[captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is decracy now! >> brown line have shed themselves of about one third of

their employees in the last six years. they need to dig in their heels and fortune 500 companies -- and refused to give up anything. they basically have decided to side with carriers. amy: president biden facing criticism fr rail workers for calling on congress to block them from striking. workers who are trying to- speak to two graduates due to workers taking part in a systemwide university of california strike. >> we are continuing using strike as leverage to put pressure on the university so they can finally come in and negotiate. amy: we speak to an independent journalist from puerto rico who has worked on in justin's

gentrification to electrical blackout, and with the church and a viral video by viral superstar bad bunny. all of that and more, coming up. welcome to democracynow welcome , to democracy now, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. the house has passed the respect to marriage act protecting interracial marriage at every level. this is senator tammy baldwin, the first openly gay person elected to the senate. sen. baldwin: i want to recognize the millions of same-sex and interracial couples who have made this moment possible by living their true selves and changing the heart and mind of people around the country. many of these same-sex and interracial couples are fearful. they are worried that rights, responsibilities and freedoms

they enjoy through civil marriage could be stripped away. amy: the law would not stop individual states from banning same-sex marriage if the conservative-led supreme court overturns obergefell v. hodges, buit would fce those states to recognize marriages from from another state. of the 12 republicans who voted in favor of the bill, wyoming senator cynthia lummis said she was "vilified" for supporting the measure. the bill will now go back to the house, which is also expected to pass it, then to president biden's desk for signing. the house of representatives is voting today to impose a deal that would block a rail strike after president biden warned of devastating economic consequences. four out of 12 rail unions representing tens of thousands of workers have opposed the deal struck in september, which raised wages by nearly 25% but did not address the need for paid sick days and workers' grueling schedules. lawmakers separately will vote on a proposal to add seven days

of paid sick leave to the agreement after mounting pressure from labor groups and lawmakers who oppose the imposition of the agreement. rail workers are asking for 15 days of paid leave. we'll have more on this story after headlines. the u.s. announced an additional $53 million in aid to ukraine, to support its energy infrastructure amid ongoing attacks by russia. also on tuesday, nato reiterated its commitment to grant eventual membership to ukraine. meanwhile earlier today, , european commission president ursula von der leyen proposed a special court to try russia over its crimes in ukraine. >> russia must pay for its horrific crimes, including such crime of aggression against a sovereign state. this is why continuing to support the international criminal court, we are proposing to set up a specialized court

backed by the united nations to invest gate and prosecute russia's crime of invest -- crime of aggression. amy: kyiv has been pushing international actors to establish a tribunal to hold moscow accountable for its invasion. this comes as president volodymyr zelenskyy warns russian forces are "planning something in the south" as they try to advance in the region. ukrainian officials said at least five civilians were killed in stres in the donetsk region on tuesday. in washington, d.c., a federal jury convicted oath keepers founder stewart rhodes of seditious conspiracy for plotting to keep donald trump in power after the 2020 election, resulting in the deadly january six insurrection on the capitol. kelly meggs, who led the florida chapter of the oath keepers was also convicted of seditious conspiracy. rhodes and meggs are the first defendants in almost three decades to be found guilty at trial of seditious conspiracy, which can carry a sentence of 20 years.

three other insurrectionists -- jessica watkins, kenneth harrelson and thomas caldwell -- were found guilty of other felonies. in related news, cnn is reporting former trump adviser stephen miller on tuesday became the first known witness to testify to a federal grand jury about january 6 since the justice department appointed a special counsel to oversee the trump investigations earlier this month. in more news about the 2020 election, d.c. federal judge emmet sullivan on monday refuted trump's claim to have "absolute immunity" in a lawsuit brought by civil rights groups and others, over trump's attempt to disenfranchise voters. meanwhile, the supreme court of south carolina ordered former white house chief of staff mark meadows to testify before the grand jury investigating trump's effort to overturn his election loss in georgia. a qatari official who is overseeing the fifa world cup, has placed the number of migrant workers who have died while working on related projects

"between 400 and 500" people. hassan al-thawadi cited the figures during an interview with piers morgan. >> what is the honest realistic total do you tnk that died as a result of work they are doing for the world cup in qatar? >> about 400, 400, 500. i don't know the exact number. that's being discussed. >> there will be other people. say 400 is a price too big to y, whado you say? what i would say is one death is -- amy: the committee overseeing the games had previously said there were only three deaths related to work on the world cup. steve cockburn of amnesty international said "the continued debate around the number of workers who have died in the preparation of the world cup exposes the stark reality that so many bereaved families are still waiting for truth and justice."

meanwhile, the u.s. state department approved a $1 billion sale of arms to qatar during tuesday's match between the u.s. and iran. the sale would include 10 defensive drone systems, 200 interceptors and related equipment. the u.s. team won against iran 1-0. former chinese president jiang zemin has died at the age of 96. jiang became president in 1993, and is credited with mending china's ties with the international community and overseeing its economic boom following the country's isolation after the bloody 1989 crackdown on the tiananmen square protests. jiang's passing comes amid a series of rare public protests against the government, triggered by beijing's stringent covid-19 policies. in afghanistan, at least 15 people, including children, were killed and several others wounded wednesday after a bomb exploded at a religious school in the northern samangan province.

no one has claimed responsibility for the attack. in missouri, 37-year-old black father and grandfather kevin johnson was executed tuesday evening by lethal injection. the u.s. supreme court denied his last plea for a stay of the -- stay. a special prosecutor had pleaded the missouri supreme court to halt johnson's execution in order to fully investigate evidence of pervasive racism in his prosecution but the request was denied monday. johnson was sentenced to die in 2005 for the murder of a kirkwood police officer. johnson was only 19 years old at the time of the attack. his 19-year-old daughter khorry ramey had filed a lawsuit with the aclu challenging a missouri law that banned her from witnessing her father's death because she's under the state's age threshold of 21. virginia democratic congressman donald mceachin died monday after a battle with colorectal cancer. in their tributes, his colleagues in d.c. noted

his commitment to social and environmental issues. mceachin had just been re-elected earlier this month. his seat will now be filled in a special election. inawai'i, mauna loa, the world's largest active volcano, is erupting for the first time in nearly four decades. its neighbor, kilauea, has been erupting for over a year. this is the first time the two volcanoes have erected together -- have erupted together since 1984. here in new york city, mayor eric adams said police and emergency medical workers will start hospitalizing people with mental illness against their will, even if they pose no threat to others. >> the common misunderstanding process that we cannot provide voluntary assistance unless the person is violent, suicidal, or presented a risk of imminent harm. this myth must be put to rest. amy: rights groups swiftly condemned the announcement.

the new york civil liberties union said "the mayor's attempt to police away homelessness and sweep individuals out of sight is a page from the failed giuliani playbook. with no real plan for housing, services, or supports, the administration is choosing handcuffs and coercion." and in puerto rico, 16 municipalities have filed a lawsuit against chevron, exxonmobil, shell, and several other corporations, accusing them of contributing to the climate crisis by pushing a multibillion-dollar fraudulent marketing scheme that downplayed the catastrophic impacts of fossil fuel. the suit also blames big oil companies for the billions of dollars in damages suffered in puerto rico after a devastating hurricane season in 2017. hurricanes irma and maria killed thousands of people and destroyed critical infrastructure in puerto rico. we will have more on puerto rico later. and those are some of the headlines this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman.

in new york with cohost juan gonzalez one: hi, amy -- juan: hi, amy. amy: president biden is warning a looming rail strike could have devastating consequences and has called on house lawmakers to vote today to block the strike, and force through a contract deal that raises wages by nearly 25%, but includes no paid sick days, and is opposed by four out of 12 rail unions, representing tens of thousands of workers. among them is the brotherhood of maintenance of way employees division which said the move "denies railroad workers their right to strike while also denying them the benefit they would likely otherwise obtain if they were not denied their right to strike." some progressive lawmakers are pushing back. congressmember jamaal bowman tweeted tuesday he "can't in good conscience vote for a bill

that doesn't give rail workers the paid leave they deserve." lawmakers separately will vote on a proposal to add seven days of paid sick leave to the agreement, after mounting pressure. rail workers are asking for 15 days of paid leave. ron kaminkow, a locomotive engineer and organizer for railroad workers united, spoke to democracy now! monday night. ron: unfortunately, the most "laborriendly preside" that we've ever had is on the side the class one rail carriers because he had the opportunity, had that opportunity before this began to basically urge, cajole, badger, and bully the rail carriers for meeting modest demandfor railway workers. the requesto congress to

legislate us back to work before we've even had a chance to strike under the terms and conditionsnd the terms of the agreement,hich is not popular th the rank-and-file. we have unions tha represent 55of railabor, voted this contract down. we could have seen by actual op by tellin congress he would li to see them pass legislation that diates a end to the conflict under which me favorable terms to the workers, which is to y a handful of si days. that's what this has come down to. railway workers traditionally have had no sick time and with the harsh atteance policie railway workers g very little time off work. it has ce to a point where ople are leavi the industry in droves, in nbers never

believed possible. people with 15nd 20 years seniority are leing the industry and there's a crisis. i don't believe the biden administrationuite understands the pth of this crisis. since i entered the industry, i have watched rail industries make record pfit. saw operatingatio, in the mid 80's, dropped into the 70's, 60's. they are helbent and who knows mayor th wt -- where they might want to go. stock buyback has reachedecord proportions. dividends paid a enormous. he bought the nsf outright a decade ago and unequivocally his investmentas paid off way mor than he expected it to. the wealth that has been

accumulated by these rail rriers over the last quarter-century involveaving -- involve moving less freht than 15 years ago. shippers from practically every shipping group who ships by rail is in a state of total discontent. they have gone to the transportation board demanding better service. they have shed themselves of about one third of their employees in the last six years and they basically pissed off pretty much everybody in the country except their stockholders. we come down to the wire and literally what operates the parties is a handful of sick time, that most workers actually have achieved decades and decades ago but railway workers have traditionally gone without. enough is enough.

we want a handful of sick days and yet the rail carriers continue to dig in. the fortune 500 companies who have made record profits the last 25 years, and refused to give us anything. the biden administration is incapable of signing on it -- citing unequivocally with us as the most labor friendly president ever. we wouldn't have expected that. there is a lot of upset and discontent right now amongst the working railroaders. amy: that's ron kaminkow, a locomotive engineer and organizer for railroad workers united, speaking to democracy now! monday night. this is democracynow. for more on president biden's call for house lawmakers to vote today to block a rail strike and force through a contract deal with no paid sick days, we are joined by nelson lichtenstein, distinguished professor of history at the

university of california, santa barbara where he directs the center for the study of work, labor, and democracy. welcome back to democracynow. talk about the significance of what's taking place right now. president biden has been called by some the most prolabor president in the united states and yet, this is going against the wishes of one third of the unions, including the largest union of rail workers. nelson: glad to be here. the railroads have historically be a flashpoint of labor activism and setting the model for labor relations for much more than a century. it was in the 19th century, there were bloody clashes between the army and railroad workers. people were being put in jail. also in world war i, the eight

hour day came to the railroads via woodwork -- woodrow wilson. it is not just a strike of a few tens of thousands of rail workers, it will set a mitral -- model. biden claims to be the most prolabor president and here we have an occasion in which that could be demonstrated. and also in terms of whether it is sick leave or just a schedule that workers can live with, this would be a rail victory. a better contract in an industry which is making enormous profit, could set a pattern for lots of other workers. i will say one more thing which i think is in this moment of botheightened labor activism and also enormous resistance, not just better contract put

forward in congress, which could happen. bernie sanders is -- has deared he will not vote fo the bill unless there is more sick days, but i think a delay in congress coming to a decision on this will enable the rail workers to begin a strike. a national strike, which i think the industry will cave once the strike takes place because they have the money and they will not go to the math for their model of egregious relations. a national strike woulbe a salyer tory thing that would demonstrate unequivocally the power of labor so ery starbucks barista, every uc stryker, ery worker who is thinking about forming a union will say yes, these workers have

demonstrated power. there is enormous public support for the rail strike and any stryker today. we are in a rare moment and a time to demonrate that and put that forward. certainly the conessionali think effort to force the old contract which was signed before the election, his effort to force that through congress i think will fail. it passed the house but i think it will fail in the senate and that will givthe opportunity for something betteto take place and the possibility for a short, sharp potent strike at could take place. juan: professor, i wanted to ask , corporate america is putting a lot of pressure on congress and the white house claiming there

will be basically an economic apocalypse if this strike occurs. over the last 20 years, much of corporate america has gotten into thinotion of time production where their warehouses are empty and they depend more on the transportation system for requiring goods. this -- i'm wondering if this method is predicated on no possibility of labor destruction. how does that play in? nelson: that's absolutely the case. whether it is auto production or the logistics revolution, it would be just in time of predicated on labor weakness. labor can gum that up if there is a strike for delay. we've seen that with the logistics problems created just in time for production, also

shortages and probably a spike in inflation. all strikes, are for somebody. the only weapon that labor has and sometimes corporate profits are reduced but sometimes the puic -- a strike of the rail workers will have an impact and will increase the pressure on management to cave. let me say one thing. we get into a pandemic in which the u.s. government does something far more dramatic than a rail strike, it shut down every business in this country in the spring of 2020 because there was an overwhelming reason. it created one of the sharpest dissection -- recessions in america. in that context, a short rail

strike is kind of symbolic in terms of the economy. exercising the power of labor trading that are juan: i wanted you to comment on the role of the trade secretary pete buttigieg who is a presidential hopeful. his role in not being able to netiate an end to the possibilitof a strike, what has he -- does he need to do? nelson: they have regulatory authority where they can tell the carriers either help, and

welfe, and marty walsh, pete buttigieg, the interior secretary, they could use their collective governmental clout to have the carriers -- what they decided to do is cut the workforce by about a quarter to a third in the last decade. that saved a todd of money and they end -- a ton of money and they instituted this draconian system of labor availability which means workers have very few days off. one point. another in the industry of the longshore has the same system that has workers with greater seniority go to the bottom of the list. the longshore union has been able to control its own hiring and therefore it made certain that workers have time off when

they want it and they can take time off, have flexibility. on the railroads, the carriers have been told and squeezed labor so workers have to be available 90% of the time. one other point, people talk about sick days and that's one reason people need time off but it is not just sick days. workers should have the right to take off work in a reasonable amount for whatever reason they need. if they want to go bowling and that's a good time, or be with our family, it is not just sick days. we use that word because obviously you have to go to the doctor and now that's difficult on the railroads. we need to estlish situations, a syem where the flexility of work is not just the employer who nts flexible workers to be there whenever they want them, but workers themselves who can

choose within reason when they want to work and when they don't. the longshore union established that system on the docks. they are very admirable and it is lasted evan to years. -- lasted for years. amy: you are a uc professor and we will talk about the massive strike. before we go, i wanted to ask you about one other issue, the significance of amazon ordered by these and assist antiunion effort. this week, they must read out that public notice to staten island workers who won the right to unionize last april. nelson: that's important and they are getting much more aggressive. i think natioide, not just confined to staten island but

nationwide, amazon has been violating the law and they have to read out statement saying workers have rights and can't be retaliated against. i make this point, that's important but that's not decisive. what will be decisive and could take place is a linkage between federal antitrust activities under lena con at the federal trade commission and the nlrb. they are talking to each other. they are very prolabor and nlrb board talking to each other. what needs to happen with amazon and other tech companies who are antiunion, the threat and redefinition of antitrust has not just had to do with prices but with labor relations and wages. a threat to amazon's business model, unless you fire your antiunion law firm and have an

actually neutral work ways where workers can vote to be a union, your business model is going to be threatened and your acquisitions will be threatened in the future. that threat is on the horizon and i think it is an innovation that's very important in terms of revitalizing the labor laws and what's behind the labor laws which has been missing. amy: professor lichtenstein teaches history at the university of california santa barbara and directs the study of law, work, labor, and democracy. as we move on to talk about the largest strike in the history of american higher education taking place on the campuses of the university of california. [♪♪] [music break]

amy: "casey jones the union scab" by the rabble rousers. this is democracy now democracynow.org, the war and peace report. we turn now to look at the largest higher education strike in u.s. history. some 48,000 graduate student workers at 10 university of california campuses have entered their third week on strike in an effort to secure a livable wage, more child care benefits, expanded family leave and other demands. on tuesday, the university of california announced a tentative deal with postdoctoral scholars and academic researchers but the deal does not cover graduate student workers who make up the vast majority of those on strike. still with us labor historian and professor nelson

lichtenstein who directs the school center for the study of work, labor, and democracy at uc santa barbara. he wrote an article for dissent. we are also joined by two striking grad students. henrique is a fourth-year doctoral student. he is the head word of his local union. -- she is a member of student researchers united and has been deeply organized since the efforts began. professor lichtenstein, give us the overall picture. you just wrote this piece on the largest strike in u.s. higher education taking place right now . nelson: it is remarkable because

it is not just the teaching assistants and students. also includes postdoctoral scholars who are several thousand of them who have organized the last decade and academic researchers, people who work in the lab and other places, and they were organized just last year, several thousand of them. altogether, the contracts expired at the same time and they have all gone out. it is quite remarkable. -- a in norma's public report, here is a destructive strike, a public ititution. you are ruining the education of our sons and daughters. this case, tremendous public support, the undergraduate support, the los angeles times

endorsed the demands of the strike. the faculty is very much in support. u.c. did offer a five-year contract to the post doctorate and academic researchers. they offered the post doctorate a substantial wage and increase partly because a lot of that funding comes from the federal government. the academicesearchers were offered somewhatess and they haven't made an offer to really the backbone of the stre which are the graduates dude teaching assistants, associates, tutors, and reade. that's a danger because they've taken a hard line when it comes to these teays -- ta's and they sparked the initiative for the strike because they were suffering the most from the rising housing costs and the

stagnation in their wages. the erosion of their wages the last few years because of inflation. we are coming to a time where it is more important than ever that those who have been offered a contract settlement stay on strike and back the teaching assistants where no settlement has been released for them. juan: in the conte of the neoliberal model of higher education, we are -- where the universities are last intent on tenured faculty -- dependent on tenured faculty and more dependent on grad students and ta's to do the teaching. nelson: absolutely. the tenure-track of teachers has

declined. public funding for allstate universities, public higher education has declined over the last hour decades at the very least. here is a strike which is saying we are the heart of the university and we deserve to get paid. it would have a salvatori -- salvatory impact if all the researchers who make this go, why you see is the research powerhouse and teaching assistant, if the cost of the university and state of california goes up for these people and they deserve it, this not the ivory tower with elite upper-class people. this is a working-class institution when we are talking about diversity and talking about including new people,

working-class people. they are a staff and many of them are ta's and grad students. it will reduce the incentive of the continuing rise of the contingent work orders because it isn't going to save them enough money. the incentive to have a more permanent, well-paid, dignified work will be enhanced. these grad students, generations of them, they labor for 5, 6, 7 years. thexpectation us to be you spend your 20's in poverty but then you got a good job. that bargain has been broken and we need to restore that bargain or simply say, you are a worker and you deserve to have an income and a schedule which will enable you to live a dignified life.

everyone recognizes california. there has been an enormous housing crisis. everyone recognizes and the grad students and others have said, if we have this crisisyou have to pay us or do something about it. that is what the crisis is about. crises way beyond the university or the status of students, it is a national institution. it is the general motors of higher education and what happens will have a huge impact everywhere. juan: i would like to bring henrique into -- enrique into the conversation. what made you join the strike and can you talk about the economic conditions that you and others like you face? enrique: actually, there's many

reasons why i became more actively participating in the strike. since i came here from puerto rico in 2019, i started participating in worker led movements such as joining the local union. it was a necessary part for organizing students and student workers. automatically when we went on strike, there was that sense of fighting for the rights and well-being of workers. on a material level, the living and working conditions a lot of graduate workers, including from my union, they live in untenable living conditions. for example, most of us would get paid 24 k a year and because that is a different match of the cost of living in los angeles. i live in graduate housing so i pay roughly around $1600 a month

and get paid $2400 a month. that means more than half of my paycheck goes back into the university. the university is not only one of the largest employers of the state, it is one of the largest landlords, leaving only around $800 to make ends meet. this is kind of important that a lot of other student workers are in the same material conditions. we are the ones producing the work, teaching the classes, and yet most student workers qualify for food stamps. the cost-of-living adjustment with a higher base pay becomes more prescient right now. we are seeing a lot of measures and changes at the public university. juan: could you talk for instance, you say you came from puerto rico. how are the conditions there for

grad students versus what you see at ucla in the california system? enrique: one of the largest differences, i am a product of public i was only able to work for one year. this is around 2011 and 12. a lot of academic student positions have been cut down. one of the main reasons that a public institution such as ucla became so attractive in applying to grad school, they have promised job security, employment, tuition remission for the duration of my doctoral studies.

all these were productions that were hard won by the union. even here when thinking on paper these were idyllic conditions so you can have a sustainable life and working conditions, living in los angeles is quite a different story. it is always important, almost like a culture shock, thinking you are going to the number one public university in the world that is kind of touted in these publications, and then you realize 20 4k is not enough. having tuition is benefit and a right but is still not enough. working conditions are learning conditions for everyone in the university community. we still have a long way to go. amy: in addition to enrique, we

are joined by aarthi sekar is a student researcher in the field of genetics at u.c. davis. she's a member of student researchers united. postdoctoral scholars and researchers reached an agreement on what union members described as their highest ever salary increases but workers are not returning to campus in solidarity, with some 36,000 graduates workers who remain on strike. what is important to understand? aarthi: thank you so much for having a. what's really important to understand here in this moment is this isn't really historic and -- this is a really historic and transformative fight for us as academic workers within u.c., and academic researchers have reached a tentative agreement.

they are staying out on strike in solidarity with student researchers and academic student employees because our fight is not over. we are still fighting for a contract that gives us fair living wages that we deserve as both the other speakers mentioned. as a student researcher and within the university of california, i have also experienced incredibly challenging living and working conditio. student researchers are negotiating for their very first contract which is a huge moment for us considering that for 2021, we did not have a union -- before 2021, we did not have a union. we elected a super majority and now, we are fighting for a fair ntract that gives us thbasic needs and protections in our

work ways. -- workplace. student researchers are ia very vulnerable place within u.c. where even though we contribute to the cutting-edge research that u.c. boasts about, and we are the backbone of the research that happenwithin u.c. ranging from medical research, employment science research, rely all of the science and patent that u.c. can claim comes out of a lot of this labor that dude researchers provide -- that student researchers provide. we are striving for a contract that allows us to make ends meet so we have so many diverse researchers within u.c. including international researchers, parents, caregivers. we are fighting for a conversation that really

compensates us fairly -- compensation that really compensates us fairly. amy: can you talabout the work you do? you are in the field of genetics. explain what happens and how you are compensated. aarthi: i work as a student researcher within the genetics program at uc davis so i do research within the field of human genomics. this is something that is incredibly competitive and really well-funded. however, the research and work i've provided, i do not get fair compensation for the labor i've provided. i myself like over 90% of

researchers, pay over 30% in rent. have in times paid over 50% of my stipend to rent to live near where i work in davis, california. i have struggled to make ends meet while working easily over 50 hours a week, even though our contracts as graduate student researchers stipulates that we are doing 50% of the labor. we are working much longer hours to contribute to this research. juan: many of the student researchers are also international student or immigrants. how has that affected their ability to take labor action? aarthi: yes, this is really an important moment for international researchers as well we have thousands of

international researchers and many are on the picket line. we are striking together because this is very important for international researchers, considering they have an additional fee, nonresidential supplemental tuition, that they have to navigate. that can be $10,000 or up to $15,000 out-of-pocket but some researchers may have to take out loans to pay, or are limited in terms of the research opportunities or research labs that they joinebecause of this extra tuition site. they have to pay in order to work whin u.c. we are fighting for remission of this nonresident tuition and we are standing on the picket lines. amy: i want to thank you for being with us.

member of the student researchers united. has been deeply involved in organizing for the last two years on the picket line since the beginning. enrique olivares pesante, a fourth-year doctoral student in english and teaching assistant at ucla. he's the head steward of his local union, uaw 2865. been on strike since it began mid-november. thanks to professor nelson lichtenstein at uc santa barbara. when we come back, we go to a journalist from puerto rico who is talking about the injustices from how hurricanes are dealt with to the rolling blackout. stay with us. [♪♪] [music break]

amy: "por la frontera" by rupa and the april fishes. the musician is also the university of sanford -- california san francisco doctor. other signatories include andrew -- angela davis. this is democracynow. i'm amy goodman. we look at puerto rico and a growing -- luma took over the

power grid our next gases the independent puerto rican journalist beyond, -- beyond cap graulau. she speaks about potential corruption within luma. bianca: the companies are cuttingown trees that could interfere withhe power les. >> my patience is running out. bianca: luma has granted an extended million-dollar contract toompanies who provided service. >> my intention, the personal stggles of the company in puer rico, the former vice president of luma goes to the company and incorporates and they get a contract of 60 million for trimming vegetation and puerto rico.

this is another example of the conflicts of interest that are being created for federal money. amy: that is an excerpt from the documentary "país de apagones" or "country of blackouts." another documentary, "people live here," was featured in the bad bunny music video titled "el apagón." b anke is joining us -- bianca is joining us from new york. what is puerto rico going through? bianca: we are seeing the everyday consequences of colonialism. we see it when it comes to the energy system. we see it in the gentrification that you saw in the documentary. it affects the everyday lives of puerto ricans. the fact that the u.s. federal government has a responsibility with puerto rico and in its hands and position, about puerto rico's future when it comes to

political status. juan: when the government decided to privatize a sector of the electrical supply, there were promises things would get better. what has happened under luma since they took over? bianca: the electric utility used to be completely in public hands. that was the generation of energy as well as the distribution and transmission. part of the cooperations, the transmission and distribution was turned over to the private company, called luma. we were told outages would be a thing of the past and puerto ricans would have a better energy system and a better energy service. according to the company's own numbers, now numbers -- outages last longer. juan: talk about the cost as

well, the cost of change. bianca: puerto ricans are paying $.34 per kilowatt hour. that means for some people the electricity bill has doubled. put that into context, in new york city, the price is about $.10 below what puerto ricans are paying but the median income is more than the income and puerto rico. puerto ricans are carrying the heavy burden of paying extreme prices for a service that's not reliable. amy: how do hospitals and clinics cope with the blackout and what are you demanding and what decisions are being made today? bianca: we saw a series of outages over the summer that affected hospitals, and it was striking to see these major hospitals in the dark. their services were directly affected by this.

then hurricane fiona came. some hospitals had to go weeks operating on generators. when it started running out, they were saying -- sounding the alarm saying they don't have enough you will to use the generators. if this doesn't stop, we will not be able to provide the service to the puerto rican public. what you've been seeing after that series of events and very critical situations where puerto ricans don't have such a basic, important service, you've seen people calling for the cancellation of the contract with luna. i'm talking political leaders. however, the decision-makers here and the one who really has the power to decide what happens with luma going forward is the governor of puerto rico and also the oversight board you mentioned. that board is unelected members,

appointed by the president and congress which puerto ricans don't get to vote for. they are the ones making the decisions for what happens with luma moving forward. the temporary contract expires today, however yesterday we heard that the decision-makers and people sitting at the table decided to extend a temporary contract. they did that by bypassing the local representatives of the public interest. we see how they are keeping the people who represent puerto rico out of these positions. juan: you mentioned the current governor, the statehood governor. how has he responded to the mishandling of the power grid, and aren't there some questions about the governor's relatives getting contracts as well? bianca: you heard an excerpt of the story on the energy situation and you heard the

governor saying i'm losing my patience. we were seeing these outages and he was facing scrutiny. he was saying luma is on probation. we are overseeing their performance and they will not have my support service doesn't improve. then we saw fiona and that's when people went a month without electricity, so the governor continued to say he wanted to see service improve. however, he has very much supported luma staying in puerto rico and to this day says he is trying his very best because he believes that would be the worst consequence. amy: your comment on this latest news, 16 municipalities filing a lawsuit against shell, exxon mobil, accusing them of contributing to the climate crisis that downplayed fossil fuels.

bianca: in puerto rico, we see the consequences of climate change first-hand. hurricanes have devastated puerto rico. people are still recovering. five years later, we see a hurricane ke fiona. the sea levels are rising. the fatalities are taking these companies to account when it comes to the comp -- consequences. amy: bianca, thank you for being with us. her short documentary "aqui vive gente," or people live here, was featured in the bad bunny music video titled "el apagón." her most recent documentary is titled "país de apagones" or "country of blackouts." we will be streaming this year's livelihood awards -- this year's right livelihood award ceremony today on our website at 1:30 p.m. eastern. go to democracynow.org

a huge fond farewell to zina and danielle, our digital fellows as , they wrap up their time and today is their last day at democracy now! you remain in our dna.

(sophie fouron) we hear the fog horn in the background. two minutes ago, it was completely clear. they say that in newfoundland, you can have the four seasons in a day. i think you can have the four seasons in an hour here. it's a big island. it's a huge island. you can't go around newfoundland in a couple of days. we're at the easternmost point in canada. cod has been at the heart of newfoundland's economy and culture for more than 500 years. it hasn't been always easy.