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Tricia Barry, Farm Sanctuary, 607-583-2225 ext. 233,
tricia@farmsanctuary.org
Farm Sanctuary, the nation's leading farm animal protection
organization, today released a statement in support of the newly
released PETA video exposing animal cruelty at an Iowa pig farm. In
June 2008, Farm Sanctuary and a coalition of animal protection groups
rescued 68 pigs off a levee in southeastern Iowa who were abandoned
after floodwaters ripped through factory farms in the region, drowning
thousands of pigs. Today, those rescued pigs are under the care of Farm
Sanctuary at the organization's Watkins Glen, N.Y. shelter. Having
tended to the care and rehabilitation of these animals for the past 2 1/2
months, Farm Sanctuary has found wounds consistent with abuse captured
on video by PETA's undercover investigator, which indicates that such
abuse is systemic and not isolated.
"Farm Sanctuary thanks PETA for uncovering the daily abuses that pigs
raised for pork endure at the hands of a cruel industry that considers
brutal treatment of sensitive, intelligent animals as business as
usual," said Susie Coston, national shelter director at Farm Sanctuary.
"All of the 68 pigs we rescued showed signs of abuse that went far
beyond the ailments that afflicted the pigs after the floodwaters rose."
Farm Sanctuary's experience caring for the pigs rescued from factory
farms in Iowa, the largest pork producing state, confirm that many of
the abuses captured on video are systemic. These abuses include:
Tail docking
Castration
Untreated chronic ailments such as foot abscesses that had turned
septic Old, infected wounds from rubbing against the bars of
2-foot-wide crates Hernias left untreated
Farm Sanctuary has learned from industry research that mutilations like
tail docking and castration are performed throughout the factory
farming industry without analgesics, or pain killers, as was captured
in the PETA video. In the case of the pigs rescued from Iowa, all were
tail docked and nearly all the young males were castrated, with the
exception of one young "teaser" pig, used to prepare the sows for
forced artificial insemination. Many of the Iowa pigs suffer from
hernias that were left untreated and are fairly common to the industry.
In fact, hernia operations, or any medical treatments are rarely
performed on factory farmed pigs.
Most of the sows have chronic ailments that developed as a result of
their confinement in 2-foot-wide gestation crates where they cannot
turn around or lie down comfortably. These sows live in these crates
for their entire 4 month pregnancies, before being moved to a slightly
larger farrowing crate where they give birth and nurse for a period of
two to three weeks until their babies are removed from them to be
raised for slaughter.
"The breeding sows we rescued suffer from multiple ailments caused by
their intensive confinement on factory farms," added Coston. "We've
treated several foot abscesses caused by standing on concrete flooring
and we've treated infected sores on pigs' shoulders caused by rubbing
against the bars of their crates. All of them have broken or missing
front teeth from neurotically biting on the bars of their crates. Many
of these sows were far more terrified of humans than any pigs we've
ever cared for in the past 22 years of Farm Sanctuary's existence. When
they first arrived they would spend entire days rubbing their noses
against their rubber feed bowls or biting on fences. They would also
issue a chilling scream and run away when anyone even tried to touch
them. While these behaviors have ceased with long days outdoors, play
sessions, wallow time in mud holes, and affection from one another and
from people showing them kindness, these pigs will still chew on gates
if they are temporarily restricted to a stall for medical treatment and
they still don't like to be touched on the back."
The practice of piglet thumping, or slamming the smallest and weakest
piglets to the ground, as shown in the PETA video, is not only common,
but industry statistics show that about 10 percent of piglets will have
died within the first two to three weeks of birth and many are killed
by this standard industry practice. To give this percentage some
perspective, approximately 105 million pigs are raised and slaughtered
in the U.S. every year.
Farm Sanctuary has worked to end the use of gestation crates in the
U.S. through its Anti-Confinement Campaign, with building success.
Gestation crates are now outlawed in Florida, Arizona, Oregon and
Colorado. This year, Farm Sanctuary has co-sponsored a ballot
initiative, the YES! on Prop 2 Campaign, in California that would
eliminate gestation crates, as well as veal crates for calves and
battery cages for egg laying hens, in the nation's largest agricultural
state. Iowa farmers have expressed no intention of ending the use of
gestation crates and other forms of cruel confinement for farm animals.
In fact, several large factory farms in Iowa are funneling money into
California to oppose this humane initiative. Farm Sanctuary is urging
the public to take action to counter the abuses endemic to intensive
confinement systems by supporting the YES! on Prop 2 campaign in
California. More information can be found at www.yesonprop2.org.
Farm Sanctuary fights the disastrous effects of animal agriculture on animals, the environment, social justice, and public health through rescue, education, and advocacy.
Unionized machinists are set to vote on the contract on Thursday.
A tentative deal made early Sunday morning between aerospace giant Boeing and the union that represents more than 33,000 of its workers was a testament to the "collective voice" of the employees, said the union's bargaining committee—but members signaled they may reject the offer and vote to strike.
The company and the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) District 751 reached an agreement that if approved by members in a scheduled Thursday vote, would narrowly avoid a strike that was widely expected just day ago, when Boeing and the bargaining committee were still far apart in talks over wages, health coverage, and other crucial issues for unionized workers.
The negotiations went on for six months and resulted on Sunday in an agreement on 25% general wage increases over the tentative contract's four years, a reduction in healthcare costs for workers, an increase in the amount Boeing would contribute to retirement plans, and a commitment to building the company's next aircraft in Washington state. The union had come to the table with a demand for a 40% raise over the life of the contract.
"Members will now have only one set of progression steps in a career, and vacation will be available for use as you earn it," negotiating team leaders Jon Holden and Brandon Bryant told members. "We were able to secure upgrades for certain job codes and improved overtime limits, and we now have a seat at the table regarding the safety and quality of the production system."
Jordan Zakarin of the pro-labor media organization More Perfect Union reported that feedback he'd received from members indicated "a strike may still be on the cards," and hundreds of members of the IAM District 751 Facebook group replied, "Strike!" on a post regarding the tentative deal.
The potential contract comes as Boeing faces federal investigations, including a criminal probe by the Department of Justice, into a blowout of a portion of the fuselage on an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 jetliner that took place when the plane was mid-flight in January.
The Federal Aviation Administration has placed a limit on the number of 737 MAX planes Boeing can produce until it meets certain safety and manufacturing standards.
As The Seattle Timesreported on Friday, while Boeing has claimed it is slowing down production and emphasizing safety inspections in order to ensure quality, mechanics at the company's plant in Everett, Washington have observed a "chaotic workplace" ahead of the potential strike, with managers "pushing partially assembled 777 jets through the assembly line, leaving tens of thousands of unfinished jobs due to defects and parts shortages to be completed out of sequence on each airplane."
Holden and Bryant said Sunday that "the company finds itself in a tough position due to many self-inflicted missteps."
"It is IAM members who will bring this company back on track," they said. "As has been said many times, there is no Boeing without the IAM."
Without 33,000 IAM members to assemble and inspect planes, a strike would put Boeing in an even worse position as it works to meet manufacturing benchmarks.
On Thursday, members will vote on whether or not to accept Boeing's offer and on reaffirming a nearly unanimous strike vote that happened over the summer.
If a majority of members reject the deal and at least two-thirds reaffirm the strike vote, a strike would be called.
If approved, the new deal would be the first entirely new contract for Boeing workers since 2008. Boeing negotiated with the IAM over the last contract twice in 2011 and 2013, in talks that resulted in higher healthcare costs for employees and an end to their traditional pension program.
"Expressing one's vote will be useless as long as Macron is in power," said one demonstrator.
In cities and towns across France on Saturday, more than 100,000 people answered the call from the left-wing political party La France Insoumise for mass protests against President Emmanuel Macron's selection of a right-wing prime minister.
The demonstrations came two months after the left coalition won more seats than Macron's centrist coalition or the far-right Rassemblement National (RN) in the National Assembly and two days after the president announced that Michel Barnier, the right-wing former Brexit negotiator for the European Union, would lead the government.
The selection was made after negotiations between Macron and RN leader Marine Le Pen, leading protesters on Saturday to accuse the president of a "denial of democracy."
"Expressing one's vote will be useless as long as Macron is in power," a protester named Manon Bonijol toldAl Jazeera.
A poll released on Friday by Elabe showed that 74% of French people believed Macron had disregarded the results of July's snap parliamentary elections, and 55% said the election had been "stolen."
Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the leader of La France Insoumise (LFI), or France Unbowed, also accused Macron of "stealing the election" in a speech at the demonstration in Paris on Saturday.
"Democracy is not just the art of accepting you have won but the humility to accept you have lost," Mélenchon told protesters. "I call you for what will be a long battle."
He added that "the French people are in rebellion. They have entered into revolution."
Macron's centrist coalition won about 160 assembly seats out of 577 in July, compared to the left coalition's 180. The RN won about 140.
Barnier's Les Républicains (LR) party won fewer than 50 parliamentary seats. French presidents have generally named prime ministers, who oversee domestic policy, from the party with the most seats in the National Assembly.
Barnier signaled on Friday that he would largely defend Macron's pro-business policies and could unveil stricter anti-immigration reforms. Macron has enraged French workers and the left with policies including a retirement age hike last year.
Protests also took place in cities including Nantes, Nice, Montpellier, Marseilles, and Strasbourg.
All four left-wing parties within the Nouveau Front Populaire (NFP) coalition have announced plans to vote for a motion of no confidence against Barnier.
The RN has not committed to backing Barnier's government yet and leaders have said they are waiting to see what policies he presents to the National Assembly before deciding how to proceed in a no confidence vote.
"Our fight to ensure that voters—not politicians—have the final say is far from over," said one organizer.
Campaigners who last month celebrated the success of their effort to place an abortion rights referendum on November ballots in Missouri faced uncertainty about the ballot initiative Friday night, after a judge ruled that organizers had made an error on their petitions that rendered the measure invalid.
Judge Christopher Limbaugh of Cole County Circuit Court sided with pro-forced pregnancy lawmakers and activists who had argued that Missourians for Constitutional Freedom had not sufficiently explained the ramifications of the Right to Reproductive Freedom initiative, or Amendment 3, which would overturn the state's near-total abortion ban.
The state constitution has a requirement that initiative petitions include "an enacting clause and the full text of the measure," and clarify the laws or sections of the constitution that would be repealed if the amendment were passed.
Missourians for Constitutional Freedom included the full text of the measure on their petitions, which were signed by more than 380,000 residents—more than twice the number of signatures needed to place the question on ballots.
Opponents claimed, though, that organizers did not explain to signatories the meaning of "a person's fundamental right to reproductive freedom."
Limbaugh accused the group of a "blatant violation" of the constitution.
Rachel Sweet, campaign manager for the group, said it "remains unwavering in [its] mission to ensure Missourians have the right to vote on reproductive freedom on November 5."
"The court's decision to block Amendment 3 from appearing on the ballot is a profound injustice to the initiative petition process and undermines the rights of the... 380,000 Missourians who signed our petition," said Sweet. "Our fight to ensure that voters—not politicians—have the final say is far from over."
Limbaugh said he would wait until Tuesday, when the state is set to print ballots, to formally issue an injunction instructing the secretary of state to remove the question.
Missourians for Constitutional Freedom said it plans to appeal to a higher court, but if the court declines to act, the question would be struck from ballots.
As the case plays out in the coming days, said Missouri state Rep. Eric Woods (D-18), "it's a good time for a reminder that Missouri's current extreme abortion ban has ZERO exceptions for rape or incest. And Missouri Republicans are hell bent on keeping it that way."
The ruling came weeks after the Arkansas Supreme Court disqualified an abortion rights amendment from appearing on November ballots, saying organizers had failed to correctly submit paperwork verifying that paid canvassers had been properly trained.