Compiled by the El Reportero’s staff
Most Americans know the drill: You call a company’s customer service line and often, you end up speaking with someone in another country. This can be an inconvenience because of languages and accents, but the matter is more serious than just that. Information to that effect from a Communications Workers of America (CWA) report is gaining attention in Congress. CWA Legislative Director Shane Larson says they’ve detailed the economic damage done to communities when jobs are shipped overseas, and documented instances of fraud directly related to employees in overseas call centers.
A new report from the Communications Workers of America (CWA) shows that the trend in off-shoring call center jobs has hurt communities struggling with unemployment, as well as put U.S. customer information at risk of theft. CWA legislative director Shane Larson says it’s time to protect U.S. jobs and consumer information, as well as encourage other countries to do more to protect data. Bi-partisan legislation has been introduced to address some of the concerns in the report.
California State Grange supports GMO labeling for November ballot
Saturday thousands of volunteers will fan out statewide to launch a petition drive to get the California Right to Know Genetically Engineered Food Act on the ballot in November. In the thick of the grass-roots initiative is the California State Grange, one of the leading partners in the effort.
The California State Grange has long supported the idea that GMOs (genetically modified organisms) in the food supply should be adequately tested and that consumers are entitled to know what’s in food they eat. The American people agree. Yet despite overwhelming support for GMO labeling, for over a decade regulators and legislators at the national and state level have largely ignored public concerns.
That’s why the Committee for the Right to Know is taking the issue directly to the voters of California. Now, with petitions in hand, over 1,500 volunteers will be gathering signatures at stores and farmers markets up and down the state.
“The bottom line is Californians have a right to know what’s in the food we eat and feed our children. It’s time to send a strong, direct message to those who govern us, whether they be agency or elected, that we want genetically engineered foods labeled,” says Pamm Larry, founder of the Committee For the Right to Know.
Libertarian Party calls for an end to dangerous sanctions to Iran
The Senate Banking Committee unanimously approved increased sanctions against Iran on Feb. 2. Not willing to wait for a full Senate vote, President Obama increased sanctions by executive order on Feb. 6.
As relations with Iran deteriorate, President Barrack Obama and the Bipartisan Senate Committee are making things worse: inciting yet another war in the Middle East through economic sanctions, read a LP written statement.
“The United States must stop meddling and return to our traditional libertarian foreign policy of free trade in order to give peace a chance in the Middle East,” said the statement.
“Trade sanctions are proven failures. In the 1990s, Presidents George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton enforced trade sanctions against Iraq which led to the deaths of more than 100,000 innocent men, women and children.
The LP called for the removing all restrictions on trade, because Free Trade is the best way to foster peace in the Middle East, it said.
“Now the US government is doing the same thing to Iran, a country that not only has never attacked the United States, but has attacked no other country in over 200 years.
