Daily Archives: June 6, 2017

We’ll Always Have Paris: Trump’s Impact On The Climate Agreement – HuffPost

Posted: June 6, 2017 at 6:10 am

Last week I anticipated President Trumps shortsighted decision to withdraw from the Paris climate accord and predicted that his actions might provide environmentalists with a common enemy to rally against. That seems to be happening. Former NYC mayor Michael Bloomberg is organizing American corporations, states, cities and other institutions to commit to greenhouse gas reductions and be recognized by the U.N. as they fulfill the U.S. reduction obligations under Paris. Now all we need is a few billion dollars for renewable energy in the developing world and Trumps Rose Garden rant last week becomes truly meaningless. Bloombergs leadership and the rapid mobilization of leaders concerned about climate change demonstrates that Americas power resides both inside and outside the Washington beltway.

Withdrawing from the Paris Agreement was the most straightforward part of Trumps rhetoric last week. The truly convoluted part of his talk was his misread of the economic impact of environmental regulation and his ideas about how Americas economy will be revitalized.

It is true that some of our trade deals and regulations could be better, but the world has a global economy and America has the strongest economy in the world. The rules and our trade agreements cant be that bad if we seem to be winning. This horrible, depressed, crime-ridden America the president presented in his inaugural address and again in the Rose Garden may be the view he sees from Trump Tower, but its not the reality a majority of Americans experience.

Still, enough people are suffering that it makes political sense for him to try to serve as their voice. I get his motivation. But the part that really makes no sense is his idea that a vast increase in the fossil fuel business will generate an American economic boom. It wont.

The economic future does not belong to resource extraction industries. Communities that host these businesses know what I mean. The resource extractors come, they dig, drill, pump and spread money around but also strain local services and infrastructure. Eventually they leave, and the local folks get to clean up the mess.

Theres always a good economic reason that extraction comes to an end. The price of the resource might drop, the resource becomes harder and more expensive to get to, or cheaper alternatives are discovered. For the coal business, its been fracking and natural gas that caused them pain. For coal workers, it was mountain top removal and other mechanized forms of extraction that reduced the employment in mining. It is unbelievably deceptive of the President of the United States to articulate an economic strategy that calls for the revival of these businesses. The coal miners know that they need to prepare for a different type of work. They certainly know their children need to be prepared for change.

The nature of economic life is changing and it is very important that we look forward instead of backward. The U.S. energy sector added 300,000 jobs in 2016: most were in energy efficiency and renewable energy. According to the Department of Energys U.S. Energy Employment Report:

The report also notes that 2.2 million Americans are employed, in whole or in part, in the design, installation, and manufacture of Energy Efficiency products and services, adding 133,000 jobs in 2016. Modernizing our energy system to make it more efficient and less polluting is a growing business. Coal mining is a shrinking business. President Trump is doubling down on a loser.

The energy future, like the rest of our economic future, depends on technological innovation and ingenuity. We are now in the brain based economy. Software makes more money than hardware. A century ago most of our economy and most of our labor was in the production of food, clothing and shelter. Today, less and less of our GDP is in those necessary but relatively shrinking businesses. Massive investment in education, scientific research and infrastructure would result in economic growth. Running away from environmental rules and global treaties might help a few small businesses, but in the long run will cause economic damage. The benefits of a clean environment far outweigh the costs.

As an educator, I am biased, but I believe that the economic future requires us to attract, educate and employ the worlds best minds. That requires intelligent and encouraging immigration policy, improved public schools, great universities, and great quality of life in the cities that house Americas researchers and businesses. Great quality of life means clean air, clean water, health care, safe cities, stimulating and exciting cities, along with preserved and beautiful natural spaces. Walking away from a global climate treaty, discouraging immigration, and cutting spending on science and education make it more difficult for our communities and for our nation to be competitive in the brain based economy.

Fortunately, many of Trumps plans are being countered by other parts of our government, other institutions, and his own inability to form a competent government. Congress seems to be restoring some of his science budget cuts, the courts are countering his immigration policy excesses, and nearly everyone is trying to reduce their greenhouse gases. President Trumps visible attack on the climate treaty is disheartening, but it is far from the last word on the subject.

Paris, after all, does not mandate greenhouse gas reductions, it sets voluntary targets; Americas own Clean Air Act mandates reductions in greenhouse gases. This was decided in a Supreme Court decision handed down in 2007 when George W. Bush was president. The Court was responding to a lawsuit brought by a group of state attorneys general. The U.S. Supreme Court determined at that time that greenhouse gases were dangerous air pollutants. EPA was directed to develop regulations to reduce that pollution and Trump and his EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt are required to issue and enforce that regulation. Trump can withdraw from Paris, but he is sworn to uphold the U.S. Constitution.

The U.S. must act, but what about the rest of the world? Climate change is a global problem that requires global solutions. Nearly every government in the world understands that and we have seen no retreat from the climate treaty since the presidents announcement. In fact, we have seen a broad and uniform recommitment to the goals of mitigating climate change. President Trump took a symbolic act to achieve a political objective. He kept his campaign promise, largely because he and his team do not understand the climate issue or the economic opportunity presented by the transition to a renewable resource based economy. While we still do not know the long-term impact of his action, the short term impact has been to mobilize a broad segment of the U.S. and global public in support of the agreement. The Paris agreement remains intact, despite Trumps reckless action. As Bogart told Bergman at the Casablanca airport: Well always have Paris. Of course, he meant the memory of what might have been. Lets hope we do better with the planet than Bogey seemed to do with the Nazis or his love life in the movie Casablanca. I suspect we will.

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We'll Always Have Paris: Trump's Impact On The Climate Agreement - HuffPost

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Russia Is White, Right? Why Some Republicans Are Obsessed With the Kremlin – Newsweek

Posted: at 6:10 am

In 1983, President Ronald Reagan called the Soviet Union an evil empire. Four years later, he stood in Berlin and thundered at Mikhail Gorbachev: Tear down this wall! Of the many reasons Reagan has become a hero of the Republican Party, his willingness to face down the USSR may have been most responsible in the creation of that myth.

Thirty years later, however, the malignant vestiges of that empirethat is, Russia presided over by former KGB operative Vladimir V. Putin and his kleptocratic cronieshave become an object of profound and inexplicable affection for the Republican Party.

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Or maybe not so inexplicable. A pithy exchange on Twitter (where else?) between right-wing provocateur Ann Coulter and Jason Kander, a Democratic politician from Missouri, may have explained in all of 16 words exactly why so many Republicans would look longingly towarda despotic nation beset by a lackluster mono-resource economy, an ill and aging population, a rampant heroin epidemic and a deteriorating infrastructure, not to mention opprobrium from much of the West for its human rights violations at home and support of despots abroad.

The notion that the rights love affair with Russia is predicated on a racial fantasy is not exactly new, though it has rarely been so succinctly expressed. Earlier this year, Casey Michel explained in Politico how Russias strategic support of nationalist and Christian fundamentalist movements had put it at the helm of the global Christian right:

Not only have Russian banks funded groups like Frances National Front, but Moscow has hosted international conferences on everything from neo-Nazi networking to domestic secessionists attempting to rupture the U.S. Meanwhile, American fundamentalists bent on unwinding minority protections in the U.S. have increasingly leaned on Russia for supportand for a model theyd bring to bear back home, from targeting LGBT communities to undoing abortion rights throughout the country.

Whiteness, then, is not merely a description of skin color, though it is certainly that. Rather, it is a broader vision of a theocratic society that shuns political correctness, rejects inclusivity in all its forms, erases the separation between church and state, favors expressions of corporate and military might, shuns environmentalist policies, and tolerates no dissent, especially from a limp-wristed press.

Its no surprise that, during his campaign for president, Donald J. Trump frequently praised Putin. In 2014, he tweeted, I believe Putin will continue to re-build the Russian Empire. He has zero respect for Obama or the U.S.! That same year, he said that Russia is, like, I mean, theyre really hot stuff at an event in New Hampshire. During the presidential campaign, Trump repeatedly praised Putins supposed toughness, which he contrasted to the weakness of President Barack Obama, whom he frequently branded the laughingstock of the Kremlin.

More remarkable than Trumps embrace of Russia is the fact that so many Republicans have decided to mimic his approach. Earlier this year, a Gallup poll found that the share of Republicans who had a favorable view of Putin was up sharply from 2015, nearly tripling from 12 percentto 32 percent. By contrast, Democrats, whod never liked the glum Russian leader much to begin with, liked him even less in 2017 (10 percentfavorability) than they did in 2015 (15 percent).

How much does the vision of a nationalist, autocratic state have to do with this affection? Well, its simply hard to see any other reason for the American right to embrace a longstanding adversary that shares virtually none of the values outlined by the U.S. Constitution. Not only that, but the Russian economy is based on resource extraction, petroleum especially, and has an astonishing lack of innovation. Its life expectancy is only 70, in good part because alcoholism remains rampant, especially among men. This path is plainly not where American greatness lies.

Not only that, but Coulters vision of a white Russia is predicated on myth, perhaps stemming from Putins vicious approach to Chechnya and its Muslim population or his cynical embrace of the Russian Orthodox Church. The irony is that Russia is not nearly as white as Coulter apparently wanted her Twitter followers to believe. Its ethnic population is 81 percentRussian; in comparison, Germany, the Western country that has been most open to welcoming refugees from Syria and elsewhere, is 91 percentGerman.

Russias relative diversity should not be not surprising, given that the nationis generally considered Eurasian, not European, as it straddles both Asia and Europe, bordering both Japan and Finland. It is possible Coulter was not aware of that distinction when she sent her tweet.

Moreover, demographics actually point to Russia becoming less white, not more. The Russia expert Paul Goble recently wrote that the share of ethnic Russians in the population, as a result of falling birthrates and still high death rates among working age males, will continue to fall, changing the countrys ethnic mix significantly, especially in some important regions. If the population of Russia remains stable or grows, it will be because, Goble posits, of massive immigration from Central Asia and the Caucasus and still high birthrates and relatively low death rates among the traditionally Muslim nationalities of Russia itself.

In other words, Coulters tweet wasnt just subtly racist but certifiably untrue. That, of course, is unlikely to change the mind of the right-wing flame-thrower, who has known to take an especially hard-line stance on immigration, in particular from Latin America. Earlier this spring, when Trumps proposed border wall with Mexico was on the cusp of becoming just another abandoned campaign promise, Coulter wrote on Breitbart, Not only Trump, but also the entire GOP, is dead if he doesnt build a wall.

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Russia Is White, Right? Why Some Republicans Are Obsessed With the Kremlin - Newsweek

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HPE updates OneView with new automation features and DevOps integrations – TechRepublic

Posted: at 6:09 am

On Monday, at HPE Discover 2017 in Las Vegas, HPE introduced updates to its OneView software that could make it a more useful tool for DevOps practitioners. Announcements included improved infrastructure automation, container support, and new partner integrations.

For those unfamiliar, OneView is a "software-defined intelligence that automates complex tasks," which could help simplify lifecycle operations, speed app delivery, and improve DevOps delivery on certain HPE products, according to an HPE press release.

Improved automation means that OneView will get a boost in its ability to manage infrastructure and firmware, the release said, which could help to lower lifecycle management costs. OneView will support HPE Synergy, ProLiant BL, DL and ML, HPE Apollo, and HPE Superdome X servers, the release said.

SEE: HPE partners with Docker on hybrid infrastructure play

For container support, Docker will now be available bundled with HPE Synergy and HPE Pointnext, with automatic storage provisioning and additional tools that will make it possible to run Docker Enterprise Edition, the release said.

HPE Synergy, the firm's modular composable infrastructure system, is getting a Mesosphere integration as well, allowing for automated Mesosphere Enterprise DC/OS deployments on HPE infrastructure, the release said. A new strategic alliance between HPE and Mesosphere was also announced, to provide customers with a more effective way of leveraging containers and the cloud.

Troubleshooting on HPE OneView is also being made easier with a new ServiceNow integration, while a Densify.com integration will use predictive analytics to help IT more intelligently place and manage workloads. According to the release, Red Hat OpenShift is also integrating with HPE OneView to automate container provisioning and boost app delivery as well.

HPE also noted that the firm was working on a Redfish toolkit for OneView, that would make it easier for customers to use Redfish without as much scripting. Additional tools will make it simpler to deploy and manage HPE hardware on a Cisco ACI network.

Finally, four months after acquiring SimpliVity, HPE is offering an HPE SimpliVity hyperconferged solution on the HPE Proliant DL380, guaranteeing "90% data efficiency and an under a minute back up restore," the release said.

Image: iStockphoto/Natali_Mis

DevOps automation boosts performance – BetaNews

Posted: at 6:09 am

The highest performing organizations have automated 72 percent of all configuration management processes. And those same high performers spend much less time (28 percent) in manual configuration processes that stall innovation and deployments.

In comparison, low performers are spending almost half of their time (46 percent) on manual configuration. These are among the findings of the latest State of DevOps Report by Puppet Labs, which surveyed 3,200 respondents from organizations of all sizes and across multiple industries.

For the first time, the report also considered leadership types and how they affect performance. The results show that high-performing teams have leaders with the strongest behaviors across five characteristics. These include vision, inspirational communication, intellectual stimulation, supportive leadership and personal recognition. Leaders that exhibit a lower percentage of these characteristics tend to have lower performing teams.

Lean product management practices come under the spotlight too, and the report concludes that they help teams ship features that customers want, more frequently. This faster delivery cycle lets teams experiment, creating a feedback loop with customers, ultimately benefiting the entire organization.

"Every company relies on software to make its business more powerful, forcing IT organizations to evolve and ship software on demand," says Nigel Kersten, chief technical strategist at Puppet. "The results of the 2017 State of DevOps Report show that high-performing IT teams are deploying more frequently and recovering faster than ever before, yet the automation gap between high and low performing teams continues to grow. The report will help organizations understand how to identify their own inhibitors and embrace change on their DevOps journey."

You can find out more in the full report which is available to download from the Puppet website.

Photo Credit: anathomy/Shutterstock

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Is automation really the worst enemy of the US middle class? – American Enterprise Institute

Posted: at 6:09 am

This Axios headline is problematic: Summers: Automation is the middle class worst enemy.

The accompanying piece doesnt actually quote economist Larry Summers making that declaration. Rather it summarizes an interview in which Summers indeed points out the challenge automation poses for workers. Hes right. Of course thats been the case for the past 200 years and will likely be the case for the next 200. But in exchange for a degree of instability and disruption, technological progress has dramatically raised living standards for workers.

Technicians build LEAP engines for jetliners at a new, highly automated General Electric (GE) factory in Lafayette, Indiana, on March 29, 2017. REUTERS/Alwyn Scott.

Automation is kind of like alcohol, which, as Homer Simpson putsit,is the cause of, and solution to, all of lifes problems. Its the job of policymakers to make sure workers are ready to climb to the next footholdor ledge as the waters of automation continue to rise. Its also their job to make sure policy is as supportive as possible of innovation. Indeed, we need more tech progress, not less. The U.S. economy currently suffers not from too much automation, but rather from too little investment in the sort of technology that would raise the countrys lackluster productivity, writesDerek Thompson in an excellent new piece at the Atlantic.

Technology will erase jobs but also create them. Unfortunately, as Kevin Kelly writes, we cant see those jobs from here because we cant yet see the machines and technologies that will make them.

The piece also includes this chart, which shows lower US labor force participation than other advanced economies:

But I doubt whether Summers blames automation vs. the lack of USpolicies that center-left economists see as supporting workers, such as paid leave, and high USincarceration rates. And here is economist David Autor on the net impact of automation on jobs this century:

A final observation is that while much contemporary economic pessimism attributes the labor market woes of the past decade to the adverse impacts of computerization, I remain skeptical of this inference. Clearly, computerization has shaped the structure of occupational change and the evolution of skill demands. But it is harder to see the channel through which computerization could have dramatically reduced labor demand after 1999. My suspicion is that the deceleration of the U.S. labor market after 2000, and further after 2007, is more closely associated with two other macroeconomic events. A first is the bursting of the dot-com bubble, followed by the collapse of the housing market and the ensuing financial crisis, both of which curtailed investment and innovative activity. A second is the employment dislocations in the U.S. labor market brought about by rapid globalization, particularly the sharp rise of import penetration from China following its accession to the World Trade Organization in 2001.

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Is automation really the worst enemy of the US middle class? - American Enterprise Institute

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Network Automation Confessions of a Support Engineer – InfoWorld

Posted: at 6:09 am

Cisco is a software company. Surprised? Dont be. In this series well explore APIs, tools and techniques that developers are using to add collaboration, security, network priority, and more!

Lawmaker: ‘We Need to Speak the Truth’ About Automation – Nextgov

Posted: at 6:09 am

Legislators should be more upfront with constituents about the fate of their jobs, according to California Sen.Kamala Harris.

People are feeling a sense of distrust of authority, of institutions, of their government, she said at the Code Conference hosted by Recode in California. Lawmakers need to be clear about how automation like driverless cars will eliminate jobs.

The jobs that employed large numbers of people around driving something on wheels will not exist, be it a truck, be it a UPS driver or a postal worker or a cab driver," she said. "We have to speak truth about that."

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Harris called for members of Congress to be transparent about the future of coal-mining jobs. Even if they prioritize the coal industry over other renewable energy sources to preserve jobs, were going to automate that even if were going to keep coal mines open," she said.

Widespread automation is inevitable, Harris said.

We need to have a better plan for Americas workforce that transitions them into the 21st-[century] economy, including high-skilled technology or renewable energy jobs, she said.

Harris also urged lawmakers and senior officials to meet with immigrants before drafting bills and executive orders restricting their entry into the United States. President Donald Trump issued an executive order tasking the Homeland Security Department with reforming the H-1B visa program, which allows domestic businesses to hire foreign workers instead of citizens or residents for certain high-skilled jobs. Trumps White House, along with lawmakers including Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, have advocated for reducing the number of H-1B visas assigned.

As home to one of the nations largest population of immigrants, California has an outsize stake in the outcome of this conversation, Harris said. Yet, many legislators do not have any experience with this population and they also seem[to] have just forgotten the history of our country," she said.

Too often lawmakers often the public a false choice, she said. The inference is, those people are taking your jobs so were going to build a wall and cut off H-1B visas.' And because those people have taken your jobs, by virtue of sealing them off, were now going to give them back to you.

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Lawmaker: 'We Need to Speak the Truth' About Automation - Nextgov

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3 Steps Toward Industry 4.0 – Automation World

Posted: at 6:09 am

Whether youve embraced digital manufacturing or are wondering where to start, there are things you can do right now to move closer to the future. Manufacturing execution systems (MESs), Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) gateways, Industry 4.0, factory information systems (FISs) and manufacturing analytics might sound daunting, but that world is becoming simpler and more affordable all the time.

No matter where you are in this process, you probably know more than you think you do. Three key steps can help get you where you want to go: 1) envision the future, 2) know your pain, and 3) enlist your suppliers.

1. Envision the future

It sounds obvious, but no matter where you are in digital data management, it pays to keep an updated inventory of your data sources and uses to support your vision of the future.

Even if youre in the early stages of digitalization, start by thinking more comprehensively about where your data resides and what youd ultimately like it to do for you. For example, are you expecting your customers to start asking for traceability data in the future? Consider questions that your customers will want answered about their traceable parts or products. For example, they might want to ask questions about specific process data on a specific part assembly. Youll be asking different questions internally, such as those focused on machine-to-machine or shift-to-shift process variability.

By identifying ahead of time those questions that your tracking system will need to answer, youre creating a requirements list for traceable parts and processes. Catalog the ability of your parts, machines and processes to provide data to answer those questions, and use the resulting gap analysis to guide your next steps.

Do you rely heavily on the knowledge of experienced operators who will be retiring soon? Start to capture that knowledge now with interviews, photos, even video. At a minimum, youll have training for new employees, but even better, youll have the raw material for automated work instructions and digital error-proofing.

Dont worry about the degree of automation you have in place today. Checklists on clipboards can move to tablets, and programmable logic controllers (PLCs) arent a prerequisite anymore. Regardless of your datas source or capture method, this data collection and inventory process will help guide your future manufacturing software and communications decisions.

Consider future staffing. If youre further along, and youve got a combination of manual and automated data collection, be careful not to lock yourself into a path that could limit your options in the future. Do you plan to expand your in-house operations technology (OT) and IT staff? If so, consider having them first build specifications to use in a standard MES toolbox solution.

If youre not planning to have staff thats dedicated to one particular type of MES toolbox, you should keep your sights set on systems with a more open architecture, or look for options that focus on the applications you care about most.

Is cloud an option? If youre firmly established in digital manufacturing, consider where you could move to cloud hosting. If youre going to need to consolidate data from multiple systems and locations, youll want to consider the cloud because it provides better phased integration and centralized control. Were doing it for our customers now, and its more secure and less expensive than you might expect.

2. Know your pain

If youre ready to move forward with any kind of digitization or manufacturing system, its tempting to look at software first because there are so many options. Instead, I recommend you start by identifying whats costing you the most pain in terms of unplanned downtime, product recalls or assembly errors.

Here are the solutions that our customers usually prioritize:

Tracking and traceability: Tracks every relevant part, process and final product to quickly isolate defects. Helps to stop from adding value to defective work in process, and limits the impact of recalls.

Overall equipment effectiveness (OEE)/FIS: Process data, like throughput tracking, bottlenecks and starved stations, equipment health monitoring and maintenance alerts.

Automated work instructions: Gives consistent assembly information to operators, usually with a graphical interface tied to the sequence of operations. This is especially valuable for complex assembly and repair processes.

Error-proofing systems: Gated processes for part placement, torque verifications and more. These can be integrated with automated work instructions and traceability.

Once youve envisioned your future data structure and prioritized your pain points, start investigating software options.

If youre new to digital manufacturing, or are integrating machines, lines or plants, ask for the ability to have anything to anything communications, including API calls and MQTT communications. Insist on a supplier who understands IIoT. Keep your options open for future technologies.

If you already have a significant MES investment, youll probably want to stick with your current supplier and integrators who have experience working with your form of MES. A good MES integrator will know how to work within your expanding system to integrate multiple control architectures and communication networks.

3. Enlist your suppliers

Digital tools can empower traditional partnerships, and your suppliers can and should be part of your move toward Industry 4.0. It can start with something as simple as adding barcodes to their packaging or parts. Even if all youre doing is scanning them on arrival and storing the information in an Excel spreadsheet, thats data that can one day become part of a traceability record, line replenishment schedule or error proofing gate.

One of our customers is currently integrating supplier data into their serial number generation process, so theyll both have the same tracking number for a given part. If one of the suppliers parts is found to be faulty, both the supplier and the customer will be able to quickly isolate the defects.

Part and product identifiers are being used in applications beyond traceability as well. Physical markings can support proper part positioning, barcodes can be used to load work instructions and trigger quality assurance gates, and RFID tags can follow the complete lifecycle of a complex product.

For example, our dynamic test systems group uses an RFID tag on helicopter transmissions to identify the individual transmission and its repair history. The transmissions unique test profile is linked to the test stands on which it ran, and maintains a trackable record for all of its future incidents and repairs.

You know more than you think you do

I started out by saying you probably know more than you think you do, and I hope Ive convinced you. No matter where you are in terms of data capture and analysis, there are things you can do right now to move closer to Industry 4.0.

Greg Giles,ggiles@redviking.com, is an executive director ofmanufacturing execution systems (MES) and ArgonautforRedViking. RedViking is a member of theControl System Integrators Association (CSIA). Visit RedVikings profile onThe Industrial Exchange.

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Slavery law to protect supply chains backed by big companies – The Australian Financial Review

Posted: at 6:09 am

Andrew "Twiggy" Forrest recently donated $75 million towards removing "modern slavery from human history".

Extortion, blackmail, cash back scams and slavery are happening every day under our noses. It is also happening in the supply chains of businesses, either through labour hire companies, or suppliers.

Under new legislation to be proposed by the federal opposition on Monday, big business will be forced to clamp down on slavery in their supply chains by reporting publicly and annually all efforts to identify and stop slavery.

Slavery and underpayment of wages is a scourge on our nation.

According to the Global Slavery Index, there are more than 45 million slaves, with two thirds in the Asia-Pacific region and 4300 slaves in Australia through human trafficking, forced labour and servitude.

The ALP will announce a plan to implement an Australian Modern Slavery Act, which will be publicly available and include specific reporting requirements. It will also back the appointment of an Anti Slavery Commissioner to combat the growing scourge of slavery around the world.

It follows a decision in the UK in 2015 to introduce a Modern Slavery Act.

It also comes in the middle of an inquiry launched in Australia earlier this year into establishing a modern slavery act. The inquiry, chaired by Liberal senator David Fawcett, attracted 92 submissions.

The Business Council of Australia and the union movement have all thrown their weight behind the proposed new legislation.

Recently mining magnate Andrew Forrest donated $75 million towards removing "modern slavery from human history".

Indeed Wesfarmers lodged a submission to the inquiry which said "the breadth, depth and interconnectedness of our supply chain make it challenging to manage ethical sourcing risks including child labour, forced labour, right to freedom of association and underpayment."

It says it believes the vast majority of its supply chain operates ethically, however we have identified and acted on breaches by some of our suppliers, and it is clear from public reports that other companies have been challenged in this area." It backs a Modern Slavery Act.

Woolworths has also backed new laws that include uniform reporting "specifying the types of information and the level of detail to be disclosed would be helpful for organisations, and for consumers to be able to more readily compare the efforts of different companies".

Slave labour and systemic underpayment of wages is the dark underbelly of our labour market. It is egregious, unethical and undermines our humanity. It is why all sides of politics must come together to introduce legislation sooner rather than later.

The issue of wage fraud was raised in parliament last week in relation to companies including franchise giant Domino's.

"What I would say is that we have a number of lines of inquiry underway at the moment what enforcement outcomes might flow from this will depend on the culpability of all parties involved, and we need to assess Domino's' own possible involvement in what has gone on," Fair Work Ombudsman Natalie James told a Senate hearing last Tuesday.

James' confirmation that the regulator's investigation into wage fraud was ramping up and widening to Domino's head office no doubt sent chills through the pizza giant.

A day later, on May 31, Domino's quietly released an ASX statement that said its own investigations into wage underpayments had been delayed by up to six months. "The process is taking longer than anticipated," the statement said.

The statement was understated but it ignited investor fears. As one investor said:"A six-month delay is significant because it implies there is much more to look at than originally anticipated."

News in the same week that Domino's would buy the remaining 25 per cent of a business in Japan spooked investors, sparked a short selling frenzy and triggered a downgrade by two broking houses.

By the end of the week Domino's was one of the top 10 most shorted stocks and shares had fallen more than 7 per cent, with much of the turnover attributed to short selling.

Domino's is facing a series of headwinds. Concerns range from the extent of fraudulent activity within its franchise network, the success or otherwise of Domino's expansion overseas, particularly in France, the impact of the added cost burdens on franchisees from rising labour and food prices and the revitalisation of chief rival Pizza Hut under new ownership.

Its advertising fund also came under the spotlight in parliament last week following an investigation by the ACCC into breaches of its franchising code in relation to its multimillion-dollar advertising fund that receives contributions from store owners of between 4-6 per cent of sales to pay for advertising and marketing campaigns.

The ACCC's investigation culminated in fines of $18,000 but Greens Senator Lee Rhiannon wasn't convinced that the investigation or penalties were tough enough.

Senator Rhiannon asked ACCC chairman Rod Sims whether the investigation extended to some of the expenses being booked through the advertising fund.

She questioned whether some of the expenses were "legitimate" advertising fund expenses. "They include mystery shopping; chief executive Don Meij's personal website; legal fees regarding protecting their trademarks; and seminars at head office. Have you looked into this?"

Sims told her he didn't believe the investigation included an examination of the expenses but said: "I repeat again: Domino's is certainly on notice in terms of its behaviour in relation to the [franchising] code."

The various investigations into Domino's and political interest in the company has added to investor nervousness.

So too was the decision by Bain Capital to put its 25 per cent stake in a Japanese operator back to Domino's by August 28. The deal is expected to cost Domino's around $50 million but not everyone is convinced that Japan will be the growth story Domino's projects.

Morgans, a strong supporter of the company, has tempered its bullishness in the stock with a downgrade to "hold" from "add" and changed its target price range from $88.38 down to $65.62 after lowering its forecasts in key divisions.

Separately, Deutsche Bank, in its report "Pizza Profits should be shared," downgraded its recommendation to "sell".

At the heart of Deutsche bank analyst Michael Simotas' report is an analysis of the relationship between franchisees and Domino's and a comparison with the UK and the US.

Simotas contends that Domino's overall margins expanded around 50 per cent over the past five years at the expense of franchisees. "This has left Australian franchisees with inferior profits, margins and returns relative to their US and UK peers," he said.

It said Domino's own guidance implies it will need to take even more of the profit pool. "We don't think this is sustainable, and with around 90 per cent of rollout predicated on store splits, we see risk to store and/or margin targets."

Domino's argues that there is no correlation between profitability and franchisees underpaying workers. It says its business model is fair and franchisees do well out of it.

But until it gives more details of how many stores lose money, how many break even, how many make less than $100,000 EBITDA a year and so on, more reports and speculation like this one will remain.

Until the wage fraud scandal emerged earlier this year, Domino's has had a dream run. Its share price hit a record high of $80 on August 18, 2016 and short selling was minimal.

Fast forward to today and Domino's is one of the top 10 most shorted stocks on the ASX. According to shortman.com.au almost 12 per cent of shares in the company have now been short sold.

Short sellers are betting that Domino's share price will fall. They borrow stock from stock lenders in the hope that they will replace it at a later date when the shares fall lower.

Domino's releases its full-year results in August. It promises to be an interesting conference call, with investors and franchisees listening carefully to their answers.

Link:

Slavery law to protect supply chains backed by big companies - The Australian Financial Review

Posted in Wage Slavery | Comments Off

Buxton anti-slavery monument unveiled in Weymouth – BBC News

Posted: at 6:08 am

BBC News

Buxton anti-slavery monument unveiled in Weymouth
BBC News
... was a driving force behind the abolition of slavery. There are already memorials to him in London, Jamaica and Sierra Leone. The 90,000 monument, carved by Weymouth College stonemasonry students, is the result of seven years of work by the Thomas ...

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Daily Archives: June 6, 2017

We’ll Always Have Paris: Trump’s Impact On The Climate Agreement – HuffPost

Russia Is White, Right? Why Some Republicans Are Obsessed With the Kremlin – Newsweek

HPE updates OneView with new automation features and DevOps integrations – TechRepublic

DevOps automation boosts performance – BetaNews

Is automation really the worst enemy of the US middle class? – American Enterprise Institute

Network Automation Confessions of a Support Engineer – InfoWorld

Lawmaker: ‘We Need to Speak the Truth’ About Automation – Nextgov

3 Steps Toward Industry 4.0 – Automation World

Slavery law to protect supply chains backed by big companies – The Australian Financial Review

Buxton anti-slavery monument unveiled in Weymouth – BBC News

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