Our Intrepid Bay Area News Group readers traveled around the globe last yr last yr. They have the rails drove in QueenslandToured through the Sagrada in Barcelona and roam through Main's Acadia National Park. Then they shared their travel stories and offered many travel suggestions for all of us.

Read on to Tennessee for a visit to a family within the Bay area and one other hike through Spain and could be present in www.mercurynews.com/tag/wish-you-sere-heere/ more reader.

You wished you were here

TENNESSEE: In October, the residents of San Rafael, Karen and Scott Schneider, and their 22-year-old daughter Gina from Capitola spent every week in Tennessee in Nashville and Pigeon Forge, the house of Tennessee. Dollywood. “We were with friends in Nashville – most recent transplants from California – and drove 3.5 hours to pigeon in the Smoky Mountains to visit Dollywood,” says Scott.

“The theme park was much better than we expected – very healthy, friendly and overcrowded than we thought. A lot of great food, trips and the story of Dolly Parton, her career and music. Dollywood was decorated with lights with thousands of real pumpkins and thousands of plastic culmills in the fall. “

Travel tips: “We decided at the beginning of October to miss the hot, damp summer and moved him to the 1960s every day with the 1960s on the day we left. We also spent several days in Nashville, saw a lot of County music and visited a beautiful garden area called Cheek. “”

SPAIN: The residents of San Jose, France and Paul Anderson went through the Camino de Santiago last autumn – “The trail was peaceful and quiet because we went after the top of the high season after the top of the high season,” says Franceen – then extended the trip to Gibraltar, Malaga, Madrid and Barcelona.

Travel tips: “You will meet people from all over the world. Rudimentary Spanish will come by. Let us assume that you will get bubbles on your feet and bring blister pads, good socks and shoes. Almost 500 miles are a long walk. On most days we sent our backpacks to our next destination and carried water and food in our dayhops. “

I can't imagine the pain of feeling like your body doesn't suit your gender. I cannot imagine the pain of raising a toddler in such distress. Americans should feel great compassion for people in such situations, and we must always feel the urgent have to treat children's pain within the safest and only way possible.

However, we must always not require states to approve treatments with questionable effectiveness, especially when those treatments carry the chance of great unwanted side effects. But that is strictly what the plaintiffs are demanding within the case “USA v. Skrmetti,” a case argued before the Supreme Court this month that challenges Tennessee’s ban on “medical procedures” that “enable a minor to identify with or live as an allegedly inconsistent identity.” with the gender of the minor.” This ban includes using puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones. It doesn’t apply to adults.

To understand the total constitutional implications of this case, some legal background is required. U.S. law recognizes several essential differences between children and adults, and one in every of the important thing differences is that minors are unable to present informed consent to medical procedures. They are too young to know the risks and rewards and too vulnerable to adult influence to be independent thinkers.

Typically which means the parents step in as representatives. Parents are those who consent to their children's medical treatment, and so they are those who sometimes make the difference between life and death in relation to their children's well-being. However, parental authority just isn’t absolute, including in relation to deciding on available treatments.

Parents cannot dictate the approval or availability of a specific drug. You cannot require hospitals to supply certain surgical services. And states still exercise oversight over child welfare. In Tennessee, for instance, a toddler just isn’t allowed to get a tattoo, even with parental permission (except to cover up an existing tattoo).

A “rational” selection

The decision to approve a specific drug for public use is usually made by the political branches of presidency. At the federal level, the Food and Drug Administration — an executive agency authorized by Congress — regulates the method, and because the Court of Appeals for the sixth Circuit explained in its own ruling within the case, “the Constitution rarely has a say” within the FDA's work. “

As long as the government's decision is considered “rational”, it is permissible, and then one must turn to politics and not the courts to change the government's decision. To pass the test, the state must only demonstrate that the law serves a legitimate state interest and that there is a rational connection between the means of the law and its ends.

This “rational basis” test requires extensive respect for the legislature. This is the default standard for review of a government motion unless that motion implicates a constitutional right (reminiscent of the correct to free speech or due process) or targets a protected class of Americans, reminiscent of Americans. B. Laws discriminating based on race or national origin.

And whenever you take a look at the cutting-edge on gender-appropriate look after minors, it's clear that Tennessee law passes this legal test.

Perhaps probably the most rigorous and thorough examination of the security and effectiveness of gender-affirming medical procedures is the Cass Review, a comprehensive survey by Dr. Hilary Cass on research into gender-affirming medical treatments for minors. Britain's National Health Service commissioned the review to make recommendations to enhance the NHS's gender identity services and ensure children affected by gender dysphoria receive a “high standard of care”.

Cass described the sphere as “an area of ​​remarkably weak evidence.” Worse, “The results of studies are exaggerated or misrepresented by people on all sides of the debate to support their point of view.” Their conclusion was sobering: “The reality is that we don't have good evidence about the long-term outcomes of interventions Coping with gender-specific stresses.”

Serious unwanted side effects

Medical treatments can have serious unwanted side effects. As the State of Tennessee explained in its temporary to the court, “administration of high doses of testosterone to girls induces severe hyperandrogenism, which can cause clitoromegaly, atrophy of the uterine and vaginal lining, irreversible vocal cord changes, blood cell disruption, and an increased risk of heart attack.”

In addition, “administering high doses of estrogen to boys induces hyperestrogenemia, resulting in a 'very high' risk of blood clots and an increased risk of tumors, breast cancer, coronary artery disease, cerebrovascular disease, sexual dysfunction and gallstones.”

The plaintiffs difficult the ban argue that the Supreme Court should apply a stricter test to the law — in other words, that the court should apply a unique standard than the rational review utilized by the appeals court. Even though the Cass Review undermined the rationale for medical procedures for minors, plaintiffs want the state to have less discretion in restricting access to gender-affirming care.

According to their theory, the Tennessee regulation just isn’t a standard medical regulation, but moderately a type of gender discrimination. As Attorney General Elizabeth Prelogar argued, Tennessee law regulates “by establishing gender-based boundaries and declaring that those boundaries are intended to encourage minors to appreciate their gender.”

“The law restricts medical care only when it is intended to produce physical effects that are incompatible with sex at birth,” she continued. “Someone assigned female at birth cannot receive medication to live as a man, but someone assigned male can.”

The plaintiffs' sex discrimination argument would have much more force if Tennessee law applied to adults, but that just isn’t the case. Adults in Tennessee still have full freedom to decide on gender-affirming medical procedures, including hormone treatments and surgery.

It can be a tragic irony if the Supreme Court were to limit the state's ability to guard young people from potentially harmful medical treatments at a time when the effectiveness of those treatments is increasingly being questioned. The risks of unwanted unwanted side effects are quite obvious and could be serious. For example, in one other case, a government expert admitted that puberty blockers can affect the fertility of adult patients, even after an adult stops use.

My heart breaks for the families who face gender dysphoria in childhood, and the hatred and discrimination we now have all seen against the transgender community is abhorrent. There isn’t any excuse for hostility and malice in American law. We just finished an election during which the Trump campaign poured tens of millions into ads to incite the electorate against transgender Americans.

However, attempting to protect children from the lifelong consequences of medical treatments before they’re sufficiently old to totally understand the risks just isn’t malicious. It is a conventional function of the American government.

A decisive majority of Volkswagen employees Workers at a factory in Chattanooga, Tennessee, voted to hitch the United Auto Workers union. the German automaker announced on April 19, 2024.

Convincing all auto employees within the South to hitch a union has long been one in all the U.S. labor movement's best challenges, despite sustained efforts by the UAW to arrange this workforce.

Of course, the UAW already has members employed by Ford and General Motors at facilities in Kentucky, Texas, Missouri and Mississippi.

However, that’s The union had tried before and largely failed To Organize employees at foreign firms, including Volkswagen and Nissan, in southern states – roughly where 30% of all U.S. automotive jobs are situated. It was the UAW third selection in the identical factory since 2014. The previous two ended with narrow losses.

The victory follows the UAW's most successful strike in a generation against Detroit's big three automakers, winning higher wages and higher advantages for its members in 2023.

Volkswagen has said it’ll be so waiting for confirmation of the outcomes by the National Labor Relations Board, the federal agency liable for enforcing U.S. employees' right to freedom of association. As long as neither side challenges the outcomes inside five business days, the NLRB will confirm them, giving the green light to start negotiating a contract.

The union has one other election is already planned This will occur lower than a month after the Volkswagen vote. More than 5,000 employees in Mercedes-Benz plant in Vance, Alabamawill determine whether to hitch the UAW in a vote May 13-17, 2024.

$40 million campaign

The UAW has has pledged to spend $40 million by 2026 expand its ranks to incorporate more employees within the automotive and electric battery industries, including many employees within the southwhere the industry is gain ground quickly.

Based on my five a long time of experience as a Union organizer and labor historianI expect that, apart from the recent momentum, the UAW will face resistance from the opposite foreign automakers operating within the South. The There can be headwind from politicians within the SouthMany of them have expressed concerns that the UAW's success would undermine the region's fastidiously crafted approach to economic development.

But the outcomes of this primary election among the many greater than 4,300 Volkswagen employees eligible to vote in Tennessee represent a strong first step within the union's ambitious campaign to arrange foreign automakers within the South and other non-union factories across the country. With about 73% of employees who voted selected to say “yes.”“According to the corporate and other sources, I consider this historic victory will boost UAW organizing within the South and can likely encourage other employees searching for to unionize of their workplaces.

Praise for the “perfect three-legged stool”

After the region was previously robust The textile industry imploded In the Eighties and Nineteen Nineties, driven by the influx of low cost imports, Southern business and political leaders revitalized the region's manufacturing base by successfully recruiting foreign automakers.

The strategy of those leaders reflects what the Alabama Economic Council has described it as a “perfect three-legged stool for economic development.” It consists of “an eager and trainable workforce with a work ethic unparalleled in the country,” accompanied by a “low-cost and business-friendly economic climate and a lack of union activity and participation.”

The prospect of low-paid and reliable employees is there attracted firms like Nissan and BMWMercedes-Benz, Kia, Honda, Volkswagen and Hyundai within the south in recent a long time.

Although lots of these firms negotiate constructively Because unions are lively of their home country, the dearth of union membership and associated protections within the United States proved to be a draw for them.

Blame unions for poor employment prospects

One way auto employers within the South have blocked unions is: They are portrayed as outdated institutions whose bloated contracts and strict labor rules destroy jobs by making domestic auto firms competitive.

Automotive executives within the South argue that the region has developed another labor relations model offers flexibility to managementprovides wages and advantages higher than those previously earned by local employees and frees employees from any subordination to union policies.

Automakers with plants within the South are also drawing on one other powerful resource to withstand the UAW: public intervention by senior elected officials.

Issue dire warnings

As the UAW redoubles its organizing efforts, Southern governors are once more sounding the alarm.

On the eve of the Volkswagen election in Chattanooga six of those governors issued a joint statement denouncing the UAW as a “special interest” that may “endanger our jobs and the values ​​we live by.” They claimed that voting for the UAW would undermine its ability to draw automakers and “halt growth.”

The UAW counters that union membership means employees receive predictable raises. higher advantages and improved workplace policies.

While these arguments from anti-union politicians haven't modified much over time, the context actually has.

The The UAW's great successes in wages and advantages The strike against General Motors, Ford and Stellantis in 2023 has increased the corporate's influence and credibility.

Many automakers whose U.S. employees aren’t covered by the UAW — including Volkswagen, Honda, Hyundai and other foreign transplants — responded by raising wages at their plants within the South. The union rightly describes these salary increases as “UAW bump.”

The UAW cites these wage increases in its outreach to employees at Tesla and other non-union firms.

“Non-union auto workers are being left behind.” the UAW recruiting website warns. “Are you ready to stand up and win your fair share?”

The pitch continues: “It’s time for non-union auto workers to join the UAW and demand economic justice at Toyota, Honda, Hyundai, Tesla, Nissan, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Subaru, Volkswagen, Mazda, Rivian, Lucid, Volvo and beyond that.”

Some auto employees within the south were now too Express concerns about schedulingSafety, two-tier pay systems and workloads that they consider a union could help solve.

It can be clear that they’ve been encouraged by the successes that UAW members have achieved.

At full speed

The UAW's campaign is just gaining momentum. And the timing is right.

A 2023 National Labor Relations Board Decision offers unions additional influence on this process. If management doesn’t comply with the union's request for recognition, the employer can be required to hunt an election for NLRB representation.

To win, unions typically need a majority of voters. However, based on the brand new ruling, if management is found to have interfered with employees' rights through the election process, this may very well be the case obliged to barter with the union.

The UAW says it’s ongoing Organized campaigns in greater than two dozen other non-union workplacesincluding factories owned by Hyundai in Montgomery, Alabama, and Toyota in Troy, Missouri.

I consider there’s rather a lot at stake for all employees, not only those within the automotive industry.

As D. Taylor, President of Unite Herea union representing employees in a big selection of occupations recently stated, “If you change the South, you change America.”

This is an updated version of an article published on March 8, 2024.

A decisive majority of Volkswagen staff Workers at a factory in Chattanooga, Tennessee, voted to hitch the United Auto Workers union. the German automaker announced on April 19, 2024.

Convincing all auto staff within the South to hitch a union has long been one in every of the U.S. labor movement's biggest challenges, despite sustained efforts by the UAW to prepare this workforce.

Of course, the UAW already has members employed by Ford and General Motors at facilities in Kentucky, Texas, Missouri and Mississippi.

However, that’s The union had tried before and largely failed To Organize staff at foreign corporations, including Volkswagen and Nissan, in southern states – roughly where 30% of all U.S. automotive jobs are situated. It was the UAW third selection in the identical factory since 2014. The previous two ended with narrow losses.

The victory follows the UAW's most successful strike in a generation against Detroit's big three automakers, winning higher wages and higher advantages for its members in 2023.

Volkswagen has said it should be so waiting for confirmation of the outcomes by the National Labor Relations Board, the federal agency accountable for enforcing U.S. staff' right to freedom of association. As long as neither side challenges the outcomes inside five business days, the NLRB will confirm them, giving the green light to start negotiating a contract.

The union has one other election is already planned This will occur lower than a month after the Volkswagen vote. More than 5,000 staff in Mercedes-Benz plant in Vance, Alabamawill resolve whether to hitch the UAW in a vote May 13-17, 2024.

$40 million campaign

The UAW has has pledged to spend $40 million by 2026 expand its ranks to incorporate more staff within the automotive and electric battery industries, including many employees within the southwhere the industry is gain ground quickly.

Based on my five many years of experience as a Union organizer and labor historianI expect that, apart from the recent momentum, the UAW will face resistance from the opposite foreign automakers operating within the South. The There can also be headwind from politicians within the SouthMany of them have expressed concerns that the UAW's success would undermine the region's rigorously crafted approach to economic development.

But the outcomes of this primary election among the many greater than 4,300 Volkswagen staff eligible to vote in Tennessee represent a robust first step within the union's ambitious campaign to prepare foreign automakers within the South and other non-union factories across the country. With about 73% of staff who voted selected to say “yes.”“According to the corporate and other sources, I imagine this historic victory will boost UAW organizing within the South and can likely encourage other staff in search of to unionize of their workplaces.

Praise for the “perfect three-legged stool”

After the region was previously robust The textile industry imploded In the Nineteen Eighties and Nineteen Nineties, driven by the influx of low-cost imports, Southern business and political leaders revitalized the region's manufacturing base by successfully recruiting foreign automakers.

The strategy of those leaders reflects what the Alabama Economic Council has described it as a “perfect three-legged stool for economic development.” It consists of “an eager and trainable workforce with a work ethic unparalleled in the country,” accompanied by a “low-cost and business-friendly economic climate and a lack of union activity and participation.”

The prospect of low-paid and reliable staff is there attracted corporations like Nissan and BMWMercedes-Benz, Kia, Honda, Volkswagen and Hyundai within the south in recent many years.

Although lots of these corporations negotiate constructively Because unions are energetic of their home country, the shortage of union membership and associated protections within the United States proved to be a draw for them.

Blame unions for poor employment prospects

One way auto employers within the South have blocked unions is: They are portrayed as outdated institutions whose bloated contracts and strict labor rules destroy jobs by making domestic auto corporations competitive.

Automotive executives within the South argue that the region has developed an alternate labor relations model offers flexibility to managementprovides wages and advantages higher than those previously earned by local staff and frees staff from any subordination to union policies.

Automakers with plants within the South are also drawing on one other powerful resource to withstand the UAW: public intervention by senior elected officials.

Issue dire warnings

As the UAW redoubles its organizing efforts, Southern governors are once more sounding the alarm.

On the eve of the Volkswagen election in Chattanooga six of those governors issued a joint statement denouncing the UAW as a “special interest” that might “endanger our jobs and the values ​​we live by.” They claimed that voting for the UAW would undermine its ability to draw automakers and “halt growth.”

The UAW counters that union membership means staff receive predictable raises. higher advantages and improved workplace policies.

While these arguments from anti-union politicians haven't modified much over time, the context definitely has.

The The UAW's great successes in wages and advantages The strike against General Motors, Ford and Stellantis in 2023 has increased the corporate's influence and credibility.

Many automakers whose U.S. staff aren’t covered by the UAW — including Volkswagen, Honda, Hyundai and other foreign transplants — responded by raising wages at their plants within the South. The union rightly describes these salary increases as “UAW bump.”

The UAW cites these wage increases in its outreach to staff at Tesla and other non-union corporations.

“Non-union auto workers are being left behind.” the UAW recruiting website warns. “Are you ready to stand up and win your fair share?”

The pitch continues: “It’s time for non-union auto workers to join the UAW and demand economic justice at Toyota, Honda, Hyundai, Tesla, Nissan, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Subaru, Volkswagen, Mazda, Rivian, Lucid, Volvo and beyond that.”

Some auto staff within the south were now too Express concerns about schedulingSafety, two-tier pay systems and workloads that they imagine a union could help solve.

It can also be clear that they’ve been encouraged by the successes that UAW members have achieved.

At full speed

The UAW's campaign is just gaining momentum. And the timing is right.

A 2023 National Labor Relations Board Decision offers unions additional influence on this process. If management doesn’t comply with the union's request for recognition, the employer could be required to hunt an election for NLRB representation.

To win, unions typically need a majority of voters. However, in accordance with the brand new ruling, if management is found to have interfered with staff' rights throughout the election process, this could possibly be the case obliged to barter with the union.

The UAW says it’s ongoing Organized campaigns in greater than two dozen other non-union workplacesincluding factories owned by Hyundai in Montgomery, Alabama, and Toyota in Troy, Missouri.

I imagine there may be rather a lot at stake for all staff, not only those within the automotive industry.

As D. Taylor, President of Unite Herea union representing staff in a big selection of occupations recently stated, “If you change the South, you change America.”

This is an updated version of an article published on March 8, 2024.