Bangladesh factory building collapse kills nearly 100 Reuters Apr 24, 2013

 (Reuters) - A block housing garment factories and shops collapsed in Bangladesh on Wednesday, killing nearly 100 people and injuring more than a thousand, officials said.

Firefighters and troops dug frantically through the rubble at the eight-storey Rana Plaza building in Savar, 30 km (20 miles) outside Dhaka. Television showed young women workers, some apparently semi-conscious, being pulled out.
One fireman told Reuters about 2,000 people were in the building when the upper floors slammed down onto those below.
Bangladesh's booming garments industry has been plagued by fires and other accidents for years, despite a drive to improve safety standards. In November 112 workers died in a blaze at the Tazreen factory in a nearby suburb, putting a spotlight on global retailers which source clothes from Bangladesh.
"It looks like an earthquake has struck here," said one resident as he looked on at the chaotic scene of smashed concrete and ambulances making their way through the crowds of workers and wailing relatives.
"I was at work on the third floor, and then suddenly I heard a deafening sound, but couldn't understand what was happening. I ran and was hit by something on my head," said factory worker Zohra Begum.
An official at a control room set up to provide information said 96 people were confirmed dead and more than 1,000 injured. Doctors at local hospitals said they were unable to cope with the number of victims brought in.

CRACKS IN BUILDING

Mohammad Asaduzzaman, in charge of the area's police station, said factory owners appeared to have ignored a warning not to allow their workers into the building after a crack was detected in the block on Tuesday.
Five garment factories - employing mostly women - were housed in the building, including Ether Tex Ltd., whose chairman said he was unaware of any warnings not to open the workshops.
"There was some crack at the second floor, but my factory was on the fifth floor," Muhammad Anisur Rahman told Reuters. "The owner of the building told our floor manager that it is not a problem and so you can open the factory."
He initially said that his firm had been sub-contracted to supply Wal-Mart Stores Inc, the world's largest retailer, and Europe's C&A. In a subsequent interview he said he had been referring to an order in the past, not current work.
Wal-Mart did not immediately respond to requests for comment. C&A said that, based on its best information, it had no contractual relationship with any of the production units in the building that collapsed.
The website of a company called New Wave, which had two factories in the building, listed 27 main buyers, including firms from Britain, Denmark, France, Germany, Spain, Ireland, Canada and the United States.
"It is dreadful that leading brands and governments continue to allow garment workers to die or suffer terrible disabling injuries in unsafe factories making clothes for Western nations' shoppers," Laia Blanch of the U.K. anti-poverty charity War on Want said in a statement.
November's factory fire raised questions about how much control Western brands have over their supply chains for clothes sourced from Bangladesh. Wages as low as $38.50 a month have helped propel the country to no. 2 in the ranks of apparel exporters.
It emerged later that a Wal-Mart supplier had subcontracted work to the Tazreen factory without authorization.
Buildings in the crowded city of Dhaka are sometimes erected without permission and many do not comply with construction regulations.

VOCABULARY
rubble  fragments of broken stones, bricks (escombros)
eight-storey building building with 8 floors
slammed down : fall violently (se vinieron abajo)
spotlight:  centrar la atención (focus attention on)
making their way through the crowds : abrirse paso entre la multitud
wail:  to utter a prolonged high-pitched cry, as of grief or misery (lamento, queja, gemido)
set up : build, construct ( montado, instalado)
cope with : handle, manage, deal with ( hacer frente a , apañárselas)
Wages : pay (salario)
propel : move forward (propulsar, impulsar)
apparel : something that covers or adorns, (ropa, vestimenta)

Nike workers 'kicked, slapped and verbally abused' at factories making Converse (Daily Mail)

Scared to look up: Workers, many too scared to speak up or give their names, finish their shift at one of the Indonesian factories making Converse shoes

• New allegations follow years of outrage over child labour and sweatshops
• Sports brand giant claims there is very they can do to stop it

They're one of the world's top sports clothing brands, but for years Nike have been dogged by allegations of sweatshops and child labour.
Now workers making Nike's Converse shoes at a factory in Indonesia say they are being physically and mentally abused.

Workers at the Sukabumi plant, about 60 miles from Jakarta, say supervisors frequently throw shoes at them, slap them in the face, kick them and call them dogs and pigs.
Nike admits that such abuse has occurred among the contractors that make its hip high-tops but says there was little it could do to stop it.

Dozens of interviews by The Associated Press, and a document released by Nike, show the company has a long way to go to meet the standards it set for itself a decade ago to end its reliance on sweatshop labour.

One worker at the Taiwanese-operated Pou Chen plant in Sukabumi said she was kicked by a supervisor last year after making a mistake while cutting rubber for soles. 'We're powerless,' said the woman, who like several others interviewed spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear of reprisals. 'Our only choice is to stay and suffer, or speak out and be fired.'

The 10,000 mostly female workers at the Taiwanese-operated Pou Chen plant make around 50 cents an hour. That's enough, for food and bunkhouse-type lodging, but little else.

Some workers interviewed by the AP in March and April described being hit or scratched in the arm – one man until he bled. Others said they were fired after filing complaints.
'They throw shoes and other things at us,' said a 23-year-old woman in the embroidery division.
'They growl and slap us when they get angry. 'It's part of our daily bread.'
Mira Agustina, 30, said she was fired in 2009 for taking sick leave, even though she produced a doctor's note. 'It was a horrible job,' she said. 'Our bosses pointed their feet at us, calling us names like dog, pig or monkey.'
All are major insults to Muslims. Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim nation.

At the PT Amara Footwear factory located just outside Jakarta, where another Taiwanese contractor makes Converse shoes, a supervisor ordered six female workers to stand in the blazing sun after they failed to meet their target of completing 60 dozen pairs of shoes on time.
'They were crying and allowed to continue their job only after two hours under the sun," said Ujang Suhendi, 47, a worker at a warehouse in the factory.
The women's supervisor received a warning letter for the May incident after complaints from unionized workers.

Nike's own inquiries found workers at the two factories were subjected to 'serious and egregious' physical and verbal abuse, including the punishment of forcing workers to stand in the sun, said Hannah Jones, a Nike executive who oversees the company's efforts to improve working conditions.
She said: 'We do see other issues of that similar nature coming up across the supply chain but not on a frequent level.

Nike, which came under heavy criticism a decade ago for its use of sweatshops and child labour, has taken steps since then to improve conditions at its 1,000 overseas factories. But the progress it has made at factories producing gear with its premier 'swoosh' logo is not reflected in those making Converse products, which Nike took over four years ago.

An internal report Nike released to the AP shows that nearly two-thirds of 168 factories making Converse products worldwide fail to meet Nike's own standards for contract manufacturers.
Twelve are in the most serious category, indicating problems that could range from illegally long work hours to denying access to Nike inspectors.

Another 97 are in a category defined as making no progress in improving problems ranging from isolated verbal harassment to paying less than minimum wage.
Nike blames problems on pre-existing licenses to produce Converse goods that it says prevent the parent company from inspecting factories or introducing its own code of conduct.
It says the situation is further complicated because the license holders themselves usually farm out the production work to a subcontractor.
Some corporate experts question whether Nike is doing all it can.

Prakash Sethi, a corporate strategy professor at Baruch College at the City University of New York, said: 'I simply find it impossible that a company of the size and market power of Nike is impotent in persuading a local factory in Indonesia or anywhere else in meeting its code of conduct.

Critics of outsourcing manufacturing to the lowest-cost countries say it keeps prices down but allows apparel, electronics and toy companies to reduce their accountability for the conditions in such factories.

Even as concern about sweatshop labour has grown, some contractors have simply moved operations to more remote areas, farther from the prying eyes of international and local watchdogs.
Indonesia is Nike's third-largest manufacturing base, after China and Vietnam, with 140,000 workers at 14 contract factories. Of those, 17,000 produce its Converse line at four factories.

After years of criticism over its labor practices at factories abroad, Nike in 2005 became the first major apparel company to disclose the names and locations of hundreds of plants that produce its sneakers, clothes and other products. It admitted finding 'abusive treatment,' either physical or verbal, in many of the Nike plants.  The complaints ranged from workweeks that exceeded 60 hours to being forbidden to go to the bathroom.
The Beaverton, Oregon-based company has since invested heavily in training managers and more closely monitoring their activities.

Nike has not published the locations of all factories making products for affiliate companies, which includes Converse, but plans to by the end of the year.

Company behind Zara investigated for 'slave labour' The Telegraph Aug 2011

The Spanish company behind high-street fashion stores Zara is under investigation over the use of "slave labour" at factories in Brazil.
Workers discovered to be producing clothes for the Zara label in sweatshop conditions in Sao Paulo are to receive compensation, Inditex, the parent company of the retail chain, confirmed.

Authorities said they rescued a team of workers – 14 Bolivians and one Peruvian – from an unlicensed factory that sewed garments carrying the Zara label.
The 15 immigrant workers, one of whom was reported to be just 14 years old, were said to be living in dangerous and unhygienic conditions on the factory floor, forced to work 12-hour shifts for between $156 (£95) and $290 (£176) a month. The minimum wage in Brazil is $344.

Inditex, which is based in A Coruña in Spain's northwestern región of Galicia, denies responsibility and claims the workers were "employed illegally by a subcontractor without Inditex's knowledge" in a statement released Thursday.
It said it could not be held responsible for unauthorised outsourcing but had "zero tolerance for infringements of this kind."

The Brazilian government has listed 52 charges against Inditex after an investigation launched in May into working conditions at factories in the north of Sao Paulo.
Renato Bignami, who led the investigation by Brazil's Ministry of Labour and Employment, said they had uncovered "classic cases of immigrant sweat shops."
In such cases workers often face "threats, coercion, physical violence … to increase productivity," he said, and some were forced to work months to pay off the traffickers who smuggled them into the country.

The Brazilian government said it would pursue Zara because it was ultimately responsible for the practices of AHA, the company responsible for 90 per cent of Zara's Brazilian production.
"AHA is a logistical extension of its main client, Zara Brasil," said the prosecutor Giuliana Cassiano Orlandi. "The company is responsible for its employees. Its raison d'etre is making clothes and it follows that it must know who is producing its garments."

But Inditex said the case constituted "a grave infringement to the Inditex code of conduct" which "aims to safeguard workers’ rights to the fullest extent" and had immediately demanded that it be rectified.
The company confirmed that compensation would be paid to the workers and that Inditex would work with the Brazilian Ministry of Labour and Employment, "to strengthen oversight of its production system, both at this supplier and at the other companies with which it works in Brazil, for the purpose of preventing similar cases in the future," it said.
Inditex, which also owns the chains Massimo Dutti and Berksha, is a family business founded in 1975 by Amancio Ortega. The 75-year old is the richest man in Spain and ranked seventh in Forbes' billionaires list, with an estimated fortune of $31bn (£19bn). 
According to Forbes magazine, half of production remains in Spain, with 26 per cent in Europe and the remainder spread around the world.
Zara popular for its mid-range priced fashion, has 1,540 stores worldwide including 64 in the UK.

VOCABULARY
high-street fashion: affordable for everyone, for ordinary people
parent company: empresa matriz, sede central
retail chain : cadena commercial
sew: coser 
garments: prendas  (article of clothing)
wage: pay per hour (sueldo, paga)
outsourcing: subcontratar (obtain goods externally)
launched: poner en marcha, iniciar (start off, set in motion)
sweatshops: talleres de confección, talleres ilegales (a workshop where employees work long hours under bad conditions for low wages)
coercion: coacción, extorsión (forcing by intimidation)
smuggle: pasar de contraband (import illegaly)
safeguard: salvaguardar (protect)
strengthen: reforzar, fortalecer (make stronger)
oversight: vigilancia (supervision)
supplier: proveedor, suministrador ( provider)
remainder: restante (what is left)

High-street fashion store Zara accused of using slave labour at factories in Argentina 3 April 2013

Founder: Inditex which owns Zara is a family business founded in 1975 by Amancio Ortega

• Immigrant workers discovered producing clothes in 'degrading' conditions
• Claims: Bolivian labourers made to work more than 13-hour days 
• Prevented from leaving the factories without permission, they claimed

High Street fashion chain Zara is under investigation over the use of sweatshops and child labour.

‘Degrading’ factory conditions in Argentina were reportedly used to produce clothes for the store that boasts the Duchess of Cambridge and Samantha Cameron among its fans.

Mostly Bolivian labourers, including children, were made to work up to 16-hour days without breaks and were prevented from leaving the factories without permission, according to investigators.

Authorities moved in on the sweatshops on the outskirts of Buenos Aires after a tip-off from a workers’ rights charity. Gustavo Vera, a spokesman for the charity La Alameda, said people were made to start at 7am and work without a break until as late as 11pm, from Monday to Saturday.

He said: ‘Their workplaces were also their homes, families were forced to share cramped quarters in a mess of sewing machines, needles, threads and children. The places were dark without proper lighting to sew and no ventilation.

Zara has seen profits soar over the past three years – no doubt aided by the ‘Kate effect’ as the Duchess is regularly spotted wearing their garments. 
Her sister Pippa is also a fan as are Mary Berry, Tess Daley and Mrs Cameron. The Spanish-owned retailer has 1,540 stores worldwide including 64 in the UK.

The publicity-shy founder and majority-owner of Inditex, the company that owns Zara, is 77-year-old Amancio Ortega. He is the world’s third richest man with a fortune of £38billion, according to Forbes.

Among the items being sewn at one clandestine workshop in Buenos Aires, according to the Argentinian authorities, were pieces from the Zara Man fashion line, which are sold in British stores.

Juan Gomez Centurion, head of Argentina’s Government Control Agency which raided three factories producing Zara clothes last week, said: ‘We found men and children who lived in the place where they worked. They were not registered and they were living in terrible conditions.

They had no official documents and were held against their will, they were not allowed to leave their workplaces without permission.’

This is the second time Zara has been accused of involvement in slave and child labour in South America.
In 2011 a group of workers – 14 Bolivians and one Peruvian – were rescued from an unlicensed factory in Sao Paulo, Brazil, where clothes carrying the Zara label were being produced.
The immigrant workers, one of whom was reported to be just 14, were living in dangerous and unhygienic conditions, forced to work 12-hour shifts for between £95 and £176 a month.
The company was later forced to apologise in front of state deputies at Sao Paulo’s Human Rights Commission, and paid fines totalling more than £350,000 as well as compensation to the workers.

Zara said yesterday they were ‘surprised’ by the revelations and claimed they had not been officially notified by the Argentinian authorities.
A spokesman said: ‘From the limited information we have, which are the addresses of the workshops, they have no relationship with our suppliers and manufacturers in the country.’
He added that Zara has 60 Argentine manufacturers and in the last two years conducted 300 audits of suppliers and factories, but would co-operate with any investigation.

Vocabulary:
Reportedly: supuestamente ( according to reports, allegedly)
Boast: presumir de algo( possess sth to be proud of)
Tip-off: soplo, dato ( hint, warning)
Sewing machine: máquina de coser
Needles: agujas
Threads: hilos
Proper: adecuada (appropriate, suited for some purpose)
Soar: aumentar drásticamente, dispararse (rise, increase)
Spot: ver, localizar ( detect, see)
Worldwide: por todo el mundo (throughout the world)
Raid: hacer una redada (make a surprise attack)
Held against their will: retenidos contra su voluntad
Involvement: participación, implicación (implication, collaboration)
Shift : turno ( period of time worked)
Deputy: diputado (a person appointed to act on behalf of or represent another)
Supplier: proveedor, suministrador (provider)
Audit: auditoria (an inspection, correction, and verification of business accounts)

High-street fashion store Zara accused of using slave labour at factories in Argentina   3 April 2013 

HOW FINNISH SCHOOLS SHINE ( THE GUARDIAN)

Teachers are respected, exams are shunned and league tables simply don't exist – but if the Finnish system is so good why is it so hard to emulate?

In 2009 the UK's education policy directors suffered a significant blow. The PISA tests (OECD Programme for International Study Assessment) results were published, ranking the UK way down the international league table in reading, maths and science.

In total 65 countries were assessed; the UK scored: 25th in reading, 28th in maths and 16th in science. The overall best performer in the 2009 test was the region of Shanghai, China. Results from PISA suggested that school autonomy in defining the curriculum and assessment methods relates positively to overall performance. Additionally, the PISA data reported that creating homogeneous schools and/or classrooms through selection is unrelated to the average performance of education systems.

As if these facts weren't enough to send policy makers and directors into a whirlwind of confusion, it was also noted that UK ranked as 8th in the table for spending per pupil, but had a 23rd position average overall – this raises the question: "Who does score consistently highly and how do they approach the delivery of education in a pedagogic, political and cultural sense?"

One western country that has excelled in PISA ratings consistently over the years and is highly regarded across the globe as a leading education nation is Finland. Their sustained success has for many years prompted educationalists to consider how they have achieved this.

The reasons behind Finland's success are complex, not because they have one particularly incomprehensible approach to education, but instead, the evolved working parts within their system, framed within their cultural backdrop complement each other tremendously.  It is this complexity that has perhaps been the source of difficulties experienced by authorities attempting to directly emulate their system.

In Finland teaching is a prestigious career. Children aspire to be doctors, lawyers, scientists and in the same breath teachers. They are respected and appreciated; they are highly qualified (requiring a Masters degree for full time employment) and job selection is a tough process with only best candidates gaining the posts.

The Finnish curriculum is far less 'academic' than you would expect of such a high achieving nation. Finnish students do the least number of class hours per week in the developed world, yet get the best results in the long term. Students in Finland sit no mandatory exams until the age of 17-19. Teacher based assessments are used by schools to monitor progress and these are not graded, scored or compared; but instead are descriptive and utilised in a formative manner to inform feedback and assessment for learning.

Great emphasis is put on pupil and teacher trust and well-being. Outdoor, practical learning opportunities and healthy related physical activity sessions are a regular feature in the curriculum: helping to maintain a healthy body and mind.

Finnish schools receive full autonomy, with head teachers and teachers experiencing considerable independence when developing and delivering their own individual curricula: suited to their setting. Combinations of alternative pedagogic approaches, rather than mere instructional methods are utilised by the teachers. The pedagogical freedom experienced facilitates greater creativity, pro-activity and innovation.

This naturally allows a greater degree of individual emotional well being, that no doubt plays a role in fostering positive learning role models and environments: positively shaping the minds of teachers and pupils alike.
Finland's Ministry of Education's philosophy has been to trust the professionals, parents and communities to guide their own policy: and it would appear that their investment has paid off.

From this secure base, in which high quality teachers are appreciated and trusted to do their job effectively as they see fit and political agendas are deflected, there emerges an impressive education system to be proud of that serves its students, communities and country very well.

All students in Finland receive a free education from when they start at seven years of age until they complete their university studies. During their educational journey all pupils receive free school meals, resources and materials, transport and support services.

Professional Learning Communities are integral to sharing and spreading good practice in a collaborative manner. The systematic introduction of languages is also striking and very effective. Pupils will often begin learning a third language by 11 years of age and some a fourth at 13.

A no child is left behind approach means that all classes contain a mixture of ability level pupils, with most classes containing two or more teachers who focus on those needing additional support. By having professionals working in conjunction, the needs of the pupils can be better met within a happy and familiar environment. Many teachers also stay with a single class for many years, moving with them through the school.

Many institutions are combined primary and secondary schools with no major unsettling transition stages; this also allows a consistent ethos and common language to pervade. Students address teachers by their Christian names, do not wear uniforms, and are encouraged to relax in their surroundings.

As with any system there are of course strengths, areas for development and ideological conflict. The Finnish system is aware of this and prides itself on positively evolving with the pupils' needs and interests at the heart of all decisions.

The Finnish system's success is built on the idea that: "less can be more". This may appear counter-intuitive to many within other educational systems in which standards and effectiveness are measured in standardised data and evidence trails. The absence of corrosive competition and an egalitarian ethos inherent in the Finnish culture has surely played a role in shaping this very impressive system.

With PISA 2012 on the horizon, the outcomes are sure to provide more food for thought for all educators and policy makers around the world. 

 (The Guardian) 

READ MORE:  

Finland: Best education system doesn't guarantee foreign students employment
Are Finnish schools the best in the world?

SPAIN'S EDUCATION REFORM (LINKS)

Spanish Education Minister Wert Resumes Attacks On Catalan Language And Culture

Privatization of Public Education.  A Trend in Spain. A Way Towards Inequality (slideshare)

“I find it strange that other regions haven’t protested the education bill” (Minister José Ignacio Wert refutes notion that cutbacks in schools could affect quality of teaching) December 2012

Debate   

Education reform puts Spain, Catalonia on collision course

The argument for Spanish in Catalan schools December 2012

Controversial reform in education November 2012

Government makes progress on education reform Friday 21 September 2012

Proyecto Ley September 2012

Spain approves crisis education reform

The Local. Spain's News in English 19 May 2013

A mother and her children take part in a Madrid protest against cuts to education spending

Spain's government has approved an emergency reform of the crisis-hit education sector, hoping to reduce the number of school dropouts and curb the soaring youth unemployment rate.
Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria said the plan aimed to improve young people's job prospects at a time when unemployment among those aged 16 to 24 has surpassed 57 percent, and 25 percent of Spaniards drop out of school early.

"We need an urgent remodelling of the whole education system, because we cannot permit such levels of failure, dropping out and youth unemployment," she told a news conference.

The plan was approved at a cabinet meeting on Friday and is due to be debated in parliament, where it is likely to pass as the governing Popular Party holds an absolute majority.

Education Minister Jose Ignacio Wert called it "one of the most important reforms on the government's agenda".

Saenz said Spain's 25-percent school dropout rate is double that of other European Union countries. Nearly 24 percent of Spaniards aged 16 to 29 are neither working nor studying, she said.

Workers in the sector complain that the government in its crisis deficit-cutting drive has slashed annual education budgets by three billion euros.

Saenz responded that "investment in education has doubled over the past decade and so have the failures".

The reform will oblige pupils to opt at age 15 to follow either a vocational or academic course of study, and to pass new exams at each stage of their schooling.

Thousands of teachers and students demonstrated in the streets on May 9th demanding Wert's resignation over the proposals, which their unions say will create inequality between pupils.

"This law will be known as the one that broke the principle of equality in education in Spain," the opposition Socialists' deputy leader Elena Valenciano said Friday.

Cutting short lunch time in school may lead to obesity

School districts across the country are revamping their menus to serve healthier fare, but most schools give students so little time to eat that they could be contributing unwittingly to the childhood obesity problem.

Children who bring their lunch would typically have a little more time to eat because they don't have to stand in line to get their meal, experts say.

Healthy food can take longer to eat, and research shows that wolfing down a meal in a hurry often means people eat more.

A new national survey by the School Nutrition Association shows elementary kids have about 25 minutes for lunch; middle school and high school students about 30 minutes. That includes the time students need to go to the restroom, wash their hands, walk to the cafeteria and stand in line for their meals.
Many students may have only about 10 to 15 minutes left to eat their meals, school nutrition directors say. But students should have at least 20 minutes to eat their lunch, the government recommends.
"It's a problem in a lot of districts. There's not a lot of time to get their food, sit down and eat their fill," says Helen Phillips, president of the School Nutrition Association, and senior director of school nutrition for Norfolk (Va.) Public Schools.
Many students feel rushed. The typical length of the lunch has been about the same since 2009, but it's shorter than in 2003 when kids got up to five more minutes. Children in some countries, such as France, get as long as one to two hours to eat lunch.

U.S. research shows that when people eat quickly, they consume more calories, enjoy the meal less and feel hungrier an hour later . This lunch-period dilemma comes at a time when about a third of children and adolescents — 25 million kids — are obese or overweight, government statistics show.

Almost 32 million kids eat the school lunch every day, and more than 11 million eat the breakfast served there. Overall, kids consume about 30% to 50% of their calories in the school meal programs.
The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 directs the U.S. Department of Agriculture to set new nutrition standards for all food served in schools, from lunchrooms to vending machines. Those standards are being developed now, but in the meantime, the school food service directors have already made lots of improvements, Phillips says. The new survey of 1,294 school nutrition directors from the School Nutrition Association found that most schools are offering fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, salad bars or entree salads, and fat-free and 1% milk.

But those kinds of foods often take more time to eat, Phillips says. "It takes more time to chew a whole apple than apple sauce. Eating an entree salad takes longer than eating a cheeseburger or chicken nuggets, because of the crunching and chewing of the raw vegetables."  Sometimes kids eat their favorite foods first, and if they run out of time, those vegetables may land in the trash, she says.
Children who bring their lunch would typically have a little more time to eat because they don't have to stand in line to get their meal, she says. Whether or not it's enough time depends on the child and the length of the period. "The younger elementary kids tend to eat slowly."

The pressure of all the different academic demands affects the lunch schedules, Phillips says, so food service directors work with principals to make sure lunch hours are staggered so everyone is served quickly.
Many factors come into play when determining lunch periods, including building size, the number of serving lines, the seating in the cafeteria and the number of students coming to the cafeteria at any given time, she says.
Taylor adds: "I don't know if there is a perfect answer. Every building is different, every principal is different."

When people look back on the childhood obesity epidemic in this country and wonder how it spiraled out of control, they may blame the way kids were rushed to eat too fast, not just at school but at home, Taylor says.
"I think we have diminished the joy of sitting down and enjoying a meal. Now, the attitude is we should sit down and eat and get it over with."

Advice for parents:
Food service workers try to make it easy for kids to eat healthful foods. Parents can do the same when packing their lunches, they say.

For instance, Helen Phillips, senior director of school nutrition for Norfolk (Va.) Public Schools says her staff uses packaged fresh produce, such as baby carrots, apple slices, grapes and pineapple spears, so if a child runs out of time to eat the food at lunch, they can take the food with them in their backpack and eat them on their way home, at snack time or between classes, if the school allows that. 

She recommends that parents cut most fruits and vegetables into small bite-size pieces for elementary children. “Elementary kids are often missing their front teeth and can’t easily bite into an apple or peach.”

Sometimes kids this age have a hard time manipulating the straws into their juice or milk boxes so it may be easier for them if parents choose a reusable containers with a pullup spout, she says.

Working Overtime May Increase Risk of Obesity

Do you put extra hours in at work? Do you pick up extra shifts to generate overtime pay? Does the ever-growing pile of work on your desk cause you to stay late? Do you cut yourself short on sleep because of the pressures and demands of work?

If you do, you're like plenty of other working adults who are logging long hours, coping with work-related stress, and generally not getting enough rest. Overwork and little sleep can affect every aspect of our lives, from relationships, job performance and daily well-being to our fundamental health. A new study suggests that difficult and demanding work schedules also can contribute to obesity.

Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine investigated the association between obesity and work schedules among 1,700 women nurses. Among the nurses in the study, 700 were determined to have unfavorable, or adverse, work schedules. The remaining 1,000 nurses were considered to have favorable work schedules. Researchers then examined the incidence of obesity among each group, and factors related to health behaviors, home demands, and work demands that might contribute to obesity. They found a majority of nurses were overweight or obese, and that work schedules appeared to influence the risk factors that contributed to weight problems.

Nursing is a demanding and high-stakes profession. While nurses are on the front lines of caring for patients' health and well-being, many are also likely to be working long hours, working evenings and overnight, or on schedules that rotate between day and night. In this regard, nurses are like the millions of Americans who are employed in shift work -- jobs that require workers to keep irregular schedules, which often require them to work during nighttime hours and to sleep during some portion of the day.

Shift work poses a number of well-documented challenges to health and to sleep. Shift workers are more likely than regular workers to suffer from disrupted and low sleep. They are also at elevated risk for chronic diseases such as diabetes. Shift work is common among jobs that involve public health and public safety, from police and firefighters to transportation workers, doctors, EMTs, and yes, nurses.

We also know a lot about the connection between the lack of sleep and weight problems. Not getting enough sleep causes hormonal changes that stimulate appetite. Being short on sleep prompts changes in the brain that make junk food even more attractive than it already is. Sleep deprivation lowers metabolism and diminishes the judgment and willpower necessary to make smart food choices. Sleeping less often translates into weighing more, over the long term.

We all have different work demands, different schedules, and different challenges related to our jobs. One thing we have in common? To the extent that our work conditions are interfering with our sleep, they may also be negatively affecting our weight.

VOCABULARY:

Shift: (the period of time worked by such a group-a group of workers who work for a specific period)

Overtime pay: pago por horas extraordinarias

Schedule: a list of tasks to be performed, esp within a set period. Timetable (horario, programa, plan)

High-stakes : used to describe a situation that has a lot of risk and in which someone is likely to either get or lose an advantage, a lot of money, etc.

In this regard: a este respecto, en este sentido

Shift work: trabajo por turnos

Prompt: (cause) dar pie a, provoca

Disrupted sleep: perturbación del sueño, sueño interrumpido.

Deprivation: being without ( carencia, privación)

SLAVERY AND WHAT WE BUY

Some of the products we buy today in Britain may have been produced through the use of slave labour. 

HOW DOES SLAVERY OCCUR IN THE SUPPLY CHAIN?

There is evidence of slavery in different stages of the supply chain from the production of raw materials, for example cocoa and cotton farming, to manufacturing goods such as hand-knotted rugs and even at the final stage, when the product reaches the market. 

HOW DOES THE SUPPLY CHAIN WORK?

Typically the final product you purchase has passed through a long chain of producers, manufacturers, distributors and retailers who have all participated in its production, delivery and sale.

It can therefore be very difficult to track a component of an end product back to a particular producer, for example cotton in a T-shirt back to a particular cotton farm.

For this reason it is not always possible to certify that a product has or has not been produced using slavery.

However the way in which companies operate can affect the likelihood of slavery being a part of the final product. If a brand gives its supplier a large order with a short turnaround time beyond the suppliers’ capacity, this could increase the risk of slavery as the supplier may subcontract work to factories or workers that are not regulated by the same standards as the supplier.

Company buyers may negotiate such low prices that suppliers are forced to push down the price it pays for the materials it needs, which can have a knock-on effect on those involved in the production of raw materials, increasing the likelihood of the use of forced labour.

Companies should ensure that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is respected across its whole supply chain to ensure that it is not inadvertently supporting slavery. For example, extreme poverty can lead workers into situations in which they find themselves enslaved and the government may not be properly enforcing labour laws and inspecting workplaces. 

RICARDO’S STORY

Ricardo was made to live in the back of a locked removal van and forced to work on a farm picking tomatoes in Florida. He was forced into debt as his ‘employer’ charged punitive costs for food, rent etc. After more than a year he managed to escape through the ventilation hatch of the truck.

Florida tomatoes are bought by restaurant and fast-food chains. Anti-Slavery International supported the Coalition of Immokalee Workers’ campaign, which succeeded in Burger King signing an agreement with them to ensure workers’ rights are respected. The agreement includes a zero-tolerance guideline for suppliers regarding certain unlawful activities such as forced labour.
WHAT CAN YOU DO?

Ask questions when you shop. Does your local retailer stock fair trade products? Use your consumer power to show you care -- buy fair trade marked products and Rugmark carpets, a certification scheme for rugs and carpets made without illegal child labour. In supermarkets, look out for the Fairtrade Mark. This is the best available guarantee that a product has not been produced using slave labour because goods can only be Fairtrade certified if they have complied with Fairtrade standards, which incorporate international human rights standards. For retail chains, write a letter to the company headquarters asking what measures the company is taking to identify, prevent and end the use of forced labour and slavery from their supply chain. Ask if the company is a member of the ETI and ask the company to explain how it is involved. 

WHY NOT BOYCOTT?

In certain situations boycotting specific goods or countries can actually make the situation worse and undermine the economy of an already poor country. A boycott could hurt those in slavery-like conditions as well as those employers who are not exploiting their workers, and worsen the poverty that is one of the root causes of the problem. Support fair and ethical trade initiatives instead and use consumer power to encourage retailers and companies to move to the Fairtrade scheme.

SLAVERY AND WHAT WE BUY REPORTS New report from Anti-Slavery International exposes how top UK high street brands are selling clothing made by girls in slavery in southern India. Our research has uncovered the routine use of forced labour of girls and young women in the spinning mills and garment factories of five Indian clothing manufacturers that supply major western clothing retail brands.

VOCABULARY

supply chain: process of manufacture and distribution (cadena de suministro)
raw materials: not treated by manufacturing or other processes (materias primas)
retailer: person who sells goods in small quantities to consumers ( minorista, detallista, que vende al por menor)
supplier : provider ( proveedor, suministrador)
turn around time: plazo de entrega
push down (prices): lower ( bajar)
knock-on effect: efecto dominó, efecto devastador
inadvertedly: without intention (involuntariamente)
properly: correctly (correctamente, adecuadamente)
enforce: impose by force or reinforce (hacer cumplir, ejectuar)
removal van: camión de mudanzas
be forced into debt: forzados a endeudarse
punitive : relating to punishment (punitivo, disciplinario)
hatch: small opening (trampilla)
comply with: meet requirements, obey (cumplir con los requisitos, acatar, obedecer)
undermine: weaken gradually (debilitar, socavar)
spinning mill:hilandería

GENERAL EDUCATION STRIKE IN SPAIN

Thousands abandon classrooms to join second education strike in 12 months

El País 9 May 2013

Thousands of teachers and students abandoned their kindergartens, schools and universities across Spain on Thursday to join the second general education strike in a year to protest spending cuts, as well as an education reform due to be presented to the Cabinet on Friday.

The Platform for Public Schooling, which unites the FETE-UGT, CCOO and STES labor unions plus the CEAPA parents association and the Students Union, put turnout at 72 percent among staff at public institutions and 25 percent in the private sector. The Ministry of Education, however, reported a following of below 20 percent, according to data compiled by the regions.

The Students Union said 90 percent of university-goers followed the strike.

At the last general education strike in May 2012 the unions reported a 65 percent following, while the government put it at 19 percent.

“What we are seeing is that educational activity has been paralyzed,” said Francisco García of the CCOO.

Thursday’s strike is the culmination of two weeks of protests that have seen hundreds of lock-ins, vigils and all manner of other mobilizations at education centers across the country.

I sincerely believe that the quality is in public teaching"

The day concluded with demonstrations in Madrid, where thousands took to the Paseo del Prado, and numerous other cities, though there had also been large protests in Galicia, Valencia, Murcia and Barcelona earlier on. In the Catalan capital, city police put the number of people who joined a march that left Plaza Universidad at 12.30pm and finished at Plaza Sant Jaume two hours later at 10,000; labor unions reported 100,000.

Some altercations with police were reported throughout the day. In Valencia two local police offers were slightly injured in a clash with a group of students who were trying to set fire to dumpsters and tyres on Tarongers avenue, as well as block the train line.

Uniting many protesting teachers, students and parents on Thursday was the feeling that both the cuts – which have totaled 6.7 billion euros since 2010 - and Education Minister José Ignacio Wert’s proposed reforms were dismantling a certain concept of public education as something that includes and helps everyone, regardless of their social class.

“[I am here] because I don’t want everything that I chose for my child dismantled, because I sincerely believe that the quality is in public teaching, and many of us choose it because we believe in it,” explained Paz Martínez, a civil servant and mother of a 15-year-old, outside the gates of the San Isidro public high school in Madrid early Thursday.

The government says the reforms — which include the bringing forward of the age at which students start choosing between academic or vocational training paths, the reinforcing of core subjects and establishing external examinations — will decrease high-school dropout rates. But a large proportion of the education sector sees the changes as the other side of the cuts, serving to create a cheaper and elitist system that segregates poorer students.

Vocabulary:
spending cuts: recortes en el gasto público
labour unions/trade unions: sindicatos
lock- in : encierro
throughout: a lo largo de / durante
clash: disputa, altercado
dumpsters: contenedores
tyre: neumático
regardless: pese a, independientemente
civil servant: funcionario
bring forward: adelantar
core subjects: asignaturas troncales
dropout rates:tasas de abandono escolar

Inditex and H&M head up retailers’ pact for Bangladesh factories

Inditex and H&M head up retailers’ pact for Bangladesh factories


The world's two largest fashion retailers, Sweden's H&M and Spain's Inditex, have announced a pact to improve labor conditions in their factories to prevent a repeat of the building collapse in Bangladesh that claimed the lives of 1,127 people.

Among the proposals are a coordinated system of inspections, the results of which will be made public; greater rights for workers; and a financial commitment from retailers to improve conditions in factories in Bangladesh, the world's biggest exporter of clothes. "We hope for a broad coalition of signatures in order for the agreement to work effectively on the ground," H&M said in a statement.

Inditex founder Amancio Ortega has also pledged to support the pact, the final draft of which will be published on Wednesday. "The accord has not come out yet, but as you know we have played a very active part in its development," said a spokesman for the company, which includes the Zara chain. Six percent of Inditex's clothing was exported from Bangladesh last year, where factory workers earn the lowest minimum wage anywhere on the planet at 29 euros a month.

The Bangladesh government on Monday elected to close around 100 businesses in an attempt to calm street protests in Dhaka after the Rana Plaza factory disaster. The latest tragedy is the worst industrial accident since the 1984 gas leak at the Union Carbide India Limited plant in Bhopal, which killed thousands of people. Last November in Bangladesh a fire at the Tazreen Fashion factory in Dhaka cost the lives of 117 workers.

VOCABULARY
retailers: minoristas
financial commitment: compromiso financiero
pledge: prometer, dar la palabra
draft: borrador
in an attempt:en un intento
gas leak: fuga de gas

UN LOOKS TO INSECT TO HELP COMBAT WORLD HUNGER

VIDEO :CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE VIDEO 

14 May 2013

While many people might balk at the idea of eating insects, for billions of people in developing countries they are a readily available source of protein and minerals.

Now the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation wants to increase insect-farming to help boost nutrition and reduce pollution as the world's population steadily grows.

UN urges people to eat insects to fight world hunger

Eating more insects could help fight world hunger, according to a new UN report.

The report by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization says that eating insects could help boost nutrition and reduce pollution.

It notes than over 2 billion people worldwide already supplement their diet with insects. However it admits that "consumer disgust" remains a large barrier in many Western countries.

Wasps, beetles and other insects are currently "underutilised" as food for people and livestock, the report says. Insect farming is "one of the many ways to address food and feed security".

"Insects are everywhere and they reproduce quickly, and they have high growth and feed conversion rates and a low environmental footprint," according to the report.

Nutritional value

The authors point out that insects are nutritious, with high protein, fat and mineral content.

They are "particularly important as a food supplement for undernourished children".

Insects are also "extremely efficient" in converting feed into edible meat. Crickets, for example, need 12 times less feed than cattle to produce the same amount of protein, according to the report.

Most insects are are likely to produce fewer environmentally harmful greenhouse gases than other livestock. The ammonia emissions associated with insect-rearing are far lower than those linked to conventional livestock such as pigs, says the report.

Delicacies

Insects are regularly eaten by many of the world's population, but the thought may seem shocking to many Westerners.
The report suggests that the food industry could help in "raising the status of insects" by including them in new recipes and adding them to restaurant menus.

It goes on to note that in some places, certain insects are considered delicacies.
For example some caterpillars in southern Africa are seen as luxuries and command high prices.

Most edible insects are gathered in forests and serve niche markets, the report states.

It calls for improved regulation and production for using insects as feed.

"The use of insects on a large scale as a feed ingredient is technically feasible, and established.

VOCABULARY
balk: resistirse, rechazar
readily available: fácilmente disponible
boost : impulsar (increase, raise, cause to rise)
steadily: regularly, gradually, constantly  (continuamente, constantemente)
currently: en este momento, actualmente ( at present)
livestock: ganado ( farm animals)
feed: comida (colloquial)
environmental footprint: huella medioambiental
undernourished: malnutrido, desnutrido
edible: comestible
cattle: ganado, reses
insect rearing: cría de insectos
note : mencionar
command: venderse por
feasible: viable, factible ( possible)

CLICK HERE TO READ SOME COMMENTS

CBS/AP/ May 13, 2013, 10:10 AM

U.N. agency urges eating insects to fight world hunger, malnutrition