Category Archives: Wage Slavery

Before we get into our critical preview of SFFILMs 60th San Francisco International Film Festival, lets clear up the most-asked question about the annual event. Its not: Why did the San Francisco Film Society change its name to SFFILM? Nor is it: What made you choose Ethan Hawke to be the subject of a special in-person tribute? Wasnt Channing Tatum available? No, the thing that most local film festival audiences want to know is: Why is the event so early this year? Previous festivals usually began the last week in April.

The answer: They were trying to stay out of the way of Cannes. Thats right, the oldest and longest-running film festival in the Western Hemisphere evidently got so many complaints about close headways between S.F.s fest and the Festival de Cannes opening on May 17 this year, by the way that SFFILM decided to move its start date all the way up to April 5, running through April 19. So, all you Bay Area fans of foreign and esoteric movies can now comfortably fit both fests into your to-do lists with nothing lost. Thats a relief. Have fun on the Croisette.

As to the name change for the org: Dont worry, its only a routine re-branding. All businesses, including nonprofits in the highly competitive cultural-entertainment field, feel the need to put a new spin on things every few years. They want a change of image, so it doesnt look like theyre just setting around booking obscure Third World rural-electrification sagas all the time, instead of hosting important events like the after-parties for Beauty and the Beast. So, now, the orgs name is officially SFFILM. (Anyone caught using the words San Francisco Film Society will be forcibly ejected from the theater and made to read the screenplay of Swiss Army Man.)

But seriously, folks, SFFILM is really coming out of the box with guns blazing, at eleven venues in San Francisco and the East Bay. One noticeable new wrinkle is the increase in Live & Onstage programs, such as the closing-night presentation of The Green Fog, by co-directors Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson, and Galen Johnson all of whom collaborated on Maddins The Forbidden Room. The Green Fog is a specially commissioned visual collage that re-imagines Alfred Hitchcocks Vertigo as a pastiche of moments from the original film, combined with snippets from a wide variety of other sources. And it takes place one time only: Sunday, April 16, at 7 p.m. at the Castro Theatre (429 Castro St, San Francisco, CastroTheatre.com). As a special added attraction, the Kronos Quartet accompanies the film with a score by composer-musician Jacob Garchik (son of San Francisco Chronicle columnist Leah Garchik). Maddin, both Johnsons, and Garchik also appear in person.

Why this heightened interest in film-and-live-music shows? Not unlike other previously film-only fests, the SFFILM Festival is trying to broaden its appeal, i.e., put younger butts in the seats. The hard-to-reach tech worker is in particular a marketing target, according to SFFILM Executive Director Noah Cowan. He told the Express during a phone interview that the age demographic for last years festival actually dropped a little, with the festivals much-touted venue move from the Kabuki in Japantown to the Alamo Drafthouses location in the rapidly gentrifying Mission District. Cowan also noted the appeal of being close to BART 20 percent of the festivals audience comes from the East Bay, with 10 percent from the Peninsula.

Now, for the movies themselves. This years SFFILM Festival, selected by Director of Programming Rachel Rosen and her staff, evidently caught the same socially conscious/diversity bug that made 2016s commercial film offerings so dynamic. A total of 181 films will screen at SFFILM 2017, and the fest opens at 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 5, at the Castro, with Gillian Robespierres romantic comedy Landline. For up-to-date info and a full schedule, visit SFFILM.org.

Black Films Matter An impressive slate of socially aware films awaits audiences, led by Sabaah Folayans documentary Whose Streets?, which takes us to the embattled city of Ferguson, Missouri, in the summer of 2014. At that time, the killing of unarmed Black teenager Michael Brown by law enforcement ignited pent-up rage in the community against militarized police accustomed to gunning down people of color with impunity. The protests blossomed into the Black Lives Matter movement, and Folayans video crew was there to witness it, with input from parent-turned-activist Brittany Ferrell and rapper Tef Poe. The slogans are still with us today: Hands up! Dont shoot! and This is what democracy looks like! Whose Streets? plays in a special free outdoor screening on Friday, April 14, at Proxy (432 Octavia St, San Francisco, ProxySF.net). Women And Labor Another timely documentary, Peter Bratts Dolorestells the astounding story of labor organizer and feminist Dolores Huerta. She was co-founder of the United Farm Workers, was sometimes-rival to Cesar Chavez, and struggled to overcome everyday sexism, in addition to the exploitation of immigrant laborers in Californias San Joaquin Valley. Huerta, still feisty at age 86, has spent virtually her whole life fighting injustice, from what one colleague called the feudal wage slavery of agribusiness, to ingrained racism and police violence (she was severely beaten by San Francisco cops in 1988 while protesting President George H.W. Bush). And while she was at it, she played a key role in opening up labor movements to women. Huertas life story and mission are long overdue for celebrating, and this bracing doc by San Francisco filmmaker Bratt (La Mission) does the job movingly. Dolores screens Sunday, April 9, at the Castro, with Huerta in attendance.

Not Supposed To Happen In Oakland Filipino filmmaker Brillante Mendoza has been an SFFILM favorite for several years, with his ultra-realistic melodramas of life among the Philippines poorest. MaRosa fits the profile, with the tale scripted, but it looks exactly like a documentary of a woman named Rosa Reyes (veteran actress Jaclyn Jose), proprietor of a Metro Manila sari-sari neighborhood store. Rosa and her children may or may not be selling ice (meth) across the counter, but the cops think so. They haul Rosa and her husband down to the back room of the local police station, where they are pressured to come up with a payoff in lieu of being booked on narcotics charges. In other words: Pay a bribe or go to jail. Another significant conclusion: This is not supposed to happen in Oakland, either. MaRosa was released in 2016, a bit before the era of the Duterte death squads; otherwise, it might have had an even more tragic ending. Strong stuff. It shows Saturday, April 8, at BAMPFA.

Lions, Tigers, Missing Talismans Oh, My Tairo Caroli, the amiable main character/subject of Tizza Covi and Rainer Frimmels Mister Universo, stars in yet another festival entry that blurs the distinction between narrative and documentary. Caroli, a lion tamer in a cheap Italian circus, has his lucky talisman stolen, and suddenly hes worried about facing the lions and tigers in his act, spiritually unprotected. The talisman is an iron bar bent into a U by strong man Arthur Robin (playing himself), aka The Black Hercules, a real-life former Mister Universe now retired. The film follows Tairo on his search, and introduces us to two of the most likable people in Italy. It plays BAMPFA on Friday, April 14.

Weddings and Romance Actress Sena Kerslake turns in a remarkable performance as pugnacious ex-con Mary McArdle, the title character of A Date for Mad Mary. Mary returns from jail to her home town of Drogheda, Ireland with a massive chip on her shoulder, and now the opportunity to be maid of honor at her best friends wedding offers the chance of romance, among other benefits. But first she has to figure herself out no easy task. Directed with affection for its actors by newcomer Darren Thornton. See it at BAMPFA on Sunday, April 9.

New Wave Meets Family Xmas Tale Writer-director Cristi Puiu may be the most talented member of the recent Romanian New Wave. Hes certainly the most strongly attracted to difficult characters, as in Sieranevada, the improv-style chronicle of an exceptionally awkward family gathering to honor a grandfather. The camera pinwheels in a tight space, waiting for the priest, while the mourners pace like animals in a zoo. We grow claustrophobic as the family bickers. Oh yes, and its Christmas. But at about the two-hour mark (of a 173-minute running time), it actually becomes humorous. Lets hope Puiu never gets hired away to direct romantic comedies in Hollywood. By the way, the misspelled title does not to refer to either a geographical location or a brand of beer its apparently just a randomly appropriated name. Tuesday, April 11, at BAMPFA.

Meditating On China Director Zhang Hanyis tale of a man and his son trying to connect with the spirits of their dead ancestors in an uprooted village, Life After Life is a slow, purposeful, meditative portrait of one corner of Chinas deserted countryside. Its a place where dead ancestors can seemingly be reincarnated as dogs or birds but now tradition is being casually brushed aside to make way for industry. Somehow, it seems magical, with its wonderful high-def cinematography. Showing at BAMPFA on Friday, April 14.

The Obligatory Vampire Flick What film festival would be complete without a few midnight movies for stoner audiences? The festival calls this category Dark Wave, and Michael OSheas The Transfiguration certainly fits the profile. It concerns a Black teenager who fervently believes hes a vampire and the way he tears open peoples throats in his night-time jaunts, whos to argue with him, even though we suspect hes not a real vampire, just a convincingly disturbed serial killer. Sunday, April 9, BAMPFA. Spain And Surrealism The genuinely surrealistic survivalist story The Ornithologist is about a birdwatchers strange experiences just off the Camino de Santiago, near the Spain-Portugal border. Directed by Joo Pedro Rodrigues. Saturday, April 15, BAMPFA.

No Redemption The champion disturber has to be Travis Matthews Discreet, in which a lonely drifter returns to his Texas hometown to sort out his painful memories, involving pederasty, rape, and kidnapping. It is not a redemptive homecoming. America sure is a weird place. Saturday, April 8, Castro.

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It's Alive! It's Alive!: Our Film Critic Previews The 60th San Francisco International Film Festival - East Bay Express

Robert Atwater Leavenworth

To the editor:

I am always fascinated how individuals can get our history wrong, how an individual can distort the facts through the fiction he or she creates. The Civil War from 1861-1865 was not a fight between political parties but over the issue of states rights and national authority. The issue of states rights and national authority had its inception in 1878 during the Constitutional Convention. The Articles of Confederation advocated the states authority over the national government while the constitution would establish a strong national government through a federation with supreme power resting in the national government.

In order to gain the support of most of the states for the new constitution, a number of compromises were made, including the Great Compromise on representation creating a Congress with two houses the Senate based upon equal representation and the House of Representatives based on the count of the population with an insertion of the Three-fifths Compromise, counting three out five slaves as a part of the population. At the time, many of the northern states favored states rights while many of the southern states were nationalistic.

When President George Washington issued his farewell address, he urged our nation to avoid the establishment of political parties because he believed they would divide the nation. At the time he left office in 1797, two political parties were already in existence. The Federalists supported a strong central government led by Alexander Hamilton that favored business interests, while the Republican-Democrats led by Thomas Jefferson favored states rights and the common man.

The Federalist Party evolved into the Whig Party and Republican-Democrat Party became the Democratic Party. As the nation grew so did the industrial and agricultural divisions. One of the economic issues involved slavery versus wage slaves. To maintain a balance between the slave and free states, the nation admitted new states to the union by admitting a slave state and a free state at the same time. The Compromise of 1820 (Missouri) and Compromise of 1850 changed the balance of slave vs. free states. Because of the Compromise of 1850, the Free State Party replaced the Whig Party.

The Free State Party platform promoted the abolition of slavery throughout the nation. In 1856, the Republican Party replaced the Free State Party but maintained the views on slavery. Hence, the southern states feared they were under attack. When Abraham Lincoln was elected as president in November 1860, the southern states believed their way of life was under attack. As a result, South Carolina seceded from the union in December 1860 because states rights allowed them to secede. This was prior to Lincoln being sworn in as president in March 1861. The Civil War was fought over the concept of states rights and national authority and not Republican versus Democrat. The result of the war was that states did not have the right to secede, and yet, some Republican states have talked about nullifying national laws or seceding from the union in the early years of the 21st century based on states rights.

It is interesting to note that the party of Lincoln has moved away from protecting the rights of the minority to accommodate corporations, banks and the wealthy in our society. The culmination of that movement has led to the election of Donald Trump as our president. It was evident that candidates for president in the election of 2016 were not acceptable and people had to hold their noses as they entered the polling booth. It is distressing that we have a president who has no concept of leading a nation and is an individual who is unwilling to accept fact rather than fiction. He has promoted fear of others rather than inclusion. However, he is our president and we will have to live with him for the next four years.

It is my hope that both political parties will be able to find more acceptable candidates in the 2020 election than we did in 2016 election.

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LETTER: Getting our history wrong - Leavenworth Times

When it comes to promises of house and land, Jamaican voters are going to have a hard time choosing between the Solid as a Rock Man and the Prosperity Man. Both have thrown down elaborate promises of finally fixing the historical injustices that have denied masses of Jamaicans access to land and owning a home.

'Phillips wants end to squatting, better housing solutions for Jamaicans', 'PM wants NHT to address historical land, housing issues', the headlines read.

Appointed to the presidency of the People's National Party by acclamation without contest, Dr Peter Phillips devoted a big chunk of his inaugural presidential address last Sunday to the problem of access to land and housing. "Today, the People's National Party that I lead is recommitting to confronting directly the root cause of poverty and inequality in Jamaica. To do this will require a direct assault on squatting. And once and for all, we will have to ensure that we get land into the hands of the landless. Government cyaan have land locked up when our people cyaan find place to build a home ... . The next PNP Government is determined to undertake the most ambitious land-titling project ever ... . Hand in hand with land titling goes housing, and it is our mission to ensure that all Jamaicans get the opportunity to live in affordable, decent housing."

On his part, Prime Minister Andrew Holness, while breaking ground for a mere 37 serviced lots, said that his Government intends to address traditional land and housing issues dating back to Emancipation. "Our history is such that at the abolition of slavery, the enslaved were not compensated ... . So what you had ... were people divorced from all the assets and endowments that would create a true country, a true community, a true society. It has been a struggle since then for our people to acquire the assets to build community, to build a society."

What a way Holness sound like Michael Manley! And Dr Phillips sound like Edward Seaga! Both of whom tried to fix the land and house problem from the inequities of history.

Holness is promising 4,000 'new housing solutions' from the National Housing Trust this year, which is now under the heavy manners of institutional review. The same sort of average number that the Trust has been able to provide annually for 40 years! The demand is like 20,000. Four thousand hardly a revolution. And that has been the problem with the fixes for the land and house hunger, running since Emancipation.

The plantocracy plotted and schemed to keep the ex-slaves out of land ownership so as to have a pool of landless cheap labour for the plantations. A pool that exists until today.

Trelawny landholders in a meeting in 1838, the year of 'Full Free', concluded that "the people will never be brought to a state of continuous labour while they are allowed to possess the large tracts of land now cultivated by them for provisions, which renders them perfectly independent of their employers".

Landlessness and wage slavery were a major cause of the Morant Bay Uprising.

I was surprised to learn when I researched the history of community development in St Ann for Walkerswood Caribbean Foods, along with the wages issue in urban centres and on the sugar estates that fuelled the 1938 Labour Uprising, there were 'land hunger' marches and protests in rural places like Walkerswood.

When Andrew Holness' political mentor, Edward Seaga, as minister of development and welfare, presented the Five-Year Independence Plan for 1963 to 1968 in the House of Representatives on July 24, 1963, he grounded the plan on that "turning point in history" in 1865 when the Government "turned its back on the people" rather than accepting that "it was part of its responsibilities to assume responsibility for some of the welfare of the people".

The plan presented a 'Land Reform Programme' and addressed housing. The projection then, in 1963, was for 165,000 units over the next decade, mostly in the low-income sector. That is, 16,500 units per annum. In the same ball park as demand is today, 54 years later. Against this demand, or need, the Government proposed to build 3,000 low-income houses per annum!

There would be "need for mortgage money in order to finance the development in housing production", the minister told Parliament.

The Michael Manley administration of the 1970s solved the problem of financing with the creation of the National Housing Trust in 1976.

Manley was perfectly clear about the operations of the Trust. In his Budget Speech that year on May 12, that famous 'No Turning Back' speech, he told the House, "The key to the Housing Trust money is that it is a savings scheme that permits for the first time an experiment that has already been tried in sugar. That is, where the payments for a house have no down payment and are fixed at a percentage of income so that you are not forced to strain as a poor person to pay ordinary mortgage charges, but it is worked out through time, that 20 per cent of your income goes to the payment, and at the end of the period, 20 years or whatever it is, that then becomes your house. It is a wage-related payment system that is releasing the poor ... to a new capacity to get into houses."

Manley, wrong on many things, but not this one, saw very clearly that if the money was "put into the mortgage bank" with standard mortgage arrangements, as the NHT quickly descended into, the first casualty would be that "it wipes out immediately all chances for the poor to have an income-related form of paying for their houses ... ."

Manley has been betrayed!

The fix for the land access and housing problem, whether by Apostle Andrew, now heading the Government or Apostle Peter, aspiring to do so, is not rocket science and requires no Big Committee running the risk of paralysis by analysis. What is required is Big Determination.

A few necessary, ground-level things must be done for land:

- Every parcel of land with uncontested occupancy (to be checked) must be titled to the undisturbed occupier/owner on a fast track to become capital and collateral.

- State lands must be released into the real estate market at affordable sizes and prices on a scale large enough to satisfy demand, change the dynamics of the artificial and controlled market, and realign prices to reality.

- The State must repossess abandoned lands, particularly in urban centres, and offer them for development.

The NHT must be forced to revert to its founding Manley Principle, functioning primarily as a financing institution in the manner Manley made crystal clear, fundamentally. With new-titled lands and lots of lots from former government lands, build-on-own-land will throw up multiple thousands of houses. Private developers, most of them small and non-traditional, must be competitively given NHT financing to build houses. Money going to those who can get units to market at the lowest prices in preset mortgage bands and who can do so within time frames set. Income penalties for budget and time overshoots and for building faults, with warranties for correction. A quality assurance inspectorate.

And who are these non-traditional 'developers'? Many small teams of professionals with competence in building and finance, little start-up companies across the country that may be able to put down only 20 or 30 units per year either as small schemes, part of larger schemes, or providing building services as NHT-approved contractors for BOL mortgagees. Entrepreneurship, job creation, housing, communities.

The price of housing must be driven down by a combination of downward adjustments in the cost of land, fees, and taxes, and by using cheaper methods and materials in construction. Government holds the power and the resources to reset the housing market.

Andrew and Peter, two leaders, two parties, one country, one people, moving to resolve the historical injustices and inequities of land and house, for the first time at last.

- Martin Henry is a university administrator. Email feedback to columns-medhen@gmail.com.

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Martin Henry | House and land: between a rock and a hard place - Jamaica Gleaner

Blog article 03rd April 2017

A review commissioned by Theresa May will crack down on firms that use self-employed workers to avoid paying sickness, pension and maternity benefits.

The review by Matthew Taylor, a former head of the Downing Street policy unit under Tony Blair and now head of the Royal Society of Arts, is expected to conclude later in the year that a growing number of firms are taking on supposedly self-employed workers for jobs previously carried out by salaried staff. Government sources have said the Prime Minister would back the reviews recommendations, which are expected to include much stricter rules around what constitutes genuine self-employment.

The review is understood to have found evidence of firms asking prospective staff to incorporate themselves as sole traders rather than being taken on the payroll. Such an arrangement allows companies to avoid paying statutory sick pay and maternity benefits or to contribute to their workers pensions under auto-enrolment.

Matthew Taylor said that focus in the report would be the issue of control. He said: If you are subject to control if as an individual in the relationship with the person whos hiring you, they control your work, they control the basis upon which you work, they control the content of your work that looks like the kind of relationship where the quid pro quo should be that you respect that persons employment rights and entitlements.

Mr Taylor said he believed that more industries would soon face workers who were no longer prepared to accept ever harsher conditions.

In the 21st century, a time when we have so much autonomy and choice and we expect control in our lives, we dont accept the idea of kind of wage slavery, the idea of people at work having no choice, no voice, no capacity to influence whats going on around them and I think people feel that doesnt really fit with the times, he said.

He added: We need a new deal for the self-employed, which is we need a fairer tax system but we also need stronger rights and we need to support self-employed people in providing better for themselves.

There is a growing recognition in government that there is an imbalance in the way the economy works. This needs to be addressed. It is a new era in workplace relations, said a government source.

The Chancellor has already attempted to implement one proposal in the Taylor review - the ill-fated rise in national insurance contributions (NICs) for the self-employed. Mr Taylor said that he regretted the decision to abandon the increase in NICs.

A spokesman for the Federation of Small Businesses welcomed the Taylor Review: Self-employment should be more clearly defined, so that there is no ambiguity for a self-employed person, employee, employer, or contractor.

A spokesman for the Confederation of British Industry offered a more guarded response: A flexible range of contract options is a key driver of strength in our economy. The CBI is participating in the Taylor Review process with the aim of ensuring employment law and practice is fit for the future, fair and flexible.

A landmark study of workers in the gig economy suggests firms are "having their cake and eating it" by treating workers like staff while avoiding the tax and regulations that typically relate to employing people on full-time contracts.

The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development survey found that although workers were classified as self-employed, many were concerned about the control which the businesses they worked for exerted over them.

"This is supported by the data, as just four in 10 - or 38% - gig economy workers say that they feel like their own boss, which raises the question of whether some are entitled to more employment rights," the report said.

It also found that 14% of respondents said they did gig work because they could not find alternative employment. The most common reason for taking on gig work was to boost income, which accounted for 32% of responses.

Our Employment team provides advice on the employment aspects of all major business decisions. For expert advice pleasecontact a member of the teamon 03456 381381 or email enquiries@ibblaw.co.uk.

Photo credit: Flicker Portal GDA

The information contained within ourBlog Articlesis provided as general information only. The fact that we have commented on a particular case does not necessarily mean that that we are, or have been, instructed on it. It also does not constitute legal or professional advice or seek to be an exhaustive statement of the law and should not be relied on or treated as a substitute for specific advice relevant to particular circumstances. For further details, please see ourterms of usepolicy.

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Crackdown on Exploitation of Self-Employed Workers in the Gig ... - IBB Solicitors (blog)

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Picture credit: Akhil Kumar

Modern-day slavery

The Guardian has a series on slavery as it exists today that covers the abuse of migrant domestic workers in Jordan, an investigation into the abuse of Romanian migrant female farm workers in Italy, a video on rescuing Russian workers held as slaves in brick factories and farms, and a report on murder and slavery in Thailands fishing industry.

Saudi Arabias terrible record of human rights continues

Three cases of abuses against Indian workers in Saudi Arabia surfaced in the last two weeks. The firstwas whenArasukumar, a 30 year-old IT diploma holder, went to Saudi with 29 others butfound the job at odds with what they had been promised. When they went to the labour court, they were allegedly locked up by the company and denied food and water. The secondcase is eerily similar. 29 men were locked for 12 days without food or water for demanding leave to go home. The labour court had ordered that the company give them leave and pay for their travel when they were locked up. They are surviving on the generosity of other Indian labourers.

The thirdinvolved Jaswinder Singh, a 56 year-old man, who died in Saudi after fighting for two years to recover his passport and salary dues. He couldnt pay for his dialysis as his medical insurance had expired and he couldnt return home. He had been working for the company for 23 years. According to the Hindustan Times, Thousands of Indian workers have lost their jobs due to slowdown in Saudi economy, caused by both low oil prices and cut in spending by the government.

Women and night shifts

Three months after the Karnataka government removed restrictions on women working night shifts in any sector, the Ladies Finger reportsthat a joint legislature panel thought it important to recommend on 27th March, that IT and BT companies in Bangalore should avoid assigning night shifts to women. Because evidently they cant stick to decisions. According to the report, this benevolent recommendation is in the interest of womens safety and privacy needs. Hilariously, Congress MLA NA Harris added that IT and BT companies should hire moremen.

Unions to organise against Cognizant layoffs

Three sectoral unions in the IT sector have announced a joint campaign against the proposed mass layoff of employees by Cognizant Technologies Solutions. NDLF (New Democratic Labour Front), FITE (Forum for IT Employees) and KPF (Knowledge Professionals Forum) have issued a common statementurging employees not to accept forced resignations while demanding that the company invest in re-skilling employees. Earlier in 2016, NDLF, through a court case, had won a favourable clarification by Tamil Nadu government, that declared that all industrial and labour laws appliedto the IT Sector. In that event, workers will be able to challenge the proposed layoffs as an industrial dispute under the Industrial Disputes Act.

Tamil Nadu farmers agitation hydrocarbons and droughts

Farmers from Neduvasal and adjoining villages of Pudukottai district in Tamil Nadu are protestingagainst the proposed Hydrocarbon extraction projects in the region. In February 2017, protests had erupted in the area against the extraction of hydrocarbon which was suspendedafter 22 days with assurances from state government and central ministersthat the project will not be approved without local consent. A detailed article on the issues raised by the farmers and the environmental concerns was published in The Wire.

However, on 27th March, the Union Government approved the project, awarding contracts to GEM laboratories to begin work. The farmers have formed a protest committeeand have begun their protests.

The protests by Tamil Nadu farmers in New Delhi continued into its third weekat Jantar Mantar. Rahul Gandhi, who participated in their protests, demanded that the Prime Minister show respect to the farmers and concede their demands.

Updates on the Maruti Verdict: Solidarity and Support Continues for the Incarcerated Workers

As we mentioned last week, demonstrations marking Bhagat Singhs martyrdom anniversary became sites of protest against the recent verdict in the Maruti riots case. In Delhi, workers took out a massive rallyin support of the convicted and imprisoned workers. They demanded an independent judicial probeinto the events of July 18th. In Chennai, in a rally held by AICCTU, the workers demanded the immediate dismissal of the false cases foisted againstthe workers. An international day of protesthas been called for by Maruti Workers Unions and supporting organisations on the 4th and 5th of April 2017.

Current workers of Maruti Suzuki raised over 9 lakhsfor the wedding of the sister of a jailed worker. They also volunteered to help the family in organising the wedding. Unfortunately, the worker was denied parole for even a few hoursto take part in the wedding.

Wage agreement at Tata Motors, Pune

Tata Motors concluded a long pending wage agreement with the workers of their Pune plant introducing a performance-based variable pay scheme. The agreement would enhance the fixed pay of workers by around Rs. 8500/- over 3 years. 10% of the wages of the workers will be linked to performance by the workers. While a number of business newspapers have hailed this as a landmarkagreement that would improve industrial relations, experience suggests a mixed outcome, with workers having to bear the risks of business downturns. The wage agreement, that comes after 19 months of negotiation, is being implemented with retrospective effect.

In a related development, workers and management of Tata Motors plant at Sanand, Gujarat, remained at loggerheadsover their wage agreement. The workers, who had gone on symbolic protests in the past month, have been demanding wage hike to reflect the raising costs and a wage agreement for the next three years. The negotiations are being mediated by the labour conciliation officer. Reports from the management seem to imply that they intend to finalise an agreement on the lines of the Pune agreement.

Other News

GDP Grows But Job Security Falls: Only 16% Indians Earn Regular Wage: An excellent article about the casual work and who does it.

The Kashmir Reader reportsthat, At least 30,000 teachers appointed under central sponsored scheme, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) during last ten years remain unpaid for last six to seven months. Despite being permanent employees, their salary gets delayed and they have to sell possessions in order to survive.

In an incident similar to the two deaths at Anna University in Chenna last year, 5 workers asphyxiatedat an aqua food processing plant in Andhra Pradesh. They were cleaning a tank used to store chemicals.

Meanwhile in UP, in a speech delivered on March 26th, CM Adityanath warnedthat the state government will not tolerate any laxity in implementation of the government schemes. Officers who are willing to work 18-20 hours daily can continue with the government or else they are free to leave.

This week also saw municipal sanitation workers protest in Khammam, Andhra Pradesh seeking a hike in their wages and in Chennaiagainst termination of services and demanding induction into permanent staff rolls.

Cab drivers in Karnataka are set to release their own cab aggregator app that will have a fixed rate, and a fleet of about 50,000 cabs. The minimum rate is Rs.12/km for a small car, which drivers say will be a relief from the unrealistically low rates they get paid through Ola or Uber.

The organisers of the Anganwadi workers who were protesting in Karnataka last week have been booked for causing major traffic disruptions and violating permit conditions.

An all-female folk quartet in China named Jiu Ye write for and about migrant workers. The musicians have themselves been migrant workers, and continue to work their jobs while they play for little or no money.

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The Life of Labour: Protests Against Cognizant Layoffs, Wage Agreement at Tata Motors - The Wire

by Murzban Jal

The following paper emerged from a seminar on Pluralism and the Crisis of Identity organised by Zaheen Ali and Surendra Jondhale at the Mumbai University on March 12 and 13, 2017. The author writes: I am thankful to them for inspiring me to write this piece.

Bourgeois society continuously brings forth the Jew from its own entrails.

Karl Marx

There is no Negro problem in the United States.

There is only a white problem.

Richard Wright

It is not the Jewish character that provokes anti-Semitism but, rather it is the anti-Semite who creates the Jew.

Jean-Paul Sartre

One should know one thing as a fact: global totalitarian governments cannot be wished away, especially not by wishful thinking. And most certainly those cannot be wished away by the liberal narrative that is constructed to counter it. Authoritarianism is to stay in the world determined by late imperialism in perma-nent crisis. And the quicker one recognises it, the better.

One thing that could be said is that it is not authoritarianism that is a problem. It is liberalism. And this is because authoritarianism is not a problem, it is a reality. It is liberalism that is a problem and it is liberalism that is actually fueling authoritarianism. One forgets what Lenin said about the liberals, namely, that they are civilized hyenas whetting their teeth on Asia.1 And thus what is liberalism? Liberalism and liberal science are nothing but (to follow the revolutionary repertoire) the defence of wage slavery.2 One imagined that it was the liberal discourse of representative government, bourgeois freedom of the press, bourgeois legislation, bourgeois liberty and equality that would serve as the messianic end of history and the triumph of the last manthe theme best made famous by Francis Fukuyama. True, a certain sort of end did come. And so did this last man come. But one found that this last man was not the smooth- speaking and suave liberal. Instead one found the fascist.

The age of triumphant authoritarianism and the emergence of a violent Right-wing narrative throughout the world, including in India, have consequently brought in new concepts: need of a new tolerance, multiculturalism without clashes, free choice, crisis of pluralism, etc. It is then said that to counter the politics of identity, one needs to recreate the ethics and memory of liberalism. Liberalism becomes the new emancipator. One needs an Indian Hillary Clinton to be emancipated from a Hindutva Donald Trump. In this narrative one forgets that Clinton is Trump with a human/humanitarian face.

What is locked in the ideological cranium and unfortunate Faustian breast of this New Narrative are the two souls that have been haunting contemporary civilised world. These are: liberalism/totalitarianism, democracy/fascism, free speech/censorship, tolerance/intolerance, peace/war, non-violence/violence. Little does one recognise that these binaries are false. Instead of analysing the entire body of contemporary society, one is forced to analyse the two parts of the Faustian soul, not knowing that souls have never existed. One is then, like Goethes Faust, forced into the capitalist hell.

Once upon a time throughout the world it was said that the good Doctor Jekyll ruled. Now it is MrHyde ruling. Doctor Jekyll and his band of liberal followers claim that MrHyde are intolerant. Little does one understand that the good Doctor Jekyll and MrHyde are one and the same person. What does this mean? That liberalism and fascism, free speech and censorship, tolerance and intolerance, peace and war, non-violence and violence are one and the same? How, so one may ask, is this possible?

The problem is that concepts like liberalism remain ethereal, un-thought of. Or if thought of, liberalism remains half-thought. Liberalism then becomes like the good god who created the world, the god that is eternally good. But little does one understand that gods are Janus faced and along with the good god, stands the wrathful godthe god that is not good, but powerful enough to doubt the very existence of this liberal god himself. The liberal god is dead. And we do not need Nietzsches Zarathustra to tell us.

With the death of this liberal god, the fascist god is born. Fascism is thus this angry god. And late capitalism in permanent crisis is fascinated with angry gods. One prefers angry gods to polite ones. Anger and intolerance are commodities that are very saleable.

What liberalism did was it never wanted to talk of the political economy of this tolerance debate. It never wanted to know why the gods are on the rampage attacking seminars, declaring a great part of the Indian population as traitors and anti-nationals. Instead of claiming that the gods are angry because global accumulation of capital necessities this awful and greatly unjust anger, it talks of multiculturalism and the crisis of identity.

The idea of pluralism and the crisis of identity is tied down to the question of history and political economy. Both these are themselves tied down to the question of the nation-state, and tied to this question is the question whether nation-states are inevitable, or in contrast, whether these have been forced by colonialism onto the greater part of the world. Consequently to the question of pluralism and the question of identity is tied the question of history. Is history thus to be understood as a unilinear type of progress (from the so-called primitive commu-nism via the slave-feudal-capitalist that finally and most miraculously culminates into socia-lism), or is there a different type of history that one needs to reconstructa history that is mulilinear and democratic?

So how does one refigure scientific discourse such that a truly democratic society can be possible? Should one move in the arena of traditional philosophy and thus merely analyse what identity, difference and pluralism mean, or is it necessary to transcend the entire repertoire of philosophy? Should then one involve what Marx one said: To involve a transcendence (Aufhebung) of philosophy by involving a realisation (Verwirklichung) of it?3 And to which new site do we go? Which New Continent of Knowledge would one discover such that the false consciousness (tolerance in the age of the dictatorship of finance capital) of the earlier liberal repertoire is critiqued in its revolutionary perspective?

One way is to follow Marx who had said that there is only one sciencethe science of history.4 It is to this New Science that we turn our attention to. What are the contours of this New Science? They are humanism and naturalism. What we find is that this science has to be understood as a human natural science5 which involves the humanisation and naturalisation of society itself. What one needs to recognise that the dimension of the human condition is to be understoodas humanism and historicism (as Antonio Gramsci pointed out)the human condition in its concrete dialectical and historical materialist context. Marxs words to his daughters Jenny and Laura in 1865 ring out: Nihil humani a me alienum puto (Nothing human is alien to me).

The problem is that we have all forgotten this human condition in its proper dialectical and historical materialist context. Fascism along with liberalism and the transcendental memory of tolerance rides on the backs of this forgetfulness of the human condition.

Post-Enlightenment Culture as the Psychotic Culture Industry

Slavoj Zizek quite often chides culture theorists for fetishising culture by recalling the old fascist statement made fashionable by Goebbels: When I hear of culture, I turn for my gun.6 Culture theorists, in attempting to inverse economic reductionism thought that they were trying to bring in the studies of culture, which vulgar materialism had exiled as a mere reflection of a hidden economic base. But in inverting a fallacy, they were recreating another fallacy.

At this time we must say that there are four distinct methods of understanding what culture means.

1. Culture as a whole way of life and common resource of meaning (to borrow expressions of Raymond Williams). Here one also includes mind-sets, sets of values, realm of literature and the arts (the so-called high culture), also spelt out as refinement.

2. Culture as dieBildung, a theme derived from the European Enlightenment, most clearly in Hegels Phenomenology of Mind. Culture here is meant as cultivating human sensibilities and the acquisition of the knowledge of the true, the good and the beautiful. Along with these ideas is intrinsically tied the question of human freedom. Thus when one talks of culture, one does not move to ones gun in horrible fright. Here culture as cultivating humanity is not mere petty bourgeois cultivating, but is the cultivating of the desire for revolution. Rebellion is then related to this idea of culture.

3. The regression of culture from die Bildung to the emergence of the culture industrywhere shiny white teeth (as Theodor Adorno pointed out) matter more than humanity. In fact it is shiny white teeth and even more shiny white skin that matter the most when culture as Bildung moves into the state of regression. In this mode of regression, one also moves into the state of repression that Freud placed at the centre of his scientific study. In this domain of culture as culture industry, one also negates the old bourgeois idea of high culture as the Concert Hall idea of culture or even the Museum Definition of Culture where culture is understood as the collections of exotic objects. Culture is here commoditised, where the complete destruction of critical thinking and conse-quently the misuse and abuse of reason is placed at its epicentre. The use of reason then becomes the abuse of reason.

4. Culture as cultural nationalism. One now moves from the site of culture as commodity to culture as racial and theological supremacy. The spectaclisation of culture (that we borrow from Walter Benjamin) and the production of what we call after Fredric Jameson as the hysterical sublime become the two important motifs of cultural nationa-lism. Its leitmotiv is the devaluation of the idea of culture as resistance. Cultural nationalism is the epitome of the post-Enlightenment project where psychosis and mass hysteria replace the use of reason.

It is to this idea of reason (Vernunftor the Hegelian idea of reason as the dialectical struggle of freedom) that we need to turn to and not to questions of pluralism and multiculturalism. And with this new idea of reason as freedom where one understands the synthesis of German classical philosophy, French socialism and English political economy. And at the doorsteps of this triad that one cultivates a certain form of disdain that Marx and Engels talked of in the Manifesto of the Communist Party. Consider these immortal words:

The Communists disdain (my emphasisM.J.) to conceal their views and aims. They openly declare that their ends can be attained only by the forcible overthrow of all existing social conditions. Let the ruling classes tremble at a Communistic revolution. The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains. They have a world to win.7

Note alongside the word disdain that the word fear is used. However this must be put in the proper context of the Manifesto where Marx and Engels chide the forces of Old Europe for calling the insurrectionist proletariat as a ghost, some sort of evil, a spectre haunting the good Christian world. What we also learn is that in this chiding, or to be precise manu-facturing of nursery tales (Mrchen) that the revolutionary proletariat is an evil ghost, that all European Powers acknowledge commu-nism as a Power (Macht).8 And it is to this Macht that we now need to turn to:

We have no compassion and we ask no compassion from you. When our turn comes, we shall not make excuses for the terror. But the royal terrorists, the terrorists by the grace of God and the law, are in practice brutal, disdainful, and mean, in theory cowardly, secretive, and deceitful, and in both respects disreputable.9

To recall Zizeks recalling of Robespierre:

Virtue without Terror is impotent, while Terror without Virtue is lethal, striking blindly.10

A Different Practice of Philosophy

What one needs to recognise is that one needs a different practice of philosophy (to recall Louis Althussers celebrated term from his Lenin and Philosophy).11 in order to understand the crisis of the liberal project. Philosophy as a radical philosophising enterprise, where analysis of the human condition is considered the essence of philosophical reasoning, refuses to be contem-plative, refuses to mutter angry phrases against the dominant conservative order.

Instead as analysis, it turns to the very problemthe liberal consensus. What is the essence of this liberal consensus? The essence is that one cannot revolt. That is why I am saying that what we need to recover is not the liberal order in order to counter the intolerant order. The liberal order has what become Jean-Paul Sartre called the practico-inert. The practico-inert crushes all desires of revolution.

It is imperative to understand that the liberal order now no longer stands as the ideas of representative government, freedom of the press, legislation, liberty and equality. Instead it stands only as an alienated superstructural gaze, gazing at the violent order of things without having any capacity to do anything. Not only is at an alienated gaze, it is also some form of violent masturbation. Liberalism then is understood as masturbation in the time of violent fascism. It becomes like traditional philosophy that Marx had critiqued:

Philosophy and the study of the actual world have the same relation to one another as onanism and sexual love. Saint Sancho (our liberal, my insertionM.J.), who in spite of his absence of thoughtwhich we have noted by us patiently and by him emphaticallyremains within the world of pure thoughts, can, of course, save himself from it only by means of a moral postulate, the postulate of thought-lessness. He is a bourgeois who saves himself in the face of commerce by the banqueroute cochenne (swinish bankruptcy), whereby, of course, he becomes not a proletarian, but an impecu-nious, bankrupt bourgeois. He does not become a man of the world, but a bankrupt philosopher without thoughts.12

Have we not become this bankrupt philoso-pher-bourgeois/bourgeois-philosopher without thoughts gazing at fascism that is creating global carnage?

It is for this reason that we critique liberalism. But there is another reason: liberalism is nothing but fascism without a gun, just as fascism is liberalism with a gun. We should have known this. Anyone who has read Robert Louis Stevensons classic will know that Dr Jekyll and MrHyde are the same person.

The question remains: Who is the fascist and who is the liberal? Is Hillary Clinton, Trump with a human face; or is Trump, Hillary with a humanitarian face? Would Trump and his whole gang of global authoritarianisms be serving humanity, by openly declaring that capitalism is essentially violent, racist, xeno-phobic and inward looking?

It is for this dialectical and historical reason that we look forward to the rule of authoritarian governments. For they signify the last stage of capitalism. So what do we learn from this? We learn that authoritarianism is the last stage of capitalism, just as we learn from Lenin that imperialism is the last stage of capitalism.

Capitalism exists in its terminal stage. And neither the sweet lies of liberalism, nor the hate-mongering of the fascists can save it.

Endnotes

1. V.I. Lenin, The Historical Destiny of Karl Marx in Lenin, Selected Works (Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1977, p. 19).

2. V.I. Lenin, The Three Sources and Three Component Parts of Marxism in Marx, Engels, Selected Works (Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1975), p. 23.

3. Karl Marx, Introduction. A Contribution to the Critique of Hegels Philosophy of Right in Karl Marx, Early Writings (London: Penguin Books, 1992), p. 257.

4. Karl Marx, Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844 (Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1982), 98. Karl Marx and Frederick Engels, The German Ideology (Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1976), 34, n.

5. Karl Marx, Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844, p. 99.

6. Slavoj Zizek, Tolerance as an Ideological Category in Critical Inquiry, Autumn, 2007.

7. Karl Marx and Frederic Engels, Manifesto of the Communist Party in Marx, Engels, Selected Works (Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1975), p. 63.

8. Ibid., p. 35. See also Karl Marx, Manifest der Kommunistischen Partei in Die Frhschriften (Berlin: Dietz Verlag 2004), p. 594.

9. Karl Marx, The Final Issue of Neue Rheinische Zeitung (18 May 1849) in Marx-Engels, Gesamtausgabe, Vol. VI, p. 503.

10. Slavoj Zizek, Introduction. Robespierre, or the Divine Violence of Terror in Maximilen Robespierre, Virtue and Terror (London: Verso, 2007), p. XXV.

11. Louis Althusser, Lenin and Philosophy (Delhi: Aakar Books, 2006), p. 17

12. Karl Marx and Frederick Engels, Manifesto of the Communist Party, pp. 253-4.

Prof Murzban Jal is the Director, Centre for Educational Studies, Indian Institute of Education, Pune.

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Did Someone Say Liberalism? - Mainstream

Tipping is racist.

That's the argument being forwarded by some liberal activists and politicians as a way of stigmatizing laws that exempt certain professions, mainly restaurant workers, from the federal minimum wage.

However, there is little historical evidence for the argument.

"I don't think tipping was particularly racial It was more a matter of customers showing off their wealth," said Gerald Friedman, professor of economics and history at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and associate editor of the scholarly journal Labor History.

Nevertheless, activists pushing for a higher minimum wage have pushed the argument now that their movement has gained ground. Nineteen states are set to phase in higher minimum rates this year, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. That has brought more attention to the exception for tipped employees in most minimum wage laws. Those employees, mostly in the service industry, can legally be paid less the standard minimum on the grounds that their tips make up for it.

Minimum wage fans have argued that that's not merely wrong but a vestige of 19th racism. Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges said in a February op-ed that "tipping as an institution is rooted in the history of slavery." Hodges has advocated that her city adopt a $15 minimum wage that would not allow exceptions for tips.

"The notion of tipping is not native to America, but was imported from Europe just as slaves were emancipated. At that time, restaurants and railroads insisted that the now-former slaves who were working in those industries were not worthy of earning a wage and should subsist on the kindness of customers' tips alone," she said.

Shake Shack franchise founder Danny Meyer, who has prohibited tipping at his restaurants, made a similar claim in a January speech at New York's Manhattanville College.

Meyer said the restaurant and railroad industries "successfully petitioned the U.S. government to make a dispensation for our industries that we would not pay our servers" and have them rely on gratuities instead. "And no surprise, most of the people who were working in service professional jobs and restaurants and in Pullman train cars were African-American."

Also from the Washington Examiner

Alexandra Billings said they need to "take courage" and talk to people who don't agree with their point of view.

04/02/17 1:30 AM

It is not clear what action Meyer was referring to. The first federal minimum wage law, which included an exception for tipped employees, passed in 1938 as part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal.

Hodges and Meyer were both apparently citing claims of the Restaurant Opportunities Center United, a labor-backed nonprofit activist group that has been a major advocate of the $15 minimum wage.

ROC United co-director Saru Jayaraman said in a 2015 op-ed for the New York Times that the minimum wage had an "ugly, racialized history." She said that 19th century restaurant owners and railway companies fought legal efforts to outlaw tipping "especially since many of their workers were African-American, in many cases freed slaves whom these employers resented having to pay at all."

She repeated the comments in 2016 interviews with outlets such as the Washington Post and Mother Jones and in a recent book. Her claims have been advanced in places such as the comedy site Cracked.com.

ROC United did not respond to a request from the Washington Examiner to provide historical citations for the claim or to identify any economists or historians who could back it up.

Also from the Washington Examiner

Expert says misunderstanding of the word, "could lead people to have unrealistic expectations."

04/02/17 12:01 AM

Friedman says it is true that the practice of tipping was largely imported from Europe. It began with wealthy Americans imitating aristocrats who they met while traveling abroad. There is little evidence that employers first promoted tipping, he says.

There was a racial aspect to tipping in the U.S. in that the recipients of tips were typically people in service-related jobs, where African-Americans often found employment. However, women and the Irish were also common in those professions, Friedman noted.

"It was probably more of a gender thing than a racial thing," he said.

It wasn't until the end of the 19th century that some employers began to realize that tipping worked to their advantage because it allowed them to pay lower wages. Railroads in particular took advantage of that. But by that point tipping had become common, Friedman said.

"The companies were happy to take advantage of it once they saw what was going on," Friedman said.

Tipping was controversial throughout the 19th century. Many people resented having to pay tips, viewing it as a form of extortion. Others viewed it as a degrading practice that was "un-American."

Many companies actively discouraged workers from requesting tips, viewing it as a nuisance to customers, notes Tipping: American Social History of Gratuities by Kerry Segrave. The 1998 book appears to be one of few historical studies done on the issue.

"Prominently displayed on the Cunard line ships was a notice asking that any demands from (stewards) for tips be reported to management 'so the matter can be dealt with,'" Segrave writes.

The New York Central Railroad issued similar instructions starting in the 1890s. New York City movie ushers went on strike in 1919 because management discouraged customers from tipping.

Many states in the early 20th century passed laws that prohibited tipping altogether. Those included southern states such as Mississippi in 1912, Arkansas in 1913 and South Carolina, Tennessee and Georgia in 1915. In 1910, Washington D.C., made it illegal for the city's waiters to accept tips.

"The fact that the states made the practice illegal weighs against the race argument," Friedman noted. The laws were eventually repealed because of widespread noncompliance.

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Minimum wage activists call tipping racist - Washington Examiner

March 31, 2017 by Andrew Crane Credit: University of Bath

Theresa May's historic signing of Article 50 looks set to be her lasting legacy as Prime Minister. Unfortunately, it is also likely to derail her other signature policy on modern slavery. Our research suggests Brexit could increase modern slavery in the UK.

The signing of Article 50 marks the point of no return for the UK's exit from the European Union. Although she inherited the Brexit decision, Theresa May's political legacy will stand and fall on how successfully she manages to steer the country through the turmoil.

Without a doubt, Article 50 will bring untold changes to the political, economic and cultural landscape of the country. One change that will certainly be high on May's radar is its effect on modern slavery in the UK.

Modern slavery has been May's signature policy since she was Home Secretary. She introduced the landmark Modern Slavery Act in 2015 prior to becoming PM, and has since continued to champion the cause. In announcing a ramping up of Government efforts to improve enforcement last year, she identified modern slavery as "the great human rights issue of our time" and heralded the UK as leading the way in defeating it.

While the Act is far from perfect, it has certainly focused increased attention and resources on modern slavery. Prosecution levels also appear to be improving. This was most recently illustrated by the sentencing of the Markowski brothers to six years in prison for trafficking and then exploiting 18 people from Poland, who they brought to the UK to work in a Sports Direct warehouse.

The problem is, despite the advances gradually being made in addressing modern slavery in the UK, the signing of Article 50 is likely to worsen the problem. As May is probably acutely aware (but is so far not saying), Brexit may well undermine the progress she has made to date. It is a case of two steps forward, one step back.

According to research I conducted with an international team of colleagues looking at forced labour in the UK (initially funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation), four main problems are evident.

1. Brexit will increase the demand for modern slavery

The Brexit vote has already created uncertainty among the legions of poorly paid, but legal migrant workers from Eastern Europe that are employed in the UK's low wage economy. Signing Article 50 may ultimately help stem the flow of workers into the country as intended. But who is going to replace them? Domestic workers will fill some of the gaps but companies are unlikely to be willing to improve wages and conditions to attract them in sufficient numbers. So there will be greater opportunities for unscrupulous middlemen to traffic in workers from overseas or prey on vulnerable UK citizens to force them into exploitative situations. Forced labour flourishes where local, low skilled labour is in short supply.

2. Brexit will facilitate exploitation

Modern slavery often occurs when workers do not fully understand their legal rights and status. Our research uncovered various examples of migrant workers being exploited because those exploiting them misled them into the belief that they were working illegally. Perpetrators would also wait for or deliberately engineer changes in workers' immigration status in order to exploit them. The point is that Brexit will create a period of increased uncertainty around legal status that will be a significant boon to exploiters.

3. Brexit will increase the supply of modern slavery

Modern slavery occurs when people are vulnerable, either because of legal status, poverty, mental health, or drug and alcohol problems. In our research, the most common victims were those from countries such as Romania and Bulgaria who, at the time, were able to enter the country but were unable to work legally. This vulnerability was exploited by perpetrators who were able to coerce them into working in highly exploitative situations. The more the UK puts up barriers to people entering the country legally, the higher the risk of traffickers bringing them in illegally and pushing them into debt. Once workers are in debt, perpetrators are adept at escalating their indebtedness and creating situations of debt bondage.

4. Brexit will turn victims into criminals

Our research found that many victims of forced labour in the UK were prosecuted under immigration offences rather than being identified as victims. The Modern Slavery Act has improved this situation but as the UK moves towards Brexit, the chances of this happening will increase because policing around immigration status is likely to intensify far more than around modern slavery.

May claims that under her leadership, "Britain will once again lead the way in defeating modern slavery". But the bottom line is that by triggering Brexit, May will be left trying to solve a problem that she is helping create.

Explore further: We need to change what people think modern slavery is

What images does the word "slavery" conjure up in your mind? Men in iron collars shipped from Africa on huge wooden galleons, forced to work the fields under the whip of the master? Perhaps you think that slavery is an old ...

A powerful new partnership to super-charge global research on modern slavery and human trafficking has been announced by the University of Nottingham and the Walk Free Foundation.

A new report launched today (Wednesday, 1 March) by the University's Centre for the Study of International Slavery (CSIS) assesses an innovative solution to the problem of long-term care for survivors of modern slavery in ...

The first evidence of widespread 'modern slavery' in England for refugees and asylum seekers is revealed in a study published today.

Victims of servitude, forced labour and forced marriage will be able to obtain financial compensation more easily due to the passing of an amendment to federal crimes legislation in the senate on Wednesday, according to the ...

The Brexit vote and the election of US President Donald Trump have made many Britons anxious, according to a poll released on Tuesday and mental health charities dealing with the fallout.

A new article co-authored by experts at the University of Huddersfield bolsters a theory that the spread of agriculture throughout Europe followed migration into the Mediterranean from the Near East more than 13,000 years ...

A 40,000 year old piece of raven bone that was etched with near-even lines suggests Neanderthals had an eye for esthetics, French researchers said Wednesday.

A team of researchers, including UNM Honors College Professor Jason R. Moore, has found a new species of tyrannosaur dinosaurthe most popular of the prehistoric creatures.

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Research suggests Brexit likely to increase modern slavery in the UK - Phys.Org

By Harry A. Shamir

Consumerism is more than just an economic philosophy, it is socio-economic. Even societal matters must conform to the laws of nature. Including the one that proclaims it is the customer's satisfaction that determines the value of any policy. Especially when the societal matters affect the number of people available for work, and for national security.

Our USA has always been a country of immigrants. Volunteering immigrants or forced immigrants, we have always desired and needed immigrants. The forcing thing we've learned to rue. Bullying is never the smart long-term approach to resolving any problem.

One hundred and sixty years after Emancipation we still suffer from the societal trauma caused by the utterly failed policy of slavism. Slavery was the wrong idea even in Roman times regardless of how grand the empire became - since it delayed by 2000 years the advent of the Industrial Revolution (IR). Remember that the IR came about since slave labor could not achieve the production needs required by the markets, not in quantity, not in complexity, and certainly not in quality. But it took a long time to discover this truth.

Today straight out slavery is out of fashion other than in the sex trade, and quite illegal. Wage slavism is not. Pay a person too little to live satisfactorily, and yes the employer saves some money, but in the end pays a lot more since a satisfied worker is far more productive. Wage slavism is very counterproductive, for the same reasons slavery itself is: it reduces to practically nil the buying power of the underpaid and sales suffer. Without buying power transactions are few and of low quality. The economy of the country suffers, and the employers' businesses stagnate. To compensate, munitions are manufactured and wars waged. One idiocy cascading after another.

The solution is actually to provide more satisfaction to the whole workforce, giving them the wherewithal to have many transactions all increasing yet more their levels of satisfaction from their acquisitions, creating a positive feedback spiral for once. One way to provide general greater satisfaction to the whole population is healthcare provided free by the government, thus freeing personal funds for other spending. Free to the individual, but paid for by the taxes levied upon the increasing profits created by the positive economic spiral.

Of course it is a law of nature that the economic equilibrium continues to exist, with crises avertable by policies obeying the laws of nature recognized in consumerism.

One such law is fundamental to capitalism: where there is demand and given time, competing agents will offer to supply. The "agents" are by definition, entrepreneurs. Conservative Adam Smith ideology lauds and applauds their initiatives. As does consumerism.

Except when warped by narrow interests and/or irrelevant ones.

One such irrelevant interest is the desire of sections of the populace to maintain the importance of their own ethnic group. Irrelevant since this is not the American Way, as we are all immigrants other than the Native Americans, today a minority about whom our conscience is paining. Which ethnic groups are making the most noise I shall not list here, the reader knows who they are. A warping interest is the attitude of that sector of our socio-political makeup, that fears an increase in the number of immigrating people who will vote for political parties representing the economic interests of the lower income communities. (How's that for evading names?). Often the narrow self interest and the warping interests coincide but not always.

Interestingly, we have in the US a strange situation. We have socio-economic groups that suffer from non-employment, that would be affected negatively from the immigration of working age people from Hispanic America. They would compete for the jobs at the lowest pay scale. Yet not all these groups are reacting the same way. The following are generalities: the African-American group is not opposed to Hispanic immigration, documented or not, and the European-American blue collar workers both employed and not, are opposed. The opposition has taken the form of a vote to instate President Trump, who promised to keep Hispanics out by virtue of the Wall.

Could it be that the Euro-Americans are reacting to the galloping change toward no need for more workers by dint of automation, by attempting to reduce competition for the few jobs that will be left? Could it be that the African-Americans are realizing the very same phenomenon and reacting by wishing to increase the number of people present whose jobs are displaced by automation? Why should they? One answer is that by having more voters included in the economy as non-wages-earning consumers, the political and economic strength of this group increases.

In agricultural work that includes picking strawberries and milking cows. Wisconsin and California producers rely on immigrants since no American is willing to work that hard for the low pay offered. Were the pay higher, it would lead to automation and fewer jobs, but product prices would rise, as capital is expensive. Ridding America of immigrants, especially willing wage-slavery undocumented workers, is an invitation to increase the population not-needed-for-employment. Perhaps that is a good thing in the long run.

These days, this period of the 21st Cent. is transitional, from industry and commerce that was labor intensive at semi-skilled levels, to a much reduced need for such workers in the mass production industries. Even people such asAndy Stern, former President of the Service Employees International Union, have recognized the fundamental facts cascading from automation, and argues that "American workers will need a universal basic income to survive in this post-work economy.

Of course that means all Americans deprived of employment opportunity, precisely what Consumerism In The Age Of Overpopulation describes, and whose problems it offers to solve.

Increased employment in maintenance occupations and boutique mfg, will absorb some of the unemployed, but far from all. Featherbedding will absorb some (dole by another name and tactic). Most will require the government provided "universal basic income."

The sooner the system will recognize and act upon these truths, the less we shall see our society and civilization torn apart by attempts to resolve our unemployment problems by resorting to war and munitions building. Do we really want to sacrifice our youth on the altar of partial-job-security?

As for immigrants, yes vet but not too long, and do recognize that it is the very people that overcame huge odds to make it here, that are the very ones we want to keep. The law is in the way? It iswe that create the law! Is current law counterproductive? Let's change it! That's politics. That's democracy.

Part 2 of this chapter uses consumerism to analyze the impact of immigration on the drugs scourge. Keep your attention on these pages sharp.

The author may contacted via Fencing_SaEF1@verizon.net, or from https://igg.me/at/TrExS.

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TOUCHE: Consumerism on immigration - Wicked Local Plympton - Wicked Local Plympton

By Peter Nightingale on March 28, 2017

A recent press release from the World Meteorological Organization, Climate breaks multiple records in 2016, with global impacts included some very bad news for planet Earth.

At least three times so far this winter, the Arctic has witnessed the Polar equivalent of a heatwave, with powerful Atlantic storms driving an influx of warm, moist air. This meant that at the height of the Arctic winter and the sea ice refreezing period, there were days which were actually close to melting point. Antarctic sea ice has also been at a record low, in contrast to the trend in recent years.

Those who destroy the cryosphere risk thrusting the global climate into the abyss.

The ruling elites and their enablers of the political class, past and present, are guilty of crimes for which legal scholars are only now beginning to create the legal framework. I suggest reckless endangerment of life on Earth.

I accuse those who engage in the continued expansion of the fossil fuel infrastructure of reckless endangerment of life on Earth.

I accuse those who perpetuate our system of wage slavery, environmental racism, exploitation, and inequality of reckless endangerment of life on Earth. They make a just transition impossible.

We need name no names; we know who you are and so do you.

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Reckless endangerment of life on Earth - RI Future