What is modern slavery?

a bit like those who make all our cheap iGoods in china etc? (not quite no choice but almost as good as)

People in poor countries have worse working conditions, it isn't slavery, they can leave that job. I would assume there isn't a great deal of choice realistically but they aren't slaves.
 
I think modern slavery is just a term used to separate it out from slavery which most people picture as black men picking cotton.

It’s all slavery at the end of the day. Just within a different time frame and potentially different type of forced ‘employment’ with little or no pay being provided.

The defining aspect of slavery is one person being owned by another person. That's what the word means. It strongly implies that such a thing is legal because if it isn't legal then the ownership is impossible.

Neither work nor money is the defining factor. For example, some slaves in ancient Rome were paid far more for the work they did (if any) than the large majority of free Romans. A few were wealthy, with lots of cash and assets. That didn't stop them being slaves because they were still legally owned and that's what slavery is.

"modern slavery" isn't slavery. It's just called that because it's a good attention-grabbing word. It's illegal restraint, controlling behaviour and all manner of abuse. But calling it "slavery" is a better way of grabbing attention for politicians and the media, so they do that instead of being accurate.
 
Another aspect of Modern slavery could also be called "Economic Slavery" where people who leave their country to work in another find themselves trapped in the working country (usually by removal of their passport) and are unable to go home until their "boss/owner" lets them whilst being extremely low paid (£100 a month etc).

The Middle East is rife with this behaviour where locals will employ poor people from places like India, Egypt, Philippines etc to do all the "dirty" work that the locals refuse to do, whether its dangerous (builders etc), maintenance (engineers) or just cleaners and food service. It's only recently in Saudi for example, which has around 17million foreign workers, that it has been made illegal to a boss to confiscate his workers passports top prevent them leaving and there was a huge uproar recently on social media when a Kuwaiti woman was complaining about having to let her worker maid have a single day off and return her passport etc.
 
I've just discovered that someone living in your house who cleans your windows and throws out the rubbish, is what a "modern slave" is.

I can't read your link but is this the story where they go on to also mention other things like that person never leaving the house and only when you add several things together is when you get concerned?
 
Another aspect of Modern slavery could also be called "Economic Slavery" where people who leave their country to work in another find themselves trapped in the working country (usually by removal of their passport) and are unable to go home until their "boss/owner" lets them whilst being extremely low paid (£100 a month etc).

The Middle East is rife with this behaviour where locals will employ poor people from places like India, Egypt, Philippines etc to do all the "dirty" work that the locals refuse to do, whether its dangerous (builders etc), maintenance (engineers) or just cleaners and food service. It's only recently in Saudi for example, which has around 17million foreign workers, that it has been made illegal to a boss to confiscate his workers passports top prevent them leaving and there was a huge uproar recently on social media when a Kuwaiti woman was complaining about having to let her worker maid have a single day off and return her passport etc.

The middle east is still about 1000 years behind, only they have access to modern technology.
 
People in poor countries have worse working conditions, it isn't slavery, they can leave that job. I would assume there isn't a great deal of choice realistically but they aren't slaves.

I think it's a good example of "modern" slavery.
They can leave, but they will starve to death cos there's no other job or social welfare system.

You work 12h to get the bare minimum to exist. Sleep, and repeat 7 days a week.

Yes you could argue the semantics of their personal liberty and choice, but like a lot of modern life it's not a real choice, just perceived.

a lot of mills and colliery towns of early industrial Britain were the same. You got payed in tokens that could only be used in the company shop and you got lodging paid by them too. Your entire life and income "slaved" to that 1 owner/way of life.

Yes you had the free will to not work. Then you could starve in the gutter too, as your little cog went to the next man, woman or child.

I think we will be moving towards more systems like this as population growth gets crazier. Life will be purely existing for more and more. Working 9 to 5 in an office with a 2h commute for 45 years, with only 21 daysoff a year probably feels like that to some people.
 
Workfare where they send you to work in Poundland for 6 months without any pay.

Well you're being gifted 6 months job experience despite not applying for the job, I'm overwhelmingly sure that if you turn up and are enthusiastic and do a good job you'll probably be running the place in a few years.
 
I doubt it, they have to start paying you after a certain point so most likely they will find an excuse to get rid of you before then.
 
Do you think places like Poundland are so awash with good staff that they'd let someone go who was good at their job and worked hard for the sake of paying minimum wage? I bet they're crying out for good staff.
 
But you don't get good staff for minimum wage. If you pay peanuts you get peanuts, that is how it works. These are disposable jobs.
 
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But you don't get good staff for minimum wage. If you pay peanuts you get peanuts, that is how it works. These are disposable jobs.

So I'm saying that if you're currently unemployed and you get a temporary position at Poundland through the job centre, and you go in there and do a good job then you'll probably be offered a full time position. I'm not sure why you're saying that if you pay minimum wage you'll get bad staff?
 
Do you guys understand that being paid JSA while working a full time job is not an attractive offer to low skillled employers that basically can exploit the system to get free staff at the tax payers expense?

I've seen it first hand, spoken to an employer that boasted how she got a new assistant every 3 months from the local job center and she got paid for the pleasure. Let them answer the phone, giving them "valuable skills"

They do this to get the unemployed person out of the cycle of unemployment, try and get you into the work routine. You might learn a few numpty skills, but essentially it's to massage government statistics.

It might be successful for some people but most long term unemployed people have huge psychological problems and esteem issues and being exploited Futher usually results in the pushback post above.

Any of you been long term unemployed? Obviously not from how you present your simple arguments.

I don't side with long term unemployed. in many cases it's their own faults, created by a system that allows a safety net so deep you can fall for your whole life and have a acceptable life style.

People get to a point where they give up. That's where those stupid job schemes could help, but gloriously back fire due to exploitation.

If you got paid for 3 months a real wage you might suddenly realise have an extra couple of hundred quid a month disposable is nice, give you the drive to get out there and try. Getting paid 80 quid and your busfare is just hard graft for the same you are already getting "for free"


Man I'm full of contradiction sorry it just comes out without structure these days.
 
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Do you guys understand that being paid JSA while working a full time job is not an attractive offer to low skillled employers that basically can exploit the system to get free staff at the tax payers expense?

I've seen it first hand, spoken to an employer that boasted how she got a new assistant every 3 months from the local job center and she got paid for the pleasure. Let them answer the phone, giving them "valuable skills"

They do this to get the unemployed person out of the cycle of unemployment, try and get you into the work routine. You might learn a few numpty skills, but essentially it's to massage government statistics.

It might be successful for some people but most long term unemployed people have huge psychological problems and esteem issues and being exploited Futher usually results in the pushback post above.

Any of you been long term unemployed? Obviously not from how you present your simple arguments.

I don't side with long term unemployed. in many cases it's their own faults, created by a system that allows a safety net so deep you can fall for your whole life and have a acceptable life style.

People get to a point where they give up. That's where those stupid job schemes could help, but gloriously back fire due to exploitation.

If you got paid for 3 months a real wage you might suddenly realise have an extra couple of hundred quid a month disposable is nice, give you the drive to get out there and try. Getting paid 80 quid and your busfare is just hard graft for the same you are already getting "for free"


Man I'm full of contradiction sorry it just comes out without structure these days.

It's not an ideal solution and it's definitely open to exploitation and is exploited, but there aren't perfect solutions, and it does actually get people out of the routine of getting up at 10am every day (I'm being generous) and spending the day watching TV or playing video games. If you have to go to a job for 3 months for no extra money, then logically you may as well just get a job that actually pays the minimum wage, which are readily available.
 
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