
‘Keeping the case in the public court system ensures the proceedings remain open and transparent, allowing for greater public scrutiny and accountability.
‘Workers who have experienced retaliation, discrimination, and other illegal activity deserve to have their claims heard and adjudicated fully.’
The workers in this case are represented by nonprofit Columbia Legal Services (CLS) and Martinez Aguilasocho Law, Inc.
- The United States has begun withdrawing its troops from Niger with the departure of the first aircraft, the two countries’ defence ministries said in a joint statement last Saturday.
The statement read: ‘The US Department of Defense and the Nigerien Ministry of National Defence of the Republic of Niger announce that the withdrawal of US forces and assets from Niger has progressed from initial preparations to redeployment.
‘This significant transition began with the departure of a US Air Force C-17 Globemaster III from Air Base 101 in Niamey on 7th June.
‘Moreover, some US forces have already redeployed from Niger to their home stations after concluding their missions.
‘At the same time, a small contingent of US military personnel arrived in the African country to assist with the withdrawal of troops from Air Bases 101 and 201.’
The US and Niger agreed to complete the withdrawal of US troops from the African country no later than September 15.
There is an estimated 1,100 US personnel in Niger.
The military pullout was initiated in March after a Nigerien military spokesperson said the country’s transitional government, which took power in July 2023, had terminated the military agreement with the US with immediate effect, citing the interests of the Nigerien people.
