Rather than creating safety, our punishment system is an active source of harm for many. And the systems violence extends far beyond what makes the news. Black, disabled, and sex-working women and trans people are especially vulnerable to police violence and often face sexual assault at the hands of the police. Disabled people are estimated to make up as many as half of those murdered by police. Between 70 and 100 million Americans have a criminal record, and one year in prison takes two years off ones life expectancy. Further, there are more than 10 million arrests per year, and a misdemeanor arrestthe standard encounter between police and civilianscan upend a life, leading to lasting exclusions from employment and other opportunities.

So while some ask how we will be safe without police and prisons, abolitionists point out that most people cannot be safe so long as they exist. For this reason, abolitionists are, at heart, buildersbuilders of community safety, well-being, accountability, and harm prevention. As abolitionist Ruth Wilson Gilmore has said, abolition is about presencethe presence of life-giving systems that allow people to thrive and be well, that prevent harm and better equip communities to address harm when it occurs.

To be clear, building toward a world without prisons is different than believing in a world without harm. As one contributor to the prisoner-run publication In the Belly writes, abolitionists are not promising a world without harm. People hurt each other, and that wont change. But why do we all just accept that the appropriate response to harm is more harm, administered by the state?

Instead, when presented with harm, abolitionists reject the false choice of putting someone in a cage or doing nothing. In fact, abolitionists are actively building various models of preventing and responding to harm, focusing in particular on community accountability processes that, as our #8ToAbolition cocreators recently explained, seek safety for those harmed, changed behaviors for those who caused harm, and a transformation of the conditions that allowed the harm to occur.

Countless groups across the country are doing the work of safety building. In Washington D.C., the Collective Action for Safe Spaces (CASS) trains community members to intervene in gendered public harassment and, through the Rethink Masculinity program, helps men to identify harmful behaviors and build relationships of accountability and care. Likewise, the Bay Area Transformative Justice Collective holds regular labs to help community members build skills around transformative justice and ending child sexual abuse. Across the country, violence interrupters work to halt lethal violence before it happens by resolving conflicts and building healthy relationships between community members. And beyond programming centered on ending violence, groups focusing on mutual aid are doing the work of abolition by meeting community members needs and building local models of self-sufficiency. This is a small sliver of the work being done by abolitionists.

Ultimately, abolitionists do not have all the answersbut we are committed to finding them together. Prison is a one-size-fits-all solution, sending people to cages for violating a criminal law. Abolition requires just the opposite, recognizing the complexity of harm and the indispensability of humanity.

Ultimately, abolition is a verb, a practice. It consists of the actions we take to build safety and to tear down harmful institutions. People do abolition every day when they connect to their community, learn how to take accountability, and foster communal responsibility for preventing and responding to harm.

Abolition is within our reach; its up to us to build it.

Reiana Sultan and Micah Herskind are 2 of the 10 cocreators of the #8ToAbolition campaign.

Link:

What Is Abolition, And Why Do We Need It? - Vogue

After the leftist progressives have tackled police and government, they will come for the family. The idea is that having family, growing up with two parents, is privileged, and that this creates inequity. Any inequity must be crushed.

Bethany Letiecq, professor in the Human Development and Family Science program at George Mason University called for the abolishing of family, and this concept has been increasingly growing in academic circles. There have been several recent articles calling for abolishing of the family, including in Open Democracy, Outline, and even The Nation. Letiecq, the author of a paper "Surfacing Family Privilege and Supremacy in Family Science: Toward Justice for All," coined the concept of Family privilege. These arguments are all rhetorically similar and are couched in ideas of "justice."

"Family privilege recognizes that some families are the beneficiaries of unearned or unacknowledged advantages... our society values and privileges heterosexual marriages over other relationships, including couples who live together, raise children together, and choose not to marry," Letiecq argued. "Marriage as an institution is patriarchal and hegemonic at its base," she wrote, designed by men to have a hold of power. Needless to mention, that is ahistorical and complete nonsense. And yet, it is increasingly echoed by others.

"There is no doubt that the most effective way to mitigate privilege would be to eliminate the family. Without parents, grandparents, siblings, or any kin relations, we could become equal." The group Black Lives Matters acknowledges their official position stating that they intend to "disrupt the Western-prescribed nuclear family structure requirement by supporting each other as extended families and 'villages' that collectively care for one another, especially our children."

Feminist lobby group Family History Project argues for abolition of traditional families by claiming that conservatives have weaponized traditional marriage. Earlier, a few years back, the best-selling new academic book in feminism was "Full Surrogacy Now: Feminism Against Family," by British-American feminist Sophie Lewis, who argued that "gestation" is work, like any other work and therefore there should be no kinship attached to it, and women should simply be treating childbirth as labour.

"Abortion is a form of necessary violence. We need to move away from arguments designed to placate our enemies, and defend abortion as a right to stop doing gestational work," Lewis claimed, adding that that is the only way for women to reclaim their power, and abolish the traditional family.

Lewis proudly claims to be a Marxist, and wants to abolish not just family but capitalism as well. Coming from a broken and abusive family herself (obviously) she believes that family is the root to all evil, including "discomfort, coercion, molestation, abuse, humiliation, depression, battery, murder, mutilation, loneliness, blackmail, exhaustion, psychosis, gender-straitjacketing, racial programming, and embourgeoisement." Others are not as out and proud, which makes them even more dangerous.

In the traditional western understanding of Marxism, the focus is almost always on class conflict and violent revolution. However, that is also a narrow understanding. A much deeper aspect is often overlooked; Marxists primarily hate family and nations, the units of society, which are the greatest hindrance to true egalitarianism, alongside faith, and flag. In the 1920s, Marxist Alexandra Kollontai outlined how family is viewed under Marxism.

"The family breaks down as more and more women go out to work," Kollontai wrote, adding that "The old family structure is now merely a hindrance. Communism liberates worm from her domestic slavery and makes her life richer and happier." You see, under communism and true egalitarianism, there wont be any personal belonging and attachments, and that includes children.

"The woman who takes up the struggle for the liberation of the working class must learn to understand that there is no more room for the old proprietary attitude which says: 'These are my children, I owe them all my maternal solicitude and affection; those are your children, they are no concern of mine and I dont care if they go hungry and coldI have no time for other children.' The worker-mother must learn not to differentiate between yours and mine; she must remember that there are only our children, the children of Russias communist workers."

Any religion gives a sense of forgiveness and commonality, and any flag gives a sense of nationalism and unity, and family is the ultimate symbol of aspiration. But all these supersedes class consciousness, and naturally are detrimental to an egalitarian flattening social system. The original Leninists wanted this egalitarianism under a single totalitarian state. But thats just one school of Marxism.

The post-60s new left, and feminism, for example, were much stealthier, and far more destructive. Lewis and Letiecq are not the first ones calling for abolition of family. In the late 60s, feminist philosopher Kate Millet urged her followers to understand that the only way to gain true equality is by destroying heterosexual family, by means of pornography, prostitution and promiscuity. In The Dialectic of Sex, book written by American feminist Shulamith Firestone in 1970, childbearing was considered a form of labour performed by women (workers) who were legally subordinate to their husbands (the owners of the means of production).

In the 1968s Paris revolt, the Comit d'action pdrastique rvolutionnaire, and the Front homosexuel d'action rvolutionnaire (clue is in the name) desired "true Marxist egalitarianism" which will destroy the masculine foundations of both capitalism and Soviet style Leninism. Small traditional heterosexual family, as always is the primary threat to leftist state ideology and totalitarianism as child bearing is simply considered labour supply for the society.

A few years back, one would have laughed at such utopian notions. The argument goes like this, the Marxist argument for abolition of the family has been there forever, so what is the threat now? The difference is this: In the 60s and 70s, the majority of the west had a semblance of religious and traditional morality. The universities were not radical hubs churning out revolutionaries funded by tax dollars.

The media, while biased, were not openly contemptuous and destructive in its agenda. And the conservatives were not afraid to legislate, and didnt leave it all to the judiciary, with defeats after defeats in every social issue. As Bethany Mandel wrote in 2017, the argument of slippery slope is very real. It was easy to laugh it all off in 2010 or even in 2015, not so much in 2020. The last remnants of the traditional family is the next and final battleground, one that cannot be lost at any cost, if one wants to preserve society as we know it.

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The next step in the culture war is the assault on the traditional family - The Post Millennial

About Central St Martins

Finn crawford radical temperance 1a

Project titleRadical Temperance

Project descriptionRadical Temperance looks at alternatives to the City of Londons hyper-capitalism and its self-serving use of technology. Responding to the studios agenda of Designing Politics, Finn critically reflects on existing models of social relationships and access to technology. He introduces the idea of temperance to oppose the technological arms race and growing replacement of human social roles by machines, drawing lessons from Icarus and his fall. In response to the studios brief, Imagining Collaborative Futures, Finn gives agency to a radical arts movement of digital secessionists who use arts and crafts to create a virtual world that uses technology to realise a socialist agenda of democratic open access. The proposal develops an open, public building, featuring a theatre arena with reverberating corridors for a political dialogue.

Tutor citationFinns project is exemplary in the way it deals with complex urban, conceptual, political, and architectural settings. Finn re-imagines how the relations between the production of culture and public and political performances in the city could be pushed through the intersection of sophisticated interactions between spatial, material, and virtual realms. The proposal is a layering of spaces and cultural references to create a multiplicity of experiences, interpretations, and meanings. Dejan Mrdja and Albane Duvillier

1.closertohome lois innes

Project titleCloser to Home

Project descriptionCloser to Home challenges the unethical prison system and sets out an alternative future for the young people of colour that are disproportionately incarcerated in this country. Prisons and the way that we think about them have changed little in the past 200 years. Despite overwhelming evidence that points to their inefficacy, our prison population in the UK continues to soar and these repressive environments increasingly serve more to stimulate criminal behaviour, than to act as its deterrent. Taking Londons oldest Category C prison, HMP Brixton, Closer to Home speculates on an alternative and largely de-carcerated penal model. It begins within the community, examining the environmental circumstances that first influence criminal behaviour, and the existing socio- economic capital that offenders can positively tap into. It proposes a policy re-shift, redirecting criminal justice expenditure and commitment to social infrastructure projects instead. This proposition is developed through a series of interventions and imagined stories, using the appropriately fantastical format of the graphic novel to express complex ideas, and to provoke more imaginative possibilities for our changing times.

Tutor citationLois developed her project from the perspective of a young, black architect born and bred in London. Personal insights pertinent in the context of the Black Lives Matter movement have motivated and informed the work. Combining her writing talent with design practice, Lois has chosen the role of narrator and developed a graphic novel advocating the abolition of prisons in favour of community-based forms of education and training. Loiss strong and independent voice finds expression in a powerful graphic novel that translates her social critique into an architecture of care. Ulrike Steven

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AJ Student Prize 2020: University of the Arts London - Architects Journal

Her powerful voice resonates across the empty theatre. Actress and director Fotini Banou is preparing for a performance, even though we dont know when well reopen, she says. In mid-March, the Greek government decided to close cinemas, theatres, museums, archaeological sites, schools, universities and essentially all common spaces (except for supermarkets, pharmacies, hospitals and doctors offices) in order to stem the spread of the coronavirus in the country which has seen 4,279 cases to date, including 203 deaths. A scenario similar to the one that occurred in Italy would be a disaster for Greece, where the health system has suffered under ten years of austerity policies.

Since 18 May, the Acropolis of Athens has once again been accessible to the public, as are all of the countrys archaeological sites and museums. Open-air cinemas have been open to the public since June. Indoor theatres, however, remain closed. Banou and her colleague Dimitris Alexakis are currently waiting for official authorisation to reopen the curtains at TV Control Center (also known as KET), a theatre for artistic, social and political experimentation they founded together in the Kypseli district in the heart of Athens.

While their main source of income relies on revenue sharing between artists, a sustainable cash flow through perseverance, as they deal with the crisis provoked by COVID-19 they cannot count on the help of a state with, according to Banou, no tradition of helping independent artists and public debt that amounts to roughly 180 per cent of GDP. Since opening their theatre in 2012, Alexakis and Banou have received no financial support from the successive governments of the last few years. Though the culture minister Lina Mendoni insisted in late May that there would be no summer 2020 without culture, the decisions made mostly in favour of historical heritage sites and public institutions have left those outside of official circles to fend for themselves.

Kypseli has seen no lack of initiatives. Since early May, Alexakis and Banou have joined weekly meetings organised by about 50 culture workers from the neighbourhood.

Everyone shares their fears and struggles. Some independent venues, especially those with rent to pay, might have to close their doors. What artists are experiencing with this pandemic is a sort of collapse, says Alexakis. Its a drama, a tragedy even, says Banou.

In this tragedy, an alliance between artists was born and Kypseli now teems with cultural and community spaces. In the 1950s, the neighbourhood was home to writers, intellectuals, actors and painters. It was a chic neighbourhood with a vibrant nightlife. In the 1980s and 1990s, people from Africa and Asia settled there, making it one of the most multicultural parts of the city today. Unlike other areas of the capital, rents in Kypseli remain affordable and the neighbourhood, free of Airbnb rentals, is once again attracting gallery owners, painters, actors and musicians looking for spaces to create. It is this social stratification that brought artists together around a question after the lockdown: What do the inhabitants here need? How can we reopen spaces in a way that responds to community needs?

In response to the reality of the neighbourhood, where men and women bending over to dig through rubbish is a daily sight, artists began to reach out to various initiatives, including feminist NGOs, African womens associations, a detox centre and migrant communities. Their aim was to strengthen local associations rather than making demands of the state. For example, Alexakis joined the food aid collective Khora, which prepares and distributes up to 200 free meals a day. In this spirit of solidarity, musicians, theatre and visual artists lend each other spaces and even materials to create, join forces with detox centres to set up ceramic workshops, and with NGOs in the neighbourhood to put on writing workshops.

Communication is now possible, says Meteoritis, who is involved in this mutual aid movement. The closure of his bookstore O Meteoritis in March came as a hard blow. The space with its pastel green storefront is located in the heart of Kypseli on the pedestrian street Fokionos Negri, which was emptied of foot traffic for two months. In late June, Benot partnered with the local organisation El Sistema Greece to invite local musicians to play in front of his bookstore. The open-air concert breathed new life into the neighbourhood and drew passers-by into his shop, where buyers have become increasingly rare.

Further up the street, not far from the bookstore, three young painters have repurposed the studio where they previously hosted educational activities for children before the lockdown. During the quarantine, Katerina Charou, Vincent Meyrignac and Olga Souri asked themselves what they could do to help once the absence of the local government became clear. We had no contact with the town council during the lockdown. We simply never saw them. After that, a sense of urgency was born, which led to the meetings between artists and the need to mobilise, explains Meyrignac. If the state doesnt want to invest in the neighbourhoods cultural life, and in contemporary culture in general, we choose to rely on local initiatives, he adds. In May, all three joined the Kypseli network and are currently preparing to open their exhibition space Noucmas to organisations with the aim of giving free courses and showing films. We keep in touch with whats going on in the community. Creating, reflecting, and continuing to communicate with the people of the neighbourhood by opening our workshop to them is as necessary for living as the most basic needs, says Charou.

While these initiatives are reshaping Kypseli to the point that life here is being reorganised, as Meteoritis explains in front of a row of books, the entire culture sector is mobilising across Greece. The national movement Support Art Workers, which for the last two months has been bringing together people working in the culture sector, has given independent artists an opportunity to make their voices heard. Culture isnt something abstract, there are people behind it. Thats what we are trying to show with this campaign which works to educate trade unions on the precarious conditions faced by artists, explains Konstantina Karameri, cultural project manager.

Karameri has participated in several demonstrations with the 24,000 others members of the movement since May. We are asking the government for a support plan for the next six months and the regularisation of royalty payments and the status of independent artists. According to the artists, the government has yet to respond to demands relating to the most urgent needs and many of the difficulties related to workers rights existed before the quarantine. This has been a problem with the system for years. A significant percentage of people in the culture sector work without a contract and are paid under the table. The result is that they are not registered anywhere and have to do jobs on the side to survive, she explains. When youre not registered you have no rights. We need regulation. If you dont work for public institutions like the national theatre, for example, you dont receive any aid from the state.

Independent venues also suffer from a lack of visibility. There isnt a small theatre company that didnt start off in a space like ours. Its integral to the culture and provides a base for the more commercial theatres, says Alexakis of KET. But at an official level, no one talks about them.

Our culture minister Lina Mendoni doesnt seem to be aware of this and is proposing solutions that completely neglect our [non-institutional artists and culture workers] needs. At the same time, she spends her time being photographed in front of the Acropolis.

According to a study by Eurostat on the share of government expenditures on cultural services in 2018, Greece is at the bottom of the list with the lowest percentage of 0.3 per cent out of an average of 1 per cent in the European Union. The 2020 official national budget dedicated to culture amounts to 334.2 million and to date includes no emergency plan in response to the health crisis that has impacted the entire sector.

While various groups, including the Greek Federation of Performing Arts ( ), which comprises 43 unions, are trying to open a dialogue with the state, the government of Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced in mid-June the abolition of arts and music education in middle and high schools. Cultural events remain banned and indoor theatres closed. At the same time, Greece has allowed international flights since 15 June in anticipation of foreign visitors. We are going to welcome thousands of tourists but the venues will remain closed. Wheres the balance? asks Karameri.

With a tourist sector that contributes more than 20 per cent to GDP, opening up the country is essential to avoiding another economic catastrophe. Theyre still looking for a magic bullet for recovery but the recovery never comes and the economy is still just as fragile and burdened by debt, says Alexakis, who sees an urgent need to unite the struggle of cultural workers with that of health workers, migrants and climate activists. To do this, they will have to continue to make their voices heard in the coming months. If there is a true general mobilisation, artists will be able to make themselves visible, says political scientist Gerassimos Moschonas.

While taking action, artists are working hard to keep cultural life alive. Alexakis and Banou remain hopeful that their play about the Jewish community of Janina will take place and that Fotini will be able to perform the traditional songs of Epirus in front of an audience. When and under what conditions remains to be seen.

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Artists in Greece are fighting for their rights and accessible culture for all - Equal Times

Emancipation Day commemorates the Abolition of Slavery Act, which became law on August 1, 1834. This act freed more than 800,000 people of African descent throughout the British Empire. In honour of Emancipation Day the Afro-Canadian Caribbean Association of Hamilton is staging We Are Planted Here: Commemorating Emancipation Day. The keynote speaker is Natasha Henry, President, Ontario Black History Society. The event will include an Arts and Culture Celebration featuring local artists including Juno and Grammy Award Winning Recording Artist Liberty Silver, Spoken Word Artists Klyde Broox and Shiloh Wong, African Dancer Aisha Nicholson and Drummer Jean-Assaoma.

Keynote Speaker Natasha Henry is the president of the Ontario Black History Society. Natasha is an historian and has been an educator for 19 years. She is an award-winning author and an award-winning curriculum consultant, focusing on Black Canadian experiences. Henry is currently completing a PhD in History at York University, researching the enslavement of Africans in early Ontario. Through her various professional and community roles, Henrys work is grounded in her commitment to research, collect, preserve and disseminate the histories of Black Canadians.

Musical Guest Liberty Silver is a multiple Juno and Grammy Award winning recording artist. She was originally discovered on the US based TV show Star Search hosted by Ed McMahon. Liberty Silver was the first Black woman to receive a Juno award. Her Grammy Award (collaboration) was in association with her performance on the single Tears Are Not Enough, which raised funds for relief of the famine in Ethiopia. She has performed for and shared the stage with prominent and influential figures and recorded songs and performed on studio recordings that have sold millions of units worldwide including multi-platinum dance tracks. She has performed thousands of shows, including some of the most celebrated musical events from across the globe.

To Register visit the event Website: https://accahamilton.com/we-are-planted/

Twitter: @accaham Instagram: @accahamilton

Facebook Event Page: https://www.facebook.com/events/766715170732023/

Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/we-are-planted-here-commemorating-emancipation-day-virtual-event-tickets-114226829522

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Gala Emancipation Day event planned - The Bay Observer - Providing a Fresh Perspective for Hamilton and Burlington

The kerfuffle between the city of Marlboro and Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, over the John Brown bell reminds us that the past sometimes doesnt stay in the past. John Brown was hanged on Dec. 2, 1859, an event that led to the Civil War and created modern journalism.

As I hope you know, John Brown was a radical abolitionist who in 1859 led an invading force into Virginia in the hope of setting off a slave insurrection. With the country teetering on the edge of civil war, all eyes were on the little town of Harpers Ferry. Browns foray was quickly put down by an army unit headed by Col. Robert E. Lee and the ensuing trial was covered by reporters from publications far and wide. It was the first media extravaganza in U.S. history.

Harper's Weekly sent a reporter named David Huntington Strother, whose graphic account and drawing (under the pseudonym Porte Crayon) of the actual hanging proved too much for the Harper's editors and lay unpublished for years. Strother was an enterprising newsman and sketch artist. As the body hung in the gibbet, he mounted the scaffold and lifted the masking cap so that he could do a quick sketch of the old revolutionists face in death.

John Brown was a notorious figure in the America of the 1850s, beloved by some abolitionists in the North, untrusted by others and universally hated in the South. His strident call for armed intervention to overthrow slavery did much to ready the nation for Civil War.

Brown was born in Torrington, Connecticut, in 1800 and led a peripatetic existence for most of his mature life. Early on he developed an overweening hatred of slavery and spent his life railing against it and plotting campaigns to get rid of it. He joined various abolition groups but considered them generally as ineffective. He went around the country with his message of violence and won support from some, including Henry David Thoreau and Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Worcesters radical minister. After the execution, Thoreau wrote a widely distributed article that compared Browns death with that of Jesus Christ. Others considered him an agent of the devil.

He polarized the nation. Many thought him a madman, especially after the so-called Pottawatomie massacre where Brown and three of his sons slaughtered a settler family from the South. That was during the Bleeding Kansas period when the new territory of Kansas was opened up for settlement. Under the Compromise of 1850, the new state could choose to be either slave or free, depending on the wishes of the settlers at the time. That set off a land rush from the North and the South with much violence.

All that was but a prelude to Browns grand scheme to overthrow slavery by a military attack. He imagined that such a dramatic move would inspire millions of slaves to join the rebellion and force Southern slave owners to capitulate. It did not work out that way. After months of speeches and fundraising, including a visit to Worcester, he assembled a motley group and attacked the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, on Oct. 16, 1859. After the hapless venture was put down. Brown was transferred to Charlestown, then in Virginia, later in West Virginia.

That led to an orgy of publicity. Magazines and newspapers from all over the country sent reporters and sketch artists to chronicle the events. Strothers reports and sketches were avidly featured by Harpers Weekly. Harpers great rival, Leslies Illustrated Newspaper, followed suit, using the work of Alfred Bergson, a talented artist. Other publications used telegraphed accounts from the scene. The trial and the conviction were followed far and wide. But Strothers description and drawings of the actual hanging were too much for the editors at Harper's and they were unpublished for 90 years.

At eleven oclock escorted by a strong column of soldiers the Prisoner entered the field. He was seated in a furniture wagon on his coffin with his arms tied down above the elbows, leaving his forearms free ... He wore the seedy and dilapidated dress that he had at Harpers Ferry ... As he neared the gibbet his face wore a grim and grisly smirk In this position he stood for five minutes or more while the troops that composed the escort were wheeling into the positions assigned them ... The Sheriff struck the rope a sharp blow with a hatchet, the platform fell with a crash a few convulsive struggles & a human soul had gone to judgment.

That was not the end of Strothers report. According to Andrew Hunter, reporter for the New Orleans Times-Democrat, While the body was hanging, Strother slipped up, raised the cap from his face and took a sketch of him hanging. An enterprising newsman indeed.

Strother, a staunch Union man, served with distinction in the Union army and ended the war a Brevet Brigadier General. After the war he resumed his career at Harpers.

The bell, seized by Union soldiers from Massachusetts after the Civil War, was brought to Marlboro, where it has been ever since, despite periodic demands from Harpers Ferry that it be returned. Should it be? Thats not for me to say.

Originally posted here:

Al Southwick: John Brown and his bell in Marlboro - Worcester Telegram

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With the announcement of 'unlock-2' (phase-2 of openingof lockdown), except for few areas, industries or establishmentshave gradually started inching towards operations of businesseswith the limited workforce or resources to not only sustain thebusinesses but also to contribute to the economic growth ofIndia.

Since COVID-19 has led to slow down of economic growth in India,besides the federal (central) government, state governments havealso commenced introducing various measures by way of amendinglabour and employment statutes, such as granting exemption inworking hours and raising the statutory thresholds, amongst others,to ease the financial burden on employers

The subject "labour" falls under the concurrent listof the Constitution of India, thus giving power to both federal andstate governments to make laws regulating labour and employment,with the exception of certain matters being reserved for thefederal government. State governments generally provide foramendment, exemptions, or additions concerning the subject"labour" either by introducing a subject specific statuterelevant for such a state or by amending the federal statutes,within the rights available to states, which requires assent of theHon'ble President of India.

State governments derive power from Article 2131 ofthe Constitution of India which allows amendments by way ofordinances in the statutes (when not exercising the powers givenwithin the statutes). In the last few weeks, state governments,exercising the powers under Article 213, have passed certainordinances to carry out major amendments in federal laws, whichwould come into force as soon as the ordinances receivePresident's Assent. Simultaneously, exercising the rightsavailable within the statutes, various state governments havebrought in several changes, which are relevant for the specificperiod.

A. UTTAR PRADESH

The Uttar Pradesh ("UP") Governmenton May 08, 2020 has introduced the Uttar Pradesh TemporaryExemption from Certain Labour Laws Ordinance, 2020, applicable toall factories and establishments engaged in manufacturing processand intends to exempt the said factories and manufacturingestablishments from the operation of certain labour laws for atemporary period of 3 years subject to the conditions,amongst others, mentioned therein:

B. MADHYA PRADESH

The Madhya Pradesh ("MP") Governmenton May 06, 2020 also has introduced the Madhya Pradesh Labour Laws(Amendment) Ordinance, 2020, which aims at amending two state laws,the Madhya Pradesh Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act,1961 and the Madhya Pradesh Shram Kalyan Nidhi Adhiniyam, 1982.

The Madhya Pradesh Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act,1961 is applicable to all the undertakings2 having 50employees3. The MP Government by way of an amendmentintends to increase the applicability threshold to 100 or moreemployees.

The Madhya Pradesh Shram Kalyan Nidhi Adhiniyam, 1982 providesfor constitution of a labour welfare fund that will finance theactivities related to welfare of labour. Under the said Act, anemployer is required to deposit contribution on behalf of bothemployer and employee4 at the rate of INR 1(employee's contribution) and INR 3 (employer'scontribution) every 6 months. The proposed ordinance intends toamend the said Act by including a new section to allow theGovernment of MP to exempt any establishment or class ofestablishments from the provisions of the said Act through anotification.

C. GOA

Vide the Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) (GoaAmendment) Ordinance, 2020 introduced on June 26, 2020, the StateGovernment of Goa intends to amend the threshold of employees from205 workmen to 50 as prescribed under Section 1(4)6 of the Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition)Act, 1970 (the "CLRA Act") forapplicability of CLRA Act in the State of Goa and, also incorporatea new section with respect to compounding of offences, dependingupon number of workmen employed in the establishment and number oftimes such an offence is committed.

Further, vide the Industrial Disputes (Goa Amendment) Ordinance,2020 introduced on June 26, 2020, the State Government of Goa wantsto amend the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 (the "IDAct"), as in force in the state of Goa. The StateGovernment of Goa intends to lower the limitation period from 3years to 1 year under Section 2 A (3)7 of the IDAct.

Further, a new sub-section (4) in Section 2A is proposed to beinserted which makes it mandatory for raising the dispute beforeconciliation officer within 1 year from the date of discharge,dismissal, retrenchment or termination in order to qualify as an"industrial dispute" under the ID Act.

The Government of Goa intends to amend the threshold regardingapplicability from 100 to 300 workmen, as provided in Section25K8 (Chapter V-B) of the ID Act (special provisionsrelating to lay-off, retrenchment and closure in certainestablishments). In case of retrenchment (under Section25F9 and Section 25N of the ID Act) or closure of anundertaking (under Section 25O of the ID Act), compensation to bepaid to workmen is sought to be enhanced from 15 days' averagepay to 45 days' average pay, for every completed year ofservice part in excess of 6 months.

Further a new Section 31 A relating to compounding of offencesis proposed to be incorporated for any offence punishable underSections 25Q, 25R, 25U, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30A and subsections (1) and(2) of Section 31.

D. ASSAM

The Factories (Assam Amendment) Ordinance, 2020 introduced onJune 30, 2020 aims at amending the threshold of employees in thedefinition of factory10, as defined in the FactoriesAct, 1948, from 10 workers (where manufacturing process is with theaid of power) to 20 and from 20 workers (where manufacturingprocess is without the aid of power) to 40.

E. BIHAR

The Factories (Bihar Amendment) Ordinance, 2020 introduced onJuly 02, 2020, aims at amending the threshold of employees in thedefinition of factory, as defined in the Factories Act, 1948, from10 workers (where manufacturing process is with the aid of power)to 20 and from 20 workers (where manufacturing process is withoutthe aid of power) to 40.

Vide the Industrial Disputes (Bihar Amendment) Ordinance, 2020promulgated on July 02, 2020, the state government intends to amendthe threshold regarding applicability from 100 to 300 workmen, asprovided in Section 25K (Chapter-V-B) of the ID Act (specialprovisions relating to lay-off, retrenchment and closure in certainestablishments).

The Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) (Bihar Amendment)Ordinance, 2020 promulgated on July 02, 2020 proposes to amend thethreshold regarding applicability of statute from 20 to 50 workmen,as prescribed under Section 1 (4) of the CLRA Act.

F. GUJARAT

The Factories (Gujarat Amendment) Ordinance, 2020 introduced onJuly 02, 2020 aims at amending the threshold of employees in thedefinition of factory, as defined in the Factories Act, 1948, from10 workers (where manufacturing process is with the aid of power)to 20 and from 20 workers (where manufacturing process is withoutthe aid of power) to 40.

Further, the State Government of Gujarat also intends toincorporate a new section with respect to compounding of offences,which may be specified by the State Government of Gujarat by way ofnotification.

The Industrial Disputes (Gujarat Amendment) Ordinance, 2020introduced on July 03, 2020 aims to amend the threshold regardingapplicability from 100 to 300 workmen, as provided in Section 25K(Chapter-V-B) of the ID Act (special provisions relating tolay-off, retrenchment and closure in certain establishments).

Under Section 25N of the ID Act, the option to pay the workmanwages in lieu of 3 months' notice is sought to be done awaywith. Further, in case of a retrenchment (under Section 25N of theID Act) or closure of an undertaking (under Section 25O of the IDAct), an amount equivalent to the workman's last threemonths' average pay has been added in the last of eachsection.

The Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Gujarat AmendmentOrdinance, 2020 introduced on July 20, 2020 aims at amending thethreshold regarding applicability of statute from 20 workers to 50,as prescribed under Section 1 (4) of the CLRA Act.

G. HIMACHAL PRADESH

The Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Himachal PradeshAmendment Ordinance, 2020 introduced on July 09, 2020 aims atamending the threshold regarding applicability of statute from 20workers to 30, as prescribed under Section 1 (4) of the CLRAAct.

The Industrial Disputes (Himachal Pradesh Amendment) Ordinance,2020 promulgated on July 09, 2020 aims to amend the thresholdregarding applicability from 100 to 200 workmen, as provided inSection 25K (Chapter-V-B) of the ID Act (special provisionsrelating to lay-off, retrenchment and closure in certainestablishments). Further, in case of retrenchment (under Section25F of the ID Act), the compensation is sought to be increased from15 days' average pay to 60 days' average pay for everycompleted year of continuous service or part thereof more than 6months. Further, the provisions governing prohibition of strikesand lock-outs under Section 2211 is sought to be madeapplicable to public utility and non-public utility services.

The Factories (Himachal Pradesh Amendment) Ordinance, 2020promulgated on July 09, 2020 aims at amending the threshold ofemployees in the definition of factory, as defined in the FactoriesAct, 1948, from 10 workers (where manufacturing process is with theaid of power) to 20 and from 20 workers (where manufacturingprocess is without the aid of power) to 40.

Further, the State Government of Himachal Pradesh also intendsto incorporate a new section with respect to compounding ofoffences which are punishable with fine only and committed for thefirst time.

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Footnotes

1. 213. Power of Governor to promulgateOrdinances during recess of Legislature

(1) If at any time, except when theLegislative Assembly of a State is in session, or where there is aLegislative Council in a State, except when both Houses of theLegislature are in session, the Governor is satisfied thatcircumstances exist which render it necessary for him to takeimmediate action, he may promulgate such Ordinance as thecircumstances appear to him to require: Provided that the Governorshall not, without instructions from the President, promulgate anysuch Ordinance if

(a) a Bill containing the same provisionswould under this Constitution have required the previous sanctionof the President for the introduction thereof into the Legislature;or

(b) he would have deemed it necessary toreserve a Bill containing the same provisions for the considerationof the President; or

(c) an Act of the Legislature of theState containing the same provisions would under this Constitutionhave been invalid unless, having been reserved for theconsideration of the President, it had received the assent of thePresident

(2) An Ordinance promulgated under thisarticle shall have the same force and effect as an Act ofLegislature of the State assented to by the Governor, but everysuch Ordinance

(a) shall be laid before the legislativeAssembly of the State, or where there is a Legislative Council inthe State, before both the House, and shall cease to operate at theexpiration of six weeks from the reassembly of the Legislature, orif before the expiration of that period a resolution disapprovingit is passed by the Legislative Assembly and agreed to by theLegislative Council, if any, upon the passing of the resolution or,as the case may be, on the resolution being agreed to by theCouncil; and

(b) may be withdrawn at any time by theGovernor Explanation Where the Houses of the Legislature of a Statehaving a Legislative Council are summoned to reassemble ondifferent dates, the period of six weeks shall be reckoned from thelater of those dates for the purposes of this clause

(3) If and so far as an Ordinance underthis article makes any provision which would not be valid ifenacted in an Act of the legislature of the State assented to bythe Governor, it shall be void: Provided that, for the purposes ofthe provisions of this Constitution relating to the effect of anAct of the Legislature of a State which is repugnant to an Act ofParliament or an existing law with respect to a matter enumeratedin the Concurrent List, an Ordinance promulgated under this articlein the Concurrent List, an Ordinance promulgated under this articlein pursuance of instructions from the President shall be deemed tobe an Act of the Legislature of the State which has been reservedfor the consideration of the president and assented to by him.

2. The Madhya Pradesh IndustrialRelations Act, 1960 defines 'Undertaking' as a concern inany industry. 'Industry' means:

(a) any business, trade, manufacture orundertaking or calling of employers.

(b) any calling, service, employment,handicraft, or industrial occupation or avocation of employees, andincludes-

(i) agriculture and agricultureoperations;

(ii) any branch of an industry or groupof industries which the State Government may by notification,declare to be an industry for the purposes of this Act.

3.The Madhya Pradesh Industrial RelationsAct, 1960 defines 'employee' as any person employed in anyindustry to do any skilled, unskilled, manual, supervisory,technical or clerical work for hire or reward, whether the terms ofemployment be express or implied, and includes

(a) a person employed by a contractor todo any work for him in the execution of a contract with an employerwithin the meaning of sub-clause(e) of clause 14, and

(b) an apprentice other than anapprentice under sub-clause (v) but does not include anyperson-

(i) who is subject to the Army Act, 1950,or the Air Force Act, 1950 or the Navy Discipline Act 1957; or

(ii) who is employed in the PoliceService or as an officer or other employee of prison; or

(iii) who is employed mainly in amanagerial capacity; or

(iv) who being employed in a supervisorycapacity draws wages exceeding one thousand and six hundred rupeesper mensum; or

(v) who is a craftsman or an apprenticeworking under a scheme approved by the State Government on thecondition that such craftsman or apprentice shall not be deemed tobe an employee under this Act;

Explanation An employee who hasbeen dismissed, discharged or retrenched from employment or whoseemployment has been otherwise terminated shall, in respect ofmatters relating to such dismissal. discharge, retrenchment ortermination, be deemed etc., be an employee for the purposes ofthis Act.

4. Under Section 2(3),"employee" means any person who is employed for hire onreward to do any skilled, semi-skilled or un-skilled, manual,clerical, supervisory, or technical work in an establishment butdoes not include any person:

(a) who is employed mainly in amanagerial or administrative capacity; or

(b) who, being employed in a supervisorycapacity draws wages exceeding one thousand and six hundred rupeesper mensem or exercises, either by the nature of the dutiesattached to the office, or by reason of the powers vested in him,functions mainly of a managerial nature.

5. The Goa government had already reducedthe threshold from 20 to 10 employees for the applicability of theContract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1970 vide GazetteNotification dated April 30, 2001.

6. 1 (4) It applies -(a) to everyestablishment in which twenty or more workmen, art employed or wereemployed on any day of the preceding twelve months as contractlabour;

(b) to every contractor who employs orwho employed on any day of the preceding twelve months twenty ormore workmen. Provided that the appropriate Government may, aftergiving not less than two months' notice of its intention so todo, by notification in the Official Gazette, apply the provisionsof this Act to any establishment or contractor employing suchnumber of workmen less than twenty as may be specified in thenotification.

7. (3) The application referred to insub-section (2) shall be made to the Labour Court or Tribunalbefore the expiry of three years from the date of discharge,dismissal, retrenchment or otherwise termination of service asspecified in sub-section (1).

8. 25K. Application of Chapter V-B.- (1)The provisions of this Chapter shall apply to an industrialestablishment (not being an establishment of a seasonal characteror in which work is performed only intermittently) in which notless than 2[one hundred] workmen were employed on an average perworking day for the preceding twelve months. (2) If a questionarises whether an industrial establishment is of a seasonalcharacter or whether work is performed therein only intermittently,the decision of the appropriate Government thereon shall befinal.

9. 25F. Conditions precedent toretrenchment of workmen

No workman employed in any industry whohas been in continuous service for not less than one year under anemployer shall be retrenched by that employer until,

(a) the workman has been given onemonth's notice in writing indicating the reasons forretrenchment and the period of notice has expired, or the workmanhas been paid in lieu of such notice, wages for the period of thenotice:

(b) the workman has been paid, at thetime of retrenchment, compensation which shall be equivalent tofifteen days' average pay for every completed year ofcontinuous service or any part thereof more than six months;and

(c) notice in the prescribed manner isserved on the appropriate Government or such authority as may bespecified by the appropriate Government by notification in theOfficial Gazette.

10. (m) "factory" means anypremises including the precincts thereof-

(i) whereon ten or more workers areworking, or were working on any day of the preceding twelve months,and in any part of which a manufacturing process is being carriedon with the aid of power, or is ordinarily so carried on, or

(ii) whereon twenty or more workers areworking, or were working on any day of the preceding twelve months,and in any part of which a manufacturing process is being carriedon without the aid of power, or is ordinarily so carried on,-

but does not include a mine subject tothe operation of the Mines Act, 1952 (35 of 1952), or a mobile unitbelonging to the armed forces of the Union, a railway running shedor a hotel, restaurant or eating place.

Explanation. I--For computing the numberof workers for the purposes of this clause all the workers indifferent groups and relays in a day shall be taken intoaccount;

Explanation. II.--For the purposes ofthis clause, the mere fact that an Electronic Data Processing Unitor a Computer Unit is installed in any premises or part thereof,shall not be construed to make it a factory if no manufacturingprocess is being carried on in such premises or part thereof;

11. 22. Prohibition of strikes andlock-outs

(1) No person employed in a publicutility service shall go on strike in breach of contract,

(a) without giving to the employer noticeof strike, as herein-after provided, within six weeks beforestriking; or

(b) within fourteen days of giving suchnotice; or

(c) before the expiry of the date ofstrike specified in any such notice as aforesaid; or

(d) during the pendency of anyconciliation proceedings before a conciliation officer and sevendays after the conclusion of such proceedings.

(2) No employer carrying on any publicutility service shall lock-out any of his workmen,

(a) without giving them notice oflock-out as hereinafter provided, within six weeks before lockingout; or

(b) within fourteen days of giving suchnotice; or

(c) before the expiry of the date oflock-out specified in any such notice as aforesaid; or

(d) during the pendency of anyconciliation proceedings before a conciliation officer and sevendays after the conclusion of such proceedings.

(3) The notice of lock-out or strikeunder this section shall not be necessary where there is already inexistence a strike or, as the case may be, lock-out in the publicutility service, but the employer shall send intimation of suchlock-out or strike on the day on which it is declared, to suchauthority as may be specified by the appropriate Government eithergenerally or for a particular area or for a particular class ofpublic utility services.

(4) The notice of strike referred to insub-section (1) shall be given by such number of persons to suchperson or persons and in such manner as may be prescribed.

(5) The notice of lock-out referred to insub-section (2) shall be given in such manner as may beprescribed.

(6) If on any day an employer receivesfrom any persons employed by him any such notices as are referredto in sub-section (1) or gives to any persons employed by him anysuch notices as are referred to in sub-section (2), he shall withinfive days thereof report to the appropriate Government or to suchauthority as that Government may prescribe the number of suchnotices received or given on that day.

The content of this article is intended to provide a generalguide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be soughtabout your specific circumstances.

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Labour Laws Amendments - Initiatives By State Governments To Provide Impetus To Economic Activity - Employment and HR - India - Mondaq News Alerts

His life began in 1828 on Lile Feydeau in Nantes then an idyllic little island set in the Loire river. He was educated at a local boarding school, where his teacher told romanticised tales of her sea-captain husband, who had gone missing on a voyage 30 years earlier. According to her, he was not dead, but had been shipwrecked on a paradisiacal desert island and one day just like Robinson Crusoe he would return. The six-year-old Verne listened avidly, wide-eyed with excitement. Perhaps this was the moment when his fathers ambitions for him to become a corporate lawyer melted away and the feverish imagination that would later transform him into an adventure writer was first sparked into action.

Within five years of hearing these stories, the young Verne was ready for his own adventure. Secretly gaining employment as a cabin boy, he managed to set sail for the West Indies before his parents noticed his absence. He had set his heart on discovering buried treasure and bringing back a coral necklace for the cousin he hoped one day to marry.

In modern times, it would be inconceivable for a child to gain employment without their parents permission, but back in the 1800s, no one batted an eyelid. The young adventurer sailed as far as Paimboeuf on the southern banks of the Loire before his distraught father caught up with him. He made his son promise never to travel again, unless in his imagination. Whether or not this legend was true, for a time, Verne substituted exploration of the real world with a passion for conjuring up fiction.

Later, he reluctantly attended a Parisian law school during the maelstrom of the 1848 French Revolution. Yet Verne, it seems, was oblivious to the political upheaval surrounding Napoleons election, instead losing himself in the works of Victor Hugo. Before long, he had read Notre-Dame de Paris so many times that he could recite by heart huge chunks at a time.

Despite passing his law exams with flying colours, he shunned all expectations that he would follow in his fathers footsteps. Even when an increasingly desperate Verne Senior offered his son ownership of the familys law firm, he refused point-blank, simply quipping, literature above all else.

Verne produced a play with Alexandre Dumass son called Les Pailles Rompues, which appeared at Pariss Theatre Historique. To his fathers horror, he accepted the position of secretary at the theatre in return for a near non-existent salary and then, with 10 chums, launched the self-deprecating Onze Sans Femmes bachelors supper club. Even after his eventual marriage, Verne read, wrote and travelled voraciously.

In 1862, Verne had a literary breakthrough when Pierre-Jules Hetzel the publisher of George Sand, Balzac and Victor Hugo released his novel, Five Weeks in a Balloon. A series called the Voyages Extraordinaires followed, in which Verne revisited his fascination with adventures at sea, while outlining all the geographical, geological, physical, and astronomical knowledge amassed by modern science and recounting the history of the universe. Thanks to Vernes imagination and rigorous academic research, he realised these lofty ambitions.

He wrote novels including Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea, in which he accurately predicted the submarine before it had even been invented. He also relived childhood escape fantasies in A Captain at Fifteen, in which a teenage boy becomes the commander of a ship after its captain and crew are murdered. The ships conniving cook then lures him and a group of castaways off their route and into Africa, where he attempts to sell them into slavery.

This theme is controversial for Verne. His wealthy ancestors were leading lights in the shipbuilding industry, and therefore indirectly complicit in slave trafficking. Nantes allegedly transported more than half a million people from African slave forts to colonies in the Caribbean, to harvest sugar cane and cacao which would be transported back to France.

In sentiment at least, Verne condemned slavery, although he clashed with Hetzel when the publisher argued that Captain Nemo should be made an enemy of the slave trade. Vernes vision of Nemo was one of a vengeful scientist seeking to settle the score against the Russians who had slaughtered his family during the January Uprising. Yet profit-hungry Hetzel feared alienating his lucrative Russian audience. Hetzel also rejected Vernes thriller The Mysterious Island, but disagreements did not mar his popularity. Verne was admired by many, including Jean-Paul Sartre, and legend has it that without Verne, novels like Bram Stokers Dracula might never have existed, as his novel The Carpathian Castle sparked Stokers imagination.

Following a brief political career and assassination attempt by his mentally unwell nephew, Verne died in Amiens in 1905 from complications caused by his diabetes.

The tales of his worldwide voyages and literary successes not to mention a childhood that fuelled his love of the ocean can be found in Nantes today at the museum dedicated to him. Those interested in following in Vernes footsteps can also visit the Memorial to the Abolition of Slavery in Nantes, which documents a controversial past that both inspired the writers work and involved his ancestors. His former boarding school is now a restaurant, Bistro Regent, and there are historical associations aplenty elsewhere in the city for those adventurous enough to seek them out.

From France Today magazine

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In the Footsteps of Jules Verne in Nantes - FranceToday.com