California bill champions 4-day work week – National & International News – WED 13Apr2022

California weighs adopting 4-day work week. TX DA vows to halt execution of woman many believe innocent. Biden accuses Russia of genocide in Ukraine.

NATIONAL NEWS

California weighs adopting 4-day work week

Lawmakers in California have proposed a bill that would reduce the work week to 32-hours for companies with more than 500 employees. The law would require that any employee who works more than 32 hours in a week receive time-and-a-half pay for the overage. People working more than 12 hours in a day or on weekends would receive twice their normal wage.

Unsurprisingly, the states Chamber of Commerce has come out against the proposal, arguing that it would eat into companies’ profit margins. It also seems counterintuitive to adopt such a change when many workplaces are having trouble recruiting enough employees to cover shifts. 

However, some large companies have experimented with 4-day work weeks and achieved positive results. Productivity over a work week actually increased rather than decreased. Workers were also less stressed and more successful in balancing professional and personal obligations. Companies that adopt a 4-day work week may also find an edge in recruiting new workers. Of course, some sectors would have more difficulty making it work than others.

Overall, the typical American works more hours in a week than almost every other industrialized nation. Only Israelis, Koreans, Russian and Mexicans have longer work weeks than Americans.

The California bill is similar to one proposed in Congress by Rep. Mark Takano (D-CA). Takano explained that. “People are spending more time at work, less time with loved ones, their health and well-being is worsening, and their pay has remained stagnant. It’s time for change”.

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TX DA says he will halt execution of woman many believe to be innocent

Recently, the case of Melissa Lucio has been grabbing national attention. Lucio, a mother of 14, has spent 14 years on Texas death row after being convicted of murdering her 2-year-old daughter Mariah in 2007. Mariah suffered from a condition that made one of her feet turn inward. According to Lucio’s legal team, Mariah fell down some stairs. They say that Lucio did not think the tot was seriously hurt, and so did not seek medical help. Mariah died of injuries from the fall two days later.

Police harshly interrogated Lucio, who was pregnant with twins at the time, for 5 hours. Eventually, Lucio gave in and said she was “responsible”. The local district attorney presented this as a confession that Lucio had beaten her daughter to death. But during the interrogation, Lucio asserted her innocence over 100 times and has maintained innocence ever since. Lucio’s attorneys insist that Mariah’s death was “a tragedy, not a murder”.

Campaign for clemency

Experts who have examined the case believe that Lucio’s history as a victim of childhood sexual abuse and domestic abuse made her prone to giving a false confession. Lucio also has a below average IQ, and may have admitted responsibility just to get away from detectives who were yelling at her.

Lucio’s execution is scheduled for April 27. Earlier this month, celebrity Kim Kardashian drew attention to her case. Since then, Republican and Democrat Texas lawmakers have visited Lucio in prison. Republican Rep. Jeff Leach tweeted last week, “We promised Melissa Lucio and her family we’d do everything we can do to prevent this irreversible injustice from taking place later this month. And we intend on keeping that promise”. Sister Helen Prejean, who wrote the book Dead Man Walking, has also joined calls to save Lucio’s life.

In response, District Attorney Luis Saenz, who prosecuted Lucio’s case, has said that he will withdraw his request for her execution if she does not receive a pardon from Gov. Abbott or a stay from the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.

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INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Biden accuses Russia of genocide in Ukraine

During remarks in Iowa, President Biden characterized Russian atrocities in Ukraine as acts of genocide. Biden said that the goal of Putin’s war in Ukraine was to “wipe out the idea” of a Ukrainian identity.

Biden stated that, “More evidence is coming out of the horrible things that the Russians have done in Ukraine, and we’re going to only learn more and more about the devastation. We’ll let the lawyers decide internationally whether or not it qualifies But it sure seems that way to me”.

Russian soldiers have been accused of systematically raping Ukrainian women and of torturing and murdering civilians who refused to collaborate with the invasion and occupation. Ukrainian officials have also accused Russian troops of forcibly deporting thousands of civilians from Mariupol and other cities to Russia. Before the invasion, Putin himself proclaimed his belief that Ukraine is not even a real country.

Reaction to Biden’s comments have been mixed. The proclamation of “genocide” is politically loaded. The international Genocide Convention treaty requires that all of the 156 nations who ratified it must act to prevent genocide. Both the US and Russia have ratified the convention.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskey lauded Biden’s comments as the “true words of a true leader”. Zelensky tweeted, “Calling things by their names is essential to stand up to evil”. On the other hand, French President Emmanuel Macron has hesitated to use the word “genocide” and warned against an “escalation of rhetoric”. Macron said he would be  “careful with such terms today because these two peoples are brothers”.

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