DAIRY DISPUTES IN NORTH AMERICA: A CASE STUDY

Agribusiness, International Relations/Trade,

Labour politics in East and Southeast Asia

In East and Southeast Asia, trade unions find themselves in very different relationships with the state, from full incorporation (Singapore) to pluralist competition (Indonesia), marginalisation and exclusion (Malaysia and Thailand). In this paper we will outline the political role organised labour has taken on a range of policy issues including the minimum wage (Indonesia); migrant workers and productivity (Malaysia, Singapore); precarious employment (The Philippines); labour struggles and social movements (Thailand); industrial disputes and the role of unofficial worker representatives in challenging established communist institutions (Vietnam); and claims for distributive justice (Taiwan). We argue that this cross-examination confirms that industrial democracy and development remain a useful heuristic for the study of labour in the region and supports the view that states play a dominant role of 'pacification', with capitalist 'accumulation' being the primary motive and labour conditions subordinated to that agenda

The 2019 Chilean social upheaval: a descriptive approach

In 2019, student protests over an increase in subway fare in Chile escalated into violence and a leaderless nationwide social upheaval. This research note takes a descriptive approach that goes beyond the protester/non-protesters dichotomy, because we believe we need a richer understanding of the "what, who, and how" of citizens around this outbreak. Based on a survey fielded amidst the upheaval, we distinguish protesters by intensity, and non-protesters by their position towards the upheaval. As expected, protesters tend to be young and educated. Strong protesters are more left-wing, interested in politics, and more participative, including electorally. They endorse democracy but are critical of its functioning, and more likely to justify illegal/violent actions as a means for social change. Inequality appears as a cross-cutting concern, even among opponents, but strong protesters are more distrustful of its sources and of the rich themselves. We conclude by discussing the implications of these findings

Labour regimes and the labour problem in Asia

Our presentation is about work, employment and labour relations in the seven East/South-East Asian countries of Taiwan, the Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Singapore, and in China. Following an account of the key features of the labour problem in each country, including the converging industrial relations of China and Vietnam, we conclude that the interface between industrial democracy and economic development remains a useful heuristic for understanding labour in the region

Industrial relations in South-East Asia: a cross-examination

Our presentation is based upon the Editorial exposé of a special issue on industrial relations in Asia recently published by the Chronique Internationale de l’IRES (Delahaie and Le Queux 2016). Contributions were drawing on original research work and covered up to seven countries from the South-East Asian region (Taiwan, The Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore) plus China. Three streams were under scrutiny: 1) Low wages and decent work; 2) Migrant workers and informal labour; 3) Industrial conflict, and the way labour organisations (or the State) dealt with it. Contributions on Indonesia and Thailand touched upon decent work in low-wage economies, and the one on The Philippines on precarious employment more particularly; those on Singapore and Taiwan addressed the challenges and contradictions of maintaining a productivist agenda under tight corporatist regimes. The one on Malaysia focused on migrant labour and informal work. Contributions on China and Vietnam reflected on the nature and modality of industrial disputes and how these came to challenge established Communist labour institutions. China and Vietnam were given additional attention as they provided ground for a comparative analysis. Observations are congruent with the literature: States still play a dominant role of 'pacification' of industrial relations, with capitalist accumulation’ being the primary motive (Ford and Gillan 2016); international pressures are indispensable yet commitment to the enforcement of workers' rights remains problematic; echoing a long-lasting assessment (Deyo 1981; Leggett 1999), the overarching conclusion is that the interface between development and industrial democracy is a key determinant in the region

A Qualitative Exploration of the Role of Vape Shop Environments in Supporting Smoking Abstinence

E-cigarettes are the most popular method of quitting smoking in England and most are purchased in specialist vape shops. This qualitative study explores how the vape shop environment is experienced by quitters to support smoking abstinence. Semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted to elicit experiences of e-cigarette use, including experiences of vape shops, in 40 people who had used e-cigarettes in a quit attempt. Observations of six shops in a range of locations were also undertaken. Interview and observation data were analysed using inductive thematic analysis and triangulated. At an individual level, smoking abstinence was supported through shop assistants’ attempts to understand customers’ smoking preferences in order to: (i) tailor advice about the most appropriate product; and (ii) offer an ongoing point of contact for practical help. At an interpersonal level, shops offered opportunity to socialise and reinforce a vaping identity, although the environment was perceived as intimidating for some (e.g., new and female users). At a structural level, shops ensured easy access to products perceived to be good value by customers and had adapted to legislative changes. Vape shops can provide effective behavioural support to quitters to maintain smoking abstinence. Health professionals could capitalise on this through partnership working with shops, to ensure best outcomes for clients wanting to use e-cigarettes to quit smoking

The chemistry of compact planetary nebulae

We report high-sensitivity millimetre observations of several molecular species (13CO, HCN, HNC, CN, HCO+ and N2H+) in a sample of compact planetary nebulae. Some species such as HCO+ and CN are particularly abundant compared to envelopes around AGB stars or even interstellar clouds. We have estimated the following average values for the column densities ratios: CN/HCN~2.6, HCO+/HCN~0.5, and HNC/HCN~0.4. Thus, the chemical composition of the molecular envelopes in these compact PNe appears somewhat intermediate between the composition of proto-PNe (such as CRL 2688 or CRL 618) and well evolved PNe (such as the Ring, M4--9, or the Helix). From observations of the CO isotopomers, we have estimated that the 12C/13C ratio is in the range 10 ~< 12C/13C ~< 40. These values are below those expected from standard asymptotic giant branch models and suggest non-standard mixing processes. The observed molecular abundances are compared to very recent modelling work, and we conclude that the observations are well explained, in general terms, by time-dependent gas-phase chemical models in which the ionization rate is enhanced by several orders of magnitude with respect to the average interstellar value. Thus, our observations confirm that the chemistry in the neutral shells of PNe is essentially governed by the high energy radiation from the hot central stars. The complexity of the chemical processes is increased by numerous factors linked to the properties of the central star and the geometry and degree of clumpiness of the envelope. Several aspects of the PN chemistry that remains to be understood are discussed within the frame of the available chemical models.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures. "In press" in Astronomy and Astrophysic

Painful Os Peroneum Syndrome Presenting as Lateral Plantar Foot Pain

Lateral plantar foot pain can be caused by various entities, and the painful os peroneum syndrome should be considered in the differential diagnosis. Recent developments in musculoskeletal ultrasonography are very useful for initial diagnosis. We discuss a 69-year-old female who experienced lateral plantar foot pain for over one month. Through physical examination, radiography, ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging, she was diagnosed with the painful os peroneum syndrome with a chronic fatigue fracture of multipartite os peroneum and peroneus longus tenosynovitis, for which she underwent surgery. We herein report this rare condition and reviewed the relevant literature

The Effect of Gas Fraction on the Morphology and Time-scales of Disc Galaxy Mergers

Gas-rich galaxy mergers are more easily identified by their disturbed morphologies than mergers with less gas. Because the typical gas fraction of galaxy mergers is expected to increase with redshift, the under-counting of low gas-fraction mergers may bias morphological estimates of the evolution of galaxy merger rate. To understand the magnitude of this bias, we explore the effect of gas fraction on the morphologies of a series of simulated disc galaxy mergers. With the resulting g-band images, we determine how the time-scale for identifying major and minor galaxy mergers via close projected pairs and quantitative morphology (the Gini coefficient G, the second-order moment of the brightest 20% of the light M20, and asymmetry A) depends on baryonic gas fraction f(gas). Strong asymmetries last significantly longer in high gas-fraction mergers of all mass ratios, with time-scales ranging from >= 300 Myr for f(gas) ~ 20% to >= 1 Gyr for f(gas) ~ 50%. Therefore the strong evolution with redshift observed in the fraction of asymmetric galaxies may reflect evolution in the gas properties of galaxies rather than the global galaxy merger rate. On the other hand, the time-scale for identifying a galaxy merger via G-M20 is weakly dependent on gas-fraction (~ 200-400 Myr), consistent with the weak evolution observed for G-M20 mergers.Comment: 15 pages; resubmitted to MNRA