Category Archives: Wage Slavery

Auckland Councils inspectors are being asked to take worker exploitation more seriously after liquor licences were approved for bottle store owners who had been found to be breaching employment laws.

Members of Communities Against Alcohol Harm protesting outside a liquor store in tara. Source: Local Democracy Reporting

Its modern slavery straight out.

Communities Against Alcohol Harms Grant Hewison isnt mincing his words, following news of another South Auckland liquor store being caught out for employment law breaches.

Clevedon Road Liquor store owner Satnam Singh Jador has been fined $20,000 and ordered to repay $97,361.66 to four employees for a range of breaches, including not paying the minimum wage for all the hours staff were working.

The Labour Inspectorate noted this case had all the hallmarks of exploitation, due to the workers needing the job to retain their visa status.

The Employment Relations Authority ruling is the second in South Auckland this year.

Super Liquor Papatoetoe was ordered to pay close to $50,000 for exploiting a migrant worker in February, while over the last 18 months, Thirsty Liquor East Tamaki was fined $1000 and Thirsty Liquor Wickman Way in Mngere was fined $2000, both for failing to comply with employment laws.

Communities Against Alcohol Harm regularly opposes liquor licence applications across South Auckland and Hewison says a number of liquor store applications, including for the Papatoetoe and Wickman Way stores, have been approved despite being the subject of Labour Inspectorate investigations.

He says Auckland Councils licensing inspectors need to treat worker exploitation more seriously by checking if bottle store owners have been complying with employment law.

In the case of the stores in Papatoetoe and Mngere, the licensing inspectors did not report any issues about the employment law breaches, although Labour Inspectorate investigations were underway," he says.

If someone is working exorbitant hours, not being paid fairly and being exploited, then thats modern day slavery in my book.

And given theres been so much published on how rampant employment law concerns are with bottle stores you would have thought there would be questions asked of liquor licence applicants about whether there were any negative reports about them from the Labour Inspectorate.

Auckland councillor Faanana Efeso Collins, who represents the Manukau ward, agrees that employment law breaches should be factored into licensing decisions.

If people working for liquor store owners are feeling unsafe, then someone has to step in on their behalf, especially if these owners are being exploitative, he says. This is definitely something we have to look at.

The Sale of Liquor Act is supposed to allow the community to have more say, so fuller information should be available, to give the community a much clearer picture of the type of retailer that they are.

Auckland University associate professor Christina Stringer, an expert in modern day slavery, says the issue is widespread in New Zealand.

She knows of numerous cases where employees have been required to work "very long, excessive hours without breaks, often by themselves, while being monitored by cameras.

As was the case at the Clevedon Liquor store, employers are often keeping two sets of records, with one set designed to look like they are operating legally, while a second set shows employees actual working hours, Stringer says.

In some instances employers are requiring their staff to pay part of their wages back, with threats of having their visas revoked used as a means of control.

She says Auckland Council needs to work more closely with the Labour Inspectorate teams inside the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) to curb these practices.

Many migrants are sold the dream that working in a liquor store is the pathway to residency, she says. The Labour Inspectorate is the key agency. But central government cant do this alone. Everyone has a part to play.

In a written response Auckland Councils principal specialist alcohol licensing manager, Rob Abbott, said council cannot cancel alcohol licences of stores found to be exploiting workers, as such decisions are the responsibility of the Alcohol Regulatory and Licensing Authority.

However, council alcohol licensing inspectors can apply to the authority to cancel an alcohol licence where there is evidence a licensee is breaching employment laws that warrants cancellation.

We also have the ability to consider an applicants history as an employer and take this into account when deciding whether to support or oppose the granting, or renewal, of a licence application.

MBIE says it only shares its labour inspection findings with local authorities licensing inspectors if asked, but it says recently instituted measures, such as creating a visa for migrants to switch to when they leave exploitative situations, and a dedicated helpline to report bad employers, should make it easier to combat these practices.

These offences are a case of blatant disregard for minimum employment standards, says Loua Ward, of Aucklands Labour Inspectorate.

We continue to see workers in the liquor industry who are not receiving a fair days pay for a fair days work. [But] cases of worker exploitation in New Zealand will not be tolerated.

Original post:

Liquor licences approved for Auckland bottle stores that had broken labour laws - 1News

This article was written by a member of the Party for Socialism and Liberation who participated as an election observer in the June legislative election in Mexico at the invitation of the Morena party.

Within minutes of arriving at the first polling place in the municipality of Iztacalco in Mexico City, many in line to vote immediately focused their attention on our delegation of international observers from the United States and Latin American and European countries. One voter noticed our badges issued by the National Electoral Institute (INE), and protested that our presence was an irregularity and violated the electoral process. In another moment, an elderly man from Iztacalco received us with joy, addressed the comrades who came from Bolivia and Venezuela, and exclaimed his great support for the revolutionary processes in those countries.

On one side is the Morena movement, which in 2018 took presidential power for the first time. Morena the National Regeneration Movement is the party of Mexican president Andrs Manuel Lpez Obrador, popularly referred to as AMLO. Morenas victory was a historic defeat for the neo-liberal Institutional Revolution Party (PRI) that had ruled Mexico for over 70 years, as well as the conservative National Action Party (PAN).

On the other side is the opposition. This year the PRI and PAN formed a coalition of right wing neoliberal parties to try to stop the Morena movement. Their political program is that of continuing capitalist neoliberalism of the last decades that has caused so much devastation and suffering in Mexico.

The Fourth Transformation

We were guests of Morena to observe the mid-term elections that took place on June 6. At stake were the 500 seats in the Chamber of Deputies, 15 governorships, and thousands of mayorships across the country. Morena leaders and militants on the eve of the elections emphasized repeatedly that these would be the most important elections in Mexicos history and fundamental to undertake the Fourth Transformation (4T). One of those requisites for the 4T would be a super majority of the deputies, or 333, to pass constitutional reforms.

Mexico was one of the first countries in the world to officially abolish slavery. Shortly after the famous Grito de Dolores by Father Miguel Hidalgo, the war of independence against Spain led by Afro-Mexicans Jose Maria Morelos and Vicente Guerrero proclaimed the liberation of slaves in 1821.

According to Morena leaders, the first transformation begins with the above-named war of independence in 1821. The second transformation was at the beginning of the War of Reform in 1857, culminating with the administration of Mexicos first Indigenous president, Benito Jurez. The third transformation refers to the Mexican Revolution in 1910, which put an end to the countrys dictatorship and brought about profound social reforms. That third transformation included major reforms in the 1930s such as the nationalization of Mexicos oil and other strategic industries.

The Fourth Transformation has begun many of the promises made by Obrador and Morena. Since 2018, they have managed to pass the Hydrocarbons Law to stop the further privatization of the energy sector, and to favor the state enterprise PEMEX over foreign investors. Currently the Hydrocarbons Law is held up by court and investors challenges. The minimum wage has increased by about 45%. Taxes increased for large corporations.

Obrador has implemented several laws and reforms that not only affect government representatives, but his own mandate. The presidential immunity that shielded heads of state from being tried for crimes was eliminated. And a new law was implemented on the revocation of mandate and popular consultation, which attempts to evaluate the work of the president mid-term.

Another of Morenas achievements is guaranteeing the constitutional right to a pension for all people over 68 years old. This same law also guarantees scholarships for students from low-income families from preschool through university. Finally, also included in this reform was access to free healthcare for people who do not have social security (almost half of the country). These reforms were made possible not only by AMLOs presidential triumph but also by the legislative majority they obtained in 2018.

AMLOs first act was to ensure gender parity in his cabinet by selecting an equal number of women and men for the mandate. He established daily presidential morning conferences to report on the progress of the administration and to answer questions from the press. There have been many challenges and contradictions encountered during Obradors time in office, and the economy overall remains firmly in the hands of the capitalist class, but the Fourth Transformation represents the strategic vision of the movement that swept him into office.

Iztapalapa: A utopia made reality

It was the day before the elections and our Morena comrades told us that we were going to one of the Utopas in the municipality of Iztapalapa. The trip was not long and we arrived at the town in less than 20 minutes. Upon entering the main street called Avenue San Lorenzo, our delegation immediately pulled out their cameras and cell phones to take pictures of the long string of walls that adorned the street with powerful images of women and many of Mexicos Indigenous peoples along with messages of empowerment. Another characteristic of this street was a seemingly-eternal row of light poles that were installed to illuminate the avenue. A representative of the mayors office of Iztapalapa explained to us that these streets are on several main avenues in Iztapalapa and are named Calle de mujeres libres y seguras (Street of free and safe women).

The project is part of the recovery of streets and public spaces in Iztapalapa. It was built with the approval and participation of the community. Before 2018 the street was not completely paved and poorly lit. It was known as a very dangerous street for women, who were subjected to daily harassment and violence.

Iztapalapa is an original peoples town in Mexico. The majority of Iztapalapas inhabitants are migrants from southern Mexico, such as Chiapas and Oaxaca, who migrated to Mexico City in search of work. This internal migration is the result of decades of neoliberal laws such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which has been largely responsible for the exodus.

Our tour of several streets in Iztapalapa revealed that the majority of its inhabitants were low-income workers and Mexicos poor. The town has a dense population with water supply problems and other difficulties, but the moment our transportation arrived at the parking lot of Utopa Tezontli it seemed we had been transported to a country club or private recreation area in one of Mexicos wealthiest neighborhoods. But no, Utopa Tezontli was in the heart of Iztapalapa and unlike a country club, access was completely free and open to all residents of the municipality.

The Utopas are a project of the Iztapalapa mayors office led by Mayor Clara Brugada, a Morena militant who took office in 2018. The project is central to the recovery of public spaces to provide infrastructure and higher quality services to the population. The Utopas are recreational areas that include natural grass soccer fields, a dog park, BMX tracks, Olympic swimming pools, gymnastics and dance classes, music rooms, and a theater for 400 people, among others. There are also completely free public service facilities including non-judgmental rehabilitation centers, mental health services, arts and computer workshops, senior housing, among others, completely free of charge.

Today there are eight utopias in the municipality of Iztapalapa alone, with six more under construction. The largest is 100,000 square meters. The tour of the facilities made it clear that the project has given this previously forgotten community an area where they can perform their physical activities, obtain essential resources, and explore their talents and learn. Although many of the institutional problems such as inequality and lack of water supply continue, at least the community now has a high-quality venue of their own, free of charge.

Morena: Half movement, half party

A message frequently repeated by Morena representatives during my visit was the complex identity of Morena as half movement and half party. In the book A Year of the 4T by Armando Bartra, he explains the movements desire to count not only on the popularity of AMLO in the country to advance the movement. They fear that concentrating the face of the party on AMLO at the expense of the organization itself would be a mistake that would put them in a vulnerable position.

On the second day of our journey in Mexico, I had the opportunity to attend a panel entitled Youth and Feminists. We heard talks and discussions from several young Morena leaders, most of whom were women, about how proud they were to represent the party and its mass organizations. One of these organizations is the 4T Feminist Committee. This organization led by women party militants is in charge of popularizing feminism as a fundamental part of the Fourth Transformation.

One of its main activities is community door-to-door outreach, and enforcing a requirement that all candidates and government officials affiliated with Morena commit to implement a popular feminist agenda. Many fruits of this work are already evident. Morena is the first gender parity government in the history of Mexico, and the first party with a sexual diversity secretariat.

Morena at the national level is a coalition of several political forces, mostly from the left. Morena does not present its program for Mexico as a socialist project, but rather one of opposition to the neoliberal and right-wing path that Mexico has been following for many decades now.

AMLO and Morena have also played an important role in Latin American regional politics. Since coming into power, AMLOs administration has moved away from the anti-Venezuela Lima Group and shown solidarity to Venezuela and Bolivia in particular. He refused to sign a statement by the Lima Group calling the 2018 Venezuelan presidential election of Nicols Maduro a fraud, and condemned the 2019 failed U.S.-engineered Guaid attempted coup against president Maduro. In Bolivia, he not only denounced the right-wing coup against former Bolivian president Evo Morales, but also offered him asylum saving his life and paving the way for his eventual triumphant return home.

The partial referee

On election day, we made a long tour of several polling stations in different municipalities of Mexico City. We visited four municipalities: Iztacalco, Benito Jurez, Coyoacn, and Magdalena Contreras. We observed few or no incidents in most of the polling places we visited. But in two polling places in Magdalena Contreras we did witness vote buying within 50 feet of the entrance to the polling places.

The vote buying was evident as several people after voting would walk up to individuals carrying folders and verify with what we assume was a phone photo that they voted for their candidate. Our delegation immediately informed INE representatives of the violations we observed. The INE representative said he already knew what they were doing but that it was out of his jurisdiction as long as they did it outside the polling station.

The opposition was responsible for the majority of electoral violations and irregularities such as vote buying, acarreo (practice where voters are forcibly transported or encouraged to vote for a candidate for something in return), voter suppression, and allying with criminal sectors to intimidate voters. During the electoral campaign 34 candidates were assassinated by organized crime. The crisis of mass executions and extreme violence fueled by narco-trafficking has weighed heavily on the population.

In the second polling place we visited in Iztacalco we saw a huge line that ran the length of the block. This polling station was reserved for Mexicans from other states or who are far from their home where they are registered to vote, but we met a crowd of people complaining about not being able to vote.

Although INE is an institution independent of any political party or the government in charge, Morena representatives have denounced INE as a biased arbiter. One of the goals of the AMLO administration is to reform INE.

What the results mean for Morena and Mexico

As the first preliminary results came out on election night, the right-wing corporate media immediately began to spin a narrative on the results. Morena leaders point to the disinformation campaign by the right wing and the information bias of the corporate media as the main reasons for Morena not achieving the resounding victory they were expecting. However, Morena still won most of the seats that were up for grabs in the election.

Morenas poor performance in Mexico City was the big surprise of the election. This is the first in a long time that the right wing has won in Mexico City, the epicenter of the Mexican left and the place where many progressive social changes have been achieved such as the right to abortion and respect for sexual diversity.

Morena, because of its party-movement characteristic, attracts several political forces not only from the left but also opportunistic figures from the center and even from the right. Many argue some of Morenas losses in Mexico City and the rest of the country are the fault of Mario Delgados management as president of the party. Delgado is an economist and professional politician who represents the right wing of the party.

Delgado became Morenas president at the behest of the partys leadership after a long, drawn-out power struggle. Delgado is not a beloved figure by the majority of party militants for the role he played in the passing of former president Enrique Pea Nietos privatization of the energy sector, when he still belonged to the Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD).

But the losses are also attributed to the battle over the future of Mexicos struggling petroleum industry, with the PRI/PAN/PRD opposition arguing for continuing the modernization of PEMEX through foreign investment. This helped to galvanize much of the capitals middle class to vote for the right-wing coalition.

Now that the elections are over, Morenas next task internally is one of reflection. Leaders and militants plan to demand that the partys leadership engage the mass movements where its most dedicated militants come from to change and grow the party.

Still, Morena won 12 of the 15 governorships that were at stake in these elections. With the six it already had, this gives it a majority of 18 of the 32 national governorships. There are some governorships that the opposition officially won but are being challenged. Although the right wing won 9 out of 16 municipalities and demarcations in Mexico City, at the national level Morena won 692 municipalities or mayorships compared to the 495 it won in 2018.

Although Morena lost seats in the national legislature and could not achieve a super majority of 333 deputies needed for the constitutional reforms that it is seeking, it still maintains the majority needed to pass operational reforms and the national budget.

The day after the elections and with the official results already published, the obstacles could not dampen the optimism and will to resist of the Morena comrades who accompanied us during our visit. Many of them immediately began to reflect on how they can improve their work for the people.

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Eyewitness: On the ground with militants of Mexico's Fourth... - Liberation

This article first appeared on the Cato Institute site.

When most Americans learn about the 13th Amendment in high school, the teacher will cursorily remark that "the 13th Amendment ended slavery in the United States," and move on to the 14th Amendment.

This oversimplification is a fiction. Slavery is still legal in the United States, so long as it is pursuant to a criminal conviction and if it is limited to compulsory uncompensated laborand indeed that is precisely the system America maintains today.

The 13th Amendment, as enacted, reads "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction."

Slavery is neither a cruel nor unusual punishment according to the Supreme Law of the Land, nor historically has it been considered that. In the 1700s and early 1800s, Americans viewed compulsory labor as a way to fight vagrancy and to rehabilitate such idleness.

However, the states began to understand the potential for revenue generation from prisons in the 1800scompulsory labor and the sale of prison products became a means to offset state costs. To be sure, the Virginia Supreme Court in Ruffin v. Commonwealth (1871) declared that prisoners were the "slaves of the State" within a compulsory labor system.

This "Punishments" clause allowed for the birth of the "convict-lease" system in the South after the war. Many Southern states passed anti-vagrancy "black codes," criminalizing the status of being unemployed. Citing cost reasons, states would then lease out their prisoners to private persons to work under slave-like conditions.

As Frederick Douglass noted, "companies assume charge of the convicts, work them as cheap labor and pay the states a handsome revenue for their labor. Nine[-]tenths of these convicts are Negroes."

Since the 1860s, courts have interpreted the 13th Amendment as it plainly reads. "Once individuals have been duly tried, convicted, sentenced, and imprisoned, courts will not find 13th Amendment violations where prison rules require inmates to work."

For example, in Mikeska v. Collins (1990), the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals held that "any unjustified refusal to follow the established work regime is an invitation to sanctions."

The compensation of prison labor today reflects this history. In Georgia and Texas, the maximum wage in dollars per day is $0. In Nevada, prisoners make $0.13 an hour. The average wage is between $0.93 a day and $4.93 a dayless than an hour of work at minimum wage. Conservative estimates put the value of output from prison labor at $2 billion annually.

Indeed, much like the Southern states claimed after the Civil War, "states facing growing budget deficits are increasingly turning to inmate labor to produce additional revenue, or at a minimum, offset the cost of imprisonment." "At least 37 states have legalized the contracting of prison labor by private corporations that mount their operations inside state prisons."

While amending the Constitution to fix a $2 billion a year compulsory labor industry is politically unlikely, Congress may take measures to ensure that rehabilitative compulsory labor is not uncompensated, like compelling the payment of a federal minimum wage. State legislatures also could apply minimum wage rules to prisoners.

Prisoners are often indigent upon release; allowing them to save money for their transition back to society seems only logical if the goal is the reduce recidivism. Paying prisoners fair wages allows them to afford housing and sustenance while transitioning back to being a productive member of society. Additionally, the availability of compulsory, cheap labor to private companies undercuts domestic industry itself.

America must change its practice of not compensating prisoners for their labor. While work has rehabilitative benefits, rehabilitation of the wards of the state should not convert them to the "slaves of the State." Fair wages should follow compelled work.

Randal John Meyer is a legal associate in the Cato Institute's Center for Constitutional Studies.

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Slavery Is Still Legal in the United States

With a petrified look in his eyes, the carwash worker dropped his soapy sponge and ran down the street in panic when he saw police vans surround the forecourt. The only thought in the young mans mind was to flee yet he was one of the people the officers were there to potentially rescue.

For the specialists whose job is to find, stop and prevent modern slavery, this car-wash workers reaction is a common sight when they descend on the scenes of suspected exploitation.

The uppermost worry for many potential victims is being prosecuted themselves, especially if they are an illegal immigrant and sometimes they have been indoctrinated by their bosses.

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He looked like a rabbit caught in the headlights, said Martin Plimmer, of the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA), which led Operation Bronco at a car wash in Liverpool, last Wednesday.

i joined his team on its raid after it received a tip-off about suspected exploitation of workers. The allegations included that the employees were not being paid adequately, were being controlled by their bosses and had their identification documents takenaway.

The operation, supported by police officers from Merseyside Police, culminated in three suspected victims in their late teens and twenties being safeguarded and taken to a reception centre where they are continuing to receive specialist support.

Two men a 31-year-old Iranian national and a 24-year-old Iraqi national were arrested on suspicion of committing forced or compulsory labour offences under the Modern Slavery Act. The GLAA also conducted searches of their addresses. They have since been released but remain underinvestigation.

With victims afraid to speak out, modern slavery is one of the most serious crimes but also one of the hardest to investigate. Police records revealed that the number of modern slavery offences increased by more than 50 per cent from 3,412 cases in 2018 to 5,144 cases in 2019.

This coincided with a 68 per cent increase in calls to the modern slavery helpline in the same period of time. However, this is believed to be the tip of the iceberg as many other cases go unreported.

There are myriad reasons why potential victims of modern-day slavery run as soon as they see police or members of the GLAA, explains Ian Waterfield, the organisations head of enforcement.

Victims, particularly those who havent got a regulated immigration status, are fearful of authority, he says.

They think were only interested in their immigration status. But thats not the case. First and foremost, they are victims and thats all Im interested in. We want to know their situation and how we can help them. Some of the stories we hear are truly horrendous.

The tip-off came via a call to the Modern Slavery Helpline. The people working at this car wash have no protective equipment or waterproof clothing, Waterfieldsaid.

Our intelligence shows they are working 10 to 12-hour days, seven days a week with no breaks. We think there have been at least 12 workers here at various points. If you look at the number of cars coming through and the money coming in, it doesnt add up.

After the GLAA and the police surrounded the Liverpool carwash, the teams first priority was to separate potential victims from suspected exploiters. Customers were asked to leave and the man believed to hold a supervisory role showed his anger as he was taken inside to be questioned.

One worker recounted to investigators how he had been transported to the UK in the back of a lorry, then the boot of a car, before beginning work at the Liverpool car wash.

We ask carwash workers how they were recruited, how they came to this country, what they are paid and how they are treated at work, said Martin Plimmer, a senior investigating officer for the North West.

Two men were found guilty of running a modern slavery ring at a carwash in Carlisle last month.

Defrim Paci, 42, of Nottinghamshire and Sitar Ali, 33, of Carlisle, brought Romanian workers to the UK and made them work long hours for little pay, Carlisle Crown Court heard.

The workers at Shiny Car Wash told how they had their identity cards taken from them until their travel-cost debt was repaid and said they were living in very dirty, crowded accommodation with only 20 in their pockets after working 11 hours a day, six days a week.

Some workers described having no breaks and having skin burned by cleaning chemicals and of receiving no protective clothing.

Paci and Ali have been remanded in custody for sentencing on 30 July.

Some of them have come from war-torn countries, from very difficult circumstances, and we hear some awful tales. There are people who die in the backs of lorries or freeze to death. The conditions are horrible as they are concealed to avoid detection and have very little air, water or food.

Exploiters are very clever and manipulative, and target workers who are vulnerable.

This is a sad reality across thecountry, Waterfield said. I cant imagine how appalling it must be to come on an incredibly long journey, bundled in the back of a lorry, separated from friends andfamily.

They are sold a dream of life in the UK but are just used for cheap labour and as a money-making mechanism. Some owe money to their exploiters and are trying to pay that off while others are trying to send money home to family.

Fear is instilled into exploited workers. They may be instructed to run if they see police or authority figures or are given a rehearsed script to follow, Plimmer said. We often find victims are told lies by the exploiter so they are fearful of the police and terrified of being arrested and taken to prison.

Even if theyve done nothing wrong, exploiters build on their fear and tell them that if they see the police, to run away or say nothing. Or they give them a very detailed script, saying they are working the correct number of hours for the correct money. Exploiters know the minimum wage, so they feed them the figures.

For the workers, theres often a fear of violence to them or their families. They are spun stories of police and authorities being corrupt and how they are having to pay them. Unfortunately, in some of the war-torn countries people come from, police corruption does exist, so they believe them.

Other tactics that exploiters sometimes use are taking identity documents, such as birth certificates, from workers or getting them to pay a fee perhaps around 200 to cover sick pay. Taking away ID documents stops them working anywhere else and ties them to that business, Plimmer said.

Without them, they cant go to a legitimate business, so they are stuck and controlled.

It is estimated there are around 8,000 to 10,000 carwashes in the UK. While many are legitimate operations, Ian Waterfield says the problem is that they are unregistered and unregulated, leaving them open to abuse.

Workers are prone to exploitation because they are unregulated businesses that pop up on waste ground or the forecourts of closed petrol stations.

The pandemic and lockdowns mean that the workforce may have dispersed into other sectors and now that consumer demand is to increase, additional workers are needed. We believe there are significant levels of exploitation within hand carwashes. Waterfield tells i.

Anyone can set up a carwash, it is a cash business and theres a lot of casual labour. We often find people sleeping on the premises in places like this and being controlled.

Workers are exploited by not being paid properly, working long hours and some working conditions may be unsafe. In many cases, they are charged a fee to come into the UK and are put into work at a car wash to pay off their debts.

Victims are predominantly male and between the ages of 18 and 35. They are unlikely to be paid the National Minimum Wage and the carwashes may offer competitive prices, but employ many workers. On average, this is around five, but can be as many as 40 in larger businesses.

Withheld wages, excessive working hours and debt bondage are alsoreported.

The ultimate goal of the GLAA is to prevent and stop modern slavery and to help victims but the team says it cannot do this without the publics help. If a car wash is really cheap, there is a reason and in these circumstances, it is at the expense of a person, warns Waterfield.

If people spot workers at a car wash looking bedraggled, with no protective equipment, or are worried they are being exploited, wed urge them to contact us. As human beings, everyone seems to want everything for the cheapest possible price but if it looks too good to be true, it probably is.

He adds: We want to make the UK a place where the opportunities to exploit people for their labour are eradicated and people are paid a fair days wage for an honest days work in the safest possible conditions.

Report any concerns or suspicions about car washes or modern slaveryto:

The GLAAs intelligence team Mon to Fri from 9am to 5pm on: 0800 4320804 or e-mail: intelligence@gla.gov.uk

Call the Modern Slavery helpline run by the charity Unseern which runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week on: 08000 121 700

Use the Unseen app

Visit the Safe Car Wash app developed by the Clewer Initiative

Call Crimestoppers on: 0800 555111

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Inside the raids revealing the appalling reality of modern slavery in UK carwashes - iNews

New York Times Magazine staff writer and 1619 Project creator Nikole Hannah-Jones announced in an exclusive interview on CBS This Morning with co-host Gayle King that she was rejecting an offer of tenure from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC).

Instead, Hannah-Jones explained that she would accept a tenured professorship at Howard University in Washington D.C. as the Knight Chair in Race and Reporting at the Cathy Hughes School of Communication.

Hannah-Jones will join writer Ta-Nehisi Coates (who wrote We Were Eight Years in Power about the Obama administration) in founding the Center for Journalism and Democracy at Howard. The center will be financed with $20 million from the Knight Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, the Ford Foundation and an anonymous donor.

According to a university press release, the new center will focus on training and supporting aspiring journalists in acquiring the investigative skills and historical and analytical expertise needed to cover the crisis our democracy is facing.

The 1619 Project was published by the New York Times in August 2019 and has been promoted with millions of dollars in funding and a school curriculum developed by the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting. It falsely roots American history in an enduring racial conflict between blacks and whites.

Hannah-Jones lead essay, for which she won the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Commentary, argued that the American Revolution was fought to preserve slavery against the British monarchy and that President Abraham Lincoln was little more than a garden-variety racist.

new wsws title from Mehring Books

The New York Times 1619 Project and the Racialist Falsification of History

A left-wing, socialist critique of the 1619 project with essays, lectures, and interviews with leading historians of American history.

The response of preeminent American historians Gordon Wood, James McPherson, James Oakes, Clayborne Carson, Victoria Bynum and others exposed the New York Times' effort to reinterpret American history. The World Socialist Web Site, in addition to interviewing these historians, has thoroughly refuted the falsifications of the 1619 Project and the lead essay written by Hannah-Jones.

Her other writings have descended into outright racism against whites. The historical falsifications which she promotes and her limited journalistic record since beginning to write for the Times in late 2014just 23 articleswould certainly qualify as red flags in her application for tenure.

The announcement of Hannah-Jones decision came less than a week after the Board of Trustees at UNC voted 9-4 in a closed session to grant her a lifetime appointment as the Knight Chair in Race and Investigative Journalism in the Hussman School of Journalism and Media.

Hannah-Jones, who is African American, had threatened to sue UNC for discrimination based on her political views, race and gender after it came to light in May that the board had set aside a vote on her tenure application for further consideration. Hannah-Jones declared that she would not accept the post without being granted tenure, even though she initially accepted a five-year tenure-track position.

However, last weeks vote did not satisfy Hannah-Jones. And so to be denied it, and to only have that vote occur on the last possible day, at the last possible moment, after threat of legal action, after weeks of protest, after it became a national scandalits just not something that I want anymore, she told King. The process which had led to her being granted tenurea protection granted to a shrinking share of academicshad been too embarrassing for her to teach at UNC, she said.

Hannah-Jones explained to King that she had chosen Howard University after fielding a number of offers from other universities because it is one of the United States' historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) where a majority of the faculty and student body are black.

Ive spent my entire life proving that I belong in elite white spaces that were not built for black people, she explained. I decided I didnt want to do that anymore. That black professionals should feel free, and actually perhaps an obligation, to go to our own institutions and bring our talents and resources to our own institutions and help to build them up as well.

In Depth

The New York Times 1619 Project

The Times Project is a politically-motivated falsification of history. It presents the origins of the United States entirely through the prism of racial conflict.

In a letter published Tuesday. the Hussman faculty declared their support for Hannah-Jones decision to reject the tenure offer, saying that her treatment was humiliating, inappropriate, and unjust, and racist.

It is highly unlikely that the Hussman School and UNC officials were unaware that Hannah-Jones was entertaining lucrative offers from other schools. As with her journalism, which focuses on making race the fundamental issue in American society, it is clear that the main issue for Hannah-Jones was not getting tenure at UNC but promoting racialist politics and using race and claims of racism as leverage for a better position and more money.

In an ironic twist, the history of Hannah-Jones chosen perch, Howard University, flies in the face of her claim in the 1619 Project that African Americans have fought alone to advance democratic rights in the United States.

The schools white namesake, founder and president from 1867 to 1873, General Oliver Otis Howard, was a commander for the Union Army during the Civil War. He participated in multiple bloody battles against Confederate forces, including the First Battle of Bull Run, Antietam and Gettysburg. Howard led forces in Shermans March to the Sea from Atlanta to Savannah in 1864, a campaign which saw thousands of slaves liberated.

Howard also served as the head of the Freedmens Bureau from May 1865 until July 1874, overseeing a federal agency responsible for integrating former slaves into the wage labor system and providing them with rations, medical care, schools and courts. Howard pushed for confiscated and abandoned land in the South to be redistributed to freed blacks but was quickly overruled by Democratic President Andrew Johnson.

There is a debased and foul character to the whole campaign over Hannah-Jones tenure at UNCthe insistence that Hannah-Jones, no matter her qualifications, deserved a tenured position; the immediate charges of racism against anyone who raised questions about the campaign; the threats of lawsuits if she was denied tenure; and then the announcement that she would not accept it anyway in favor of another position funded with $20 million.

In its own way, it sums up a central purpose of the racialist narrative that the Times 1619 Project promotes, namely, to advance the aspirations of privileged sections of the upper middle-class for positions of power and wealth, which has absolutely nothing to do with the interests of workers of any race.

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Nikole Hannah-Jones rejects UNC tenure offer to take position at Howard University, backed by millions in foundation funding - WSWS

GLAA officers were joined by Merseyside Police and HM Revenue & Customs National Minimum Wage team for the operation on Wednesday 30 June in Wavertree, Liverpool.

The potential victims, the youngest in his late teens, with the other two in their 20s, were safeguarded and taken to a reception centre set up for the operation where they received specialist support.

Two men a 31-year-old Iranian national and 24-year-old Iraqi national were arrested at the car wash on suspicion of committing forced or compulsory labour offences under Section 1 of the Modern Slavery Act.

GLAA officers also conducted searches of the car wash and addresses of the two suspects.

Information received via the Modern Slavery Helpline earlier in the year combined with the GLAAs own intelligence gathering indicated that workers at the site were not being paid the National Minimum Wage, had identification such as birth certificates taken off them, and were constantly monitored on site, suggesting a level of coercion and control.

GLAA senior investigating officer (SIO) Martin Plimmer said: This operation demonstrates the importance of members of the public being able to spot the signs of modern slavery and more importantly reporting their concerns so we can take action.

Elsewhere, more than 300 farm workers were spoken to by the GLAA as part of an open day event across two agricultural sites in Kent.

GLAA officers were joined by Kent Police for the engagement visits to Mansfields farms near Canterbury last week.

Workers were given the opportunity to speak to the GLAA at the end of their shifts, with information provided to them about their rights in the workplace and how to contact the GLAA or police if they have concerns about labour exploitation.

Mansfields specialises in the growing, picking and packaging of top, stone and soft fruit, harvesting more than 25,000 tonnes of fruit a year across its 3,000 acres of farmland.

Workers are supplied to the business by Pro Force, a GLAA-licensed recruitment agency which provides workers to businesses across the regulated sector of agriculture, horticulture and food production.

GLAA SIO Jennifer Baines said: We were pleased that the workers reported no issues and were happy with their working conditions.

Providing workers with information about their rights and what to do if something is not right is crucial in raising awareness and educating what are potentially vulnerable people about the signs of modern slavery and labour exploitation.

Its also really positive to see first-hand businesses and recruitment agencies take these issues seriously and actively encourage their workers to speak to us so that any problems can be identified and addressed swiftly.

Comment below on this story. Or let us know what you think by emailing us at [emailprotected] or tweet us to tell us your thoughts or share this story with a friend.

Originally posted here:

GLAA operation rescues three from hand car wash in Liverpool - Recruiter

Three potential victims were freed by the police

Two men have been arrested at a Liverpool car wash in conntection with modern slavery.

A 31-year-old Iranian national and 24-year-old Iraqi national were arrested at the car wash on suspicion of committing forced or compulsory labour offences under Section 1 of the Modern Slavery Act.

Three potential victims of modern slavery and labour exploitation were also escued during a raid by the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA).

GLAA officers were joined by Merseyside Police and HM Revenue and Customs National Minimum Wage team for the operation on Wednesday, June 30 in Wavertree.

The potential victims, the youngest of whom is in his late teens, with the other two in their 20s, were safeguarded and taken to a reception centre set up for the operation where they received specialist support

Both suspects, who were also arrested for suspected immigration offences, were interviewed by the GLAA before being released under investigation later that day.

GLAA officers also conducted searches of the car wash and addresses of the two suspects.

Information received via the Modern Slavery Helpline earlier in the year combined with the GLAAs own intelligence-gathering indicated that workers at the site were not being paid the National Minimum Wage.

It's also thought they had identification such as birth certificates taken off them and were constantly monitored on-site, suggesting a level of coercion and control.

Hear all the latest news from across Merseyside on the hour, every hour, on 96.7FM, DAB, at radiocity.co.uk, and on the Radio City app.

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Two arrested on suspicion of keeping slaves at Liverpool carwash - Free Radio

Modern Day Slavery is present in every area of the UK, with thousands of cases being referred each year.

Officers were joined by a team from the Gangmasters and Labour Authority for a raid at Splash Car Valeting car wash in Picton Road, Wavertree yesterday.

The team arrested two people on suspicion of forced labour and immigration offences.

READ MORE: Boat company in court after dad falls into Mersey and dies

Officers found two people working at the site who they believed were the victims of modern slavery.

A tweet from the Merseyside Police South Liverpool team said these two people had now been protected from such exploitation.

Merseyside drivers were left 'devastated' after the car wash raid, but how can you spot the signs of modern day slavery?

Is there a cash-only policy?

If a car wash only accepts cash, offers no receipt or only the manager handles money, it could be a sign the business is not paying tax and national insurance or paying workers properly.

Its more likely a car wash operating outside of the tax regime will be willing and able to exploit its workers.

Are children working on site?

Although employing children of 13 and above is not illegal, their young age and the low-cost of their labour makes them increasingly vulnerable to exploitation.

Children under the age of 16 are not entitled to the national minimum wage, while those over the age of 16 are covered by the legislation but are only entitled to a wage that is significantly lower than the national minimum wage.

Do workers look fearful?

Workers looking fearful could be a sign of the various methods used to control workers who are being exploited, such as threats, intimidation, physical violence, coercion, debt bondage and withholding wages.

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Do workers have access to suitable clothing?

Health and safety regulations require employers to take practical steps to reduce the risk of harm to their workers, which includes providing protective clothing such as gloves, boots and overalls.

Some hand car washes use harmful chemicals such as hydrochloric acid when washing vehicles.

No protective equipment could be a sign that employers are in breach of health and safety rules.

Are there signs workers are living on the car wash site?

A report on the nature of exploitation in the hand car wash sector found that its not uncommon for workers to be living on the car wash site in accommodation provided by the employer.

Signs such as containers, caravans, bedding and mattresses, which indicate that workers were living on the car wash site.

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Key signs to look out for when getting your car washed to avoid funding crime - Liverpool Echo

The concept of reparations is not particularlycontroversial until, well, theconversation turns toBlack people.

Think about it, Native Americans have received reparations. Japanese, who were in internment camps received reparations. Jewish people have received reparations, and 9/11 victims received reparations, said Dr. Andre Perry, an author and a senior fellow with the Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program.

Perry, author of the book Know Your Price: Valuing Black Lives and Property in Americas Black Cities,"was the keynote speaker at a recentGreater Milwaukee Foundation program A Milwaukee for All,which is aimed at getting Milwaukeeans to focus on economic inclusion. More than 200 participated in the discussion.

Perrycovered a number of issues including early childhood education,housing equity,neighborhood and community development,social activism,and the role of the philanthropic community. But near the end of his talk, Perry was asked by Ellen Gilligan, the foundation's presidentand CEO,about reparations.

Reparations, very plainly put, is redress for injury caused largely by government and private stakeholders that had a demonstrable effect on those individuals and their families, he said.

With the 10 to 1 wealth gap between Black peopleand white peoplein this country, it's clear there is a direct relation to slavery, Jim Crow racism and segregation. Black people have been damaged, Perry said.

But even with the documented pain of slavery and racism, and laws instituted and approved by the federal government to harm descendants of slaves, African Americans have yet to be made whole.

Talk of reparationshas been going on for decades, but the Black Lives Matter movement gave that discussion a push in the past year,Perry said.

Several cities are looking for ways to atone for slavery and discrimination:

All of these people are trying to create a reparative system because we need a reparative culture, Perry said.

An online campaign started by Groundswell calls for individual payments to descendants of formerly enslaved Black Americans that correlates with the racial wealth gap that currently exists between whiteand Black citizens; free college tuition to any four-or two-year college or university; erasure of Black student loan debt; and strategic investments in Black communities and businesses.

The state should also provide free mental health services and health care to all descendants of formerly enslaved Black Americans along with grants for down payments and housing revitalization for homes.

The campaign also asks that all formerly incarcerated people have their voting rights restored and mandatory minimum sentencing laws be abolished.

While there may be disagreements on what to do and how much to give to assuage the effects of slavery and unrelenting racism, reparations shouldbe a part of Americas atonement for the injuries caused to an entire race of people.

At the foundation's event, small groups discussions were ledby Fred Royal, past president of the NAACP Milwaukee branch, and Martha Barry, chief racial justice officer for the YWCA of Southeast Wisconsin.

Barry said local leaders need to figure out what areparations package would look like and African Americans must be listened to.

As a white woman, I just need to listen and support," she said. "I need to know your stories and how your family was impacted by racism and how you continue to be impacted.

One of the first steps: createa dedicated funding stream like Evanston did, Royal said. Evanstondraws on a 3% tax on recreational marijuana.

If Milwaukee can use taxpayer dollars tobuild a baseball stadium and basketball arena, it should not be a heavy lift to do the same to benefit Black residents who have sufferedracism for generations.

Dr. Tito Izard, president andchief executive officer ofMilwaukee Health Services,said the racial wealth gap can widen as Black educational attainment rises because of student debt.

Im 51 years old, and my wife and I graduated from medical college. I graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison Medical School,and we still have almost $100,000 in student loan debt, he said.

Because of college debt, his children never benefited from their parents being doctors. For most of their childhood, he and his wife were worth more dead than alive.

My children didnt get the same advantage as a white physicians children would get. We had high income but negative wealth, he said.

Whats needed is something like the GI Bill(which helped soldiers returning from war) for the descendants of slavery, Royal said.

The timing is right for a reparations push in Milwaukee.

In 2019, Milwaukee County was among the first in the nation to declare racism a public health crisis. In 2020, County Executive David Crowley shared his vision of addressing racial wage and education gaps, unequal access to health care and housing insecurity for Black people.

At Milwaukee's 50th Juneteenth Day celebration last month,city and state leaders were urged to support reparations during anopening ceremonythat featured Gov. Tony Evers, Mayor Tom Barrett and the Wisconsin Legislative Black Caucus.

"If you don't support reparations, we're not going to support you," said community leader Janette Herrera, who then led the crowd in a chant of "Reparations Now."

No doubt, itwill be a hard argument to win.

AUMass Amherst/WCVB Poll shows that 62% of Americansoppose cash payments to the descendants of slaves. Among those who oppose reparations, 38% said descendants of slaves dont deserve money and 25% said it's impossible to place a value on the impact of slavery.

But while you may not be able to quantify the damage slavery and Jim Crow segregation caused, it doesnt negate the need for compensation.

We are still in a mode where the economy is boomingbut working-class people are suffering, but we can change all of that by changing the policy environment to one that is reparative in nature, Perry said.

Milwaukee needs to do something drastic; the conditions for Black people here are among the worst in the country for segregation, home ownership, and wealth and educational gaps.

We need less conversation and more compensation.

Email him at jcausey@jrn.com and follow him on Twitter: @jecausey.

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The idea of reparations is not controversial until the conversation turns to Black people - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The number of children working as child labourerscame downby 100 million in last two decades; but COVID-19 pandemic has undone a lot of gains

Child labour robs children of their childhood, potential and dignity. As many as 152 million (1 in 10) children work as labourers across the world, according to the International Labour Organization.

Among these, 64 million are girls. Almost half of the 72 million children are engaged in hazardous work; 6.3 million are pushed into forced work and human slavery.

Children are driven into this work for multiple reasons: When families fall into poverty, experience income insecurity, emergencies, or are affected by unemployment, human trafficking, conflict and extreme weather events.

Child labour is prevalent not only in the agriculture sector, but today other sectors such as export-oriented agriculture, mining, manufacturing, industries, tourism and construction.

It is a global phenomenon and exists in different forms and intensities in almost every part of the globe. Yet, half the worlds child labourers (72.1 million) are in Africa; 62.1 million are in Asia and the Pacific.

Over the last two decades, the number of children working as child labourers came downby a 100 million. But the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has dealt a heavy blow on human lives and endangered the economic activities of the poor and disadvantage people.

According to United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, the COVID-19 pandemic will cause more than a quarter of billion people suffering from acute hunger by the end of 2021.

The pandemic has hit the mental, physical and nutritional health of children. Schools have been shut for the longest time due to the crisis, denying children access to healthy school meals.

According to UNICEF, more than 1.5 billion children missed out their schooling due to COVID-19 restrictions. This has compelled children to work to support their families.

Aide et Actions study in India on the impact of COVID-19 on migrant children revealed a two-fold increase in the number of children who accompanied their working parents to the brick-making industry after the first wave COVID-19 pandemic.

Those who work at brick kilns have been compelled to drag their children along. In South Asia, tens and thousands of brick kilns provide seasonal wage employment to the poor and debt-ridden rural families.

Migrant families are recruited by labour contractors and ferried to the urban location to work in brick kilns. The traditional brick kiln industries that operate on manual labourers often utilise child labour for work.

Aide et Action has been working with children living in brick kilns in India to provide education and care to them. It has assisted thousands of migrant workers and their families to travel safely to their native villages and reintegrated them up with a government health support and social protection schemes.

The pandemic-induced lockdowns shattered the labour market across the world. During the first COVID-19 wave, the lockdown forced millions of migrant labourers to move back to their villages in India.

The soaring demand for food, health supplies, basic services need a huge workforce to wheel and support the national and global supply chain.

A recent global report indicated that the link between child labour and the global supply chain was often indirect and happened in the lower tier of supply chain like raw material extraction and agriculture operations. The unprecedented economic crisis has, however, pulled children into the national and global supply chain and other informal sectors.

The United Nations declared 2021 as the international year for the elimination of child labour. The Sustainable Development Goals 8 & 7 challenge the world to eradicate forced labour, modern slavery by 2025.

It can be a herculean task for policy makers and planners to devise effective strategy to contain the child labour. Elimination of child labour needs several approaches.

The one-size-fits-all approach will fail to address the issues of poor and excluded communities. Every government and non-government action for the elimination of child labour should be effectively reinforced with national child rights policies, stricter law enforcement, quality social protection and strengthening of school ecosystem.

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COVID-19 and the changing face of child labour - Down To Earth Magazine