The Slave Ship That Ran from Kerala to New Orleans
in.news.yahoo.com
in.news.yahoo.com
If you are interested in the topic, I'd highly recommend taking a look at some of the SPLC's work on the issues surrounding the H2B program generally: http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/publications/close-to-...
I have been a supporter of the ACLU and now that I am aware of the work that the SPLC does, I am a supporter.
I love to see the 'corrective' nature of the general elections and also understand that sometimes the outcome is not the desirable ones.
Whenever I see people thumping the Constitution or the Bible to support their twisted heartless positions, I am also in awe of the Founding Fathers of this country, who were able to craft a document, that actually protects the people from their basest instincts and the institutions necessary for affording those protections.
Thank you Mr. Walker for being a part of that corrective process.
I think it is made worse by the fact that no one gives a shit for the people who don't speak English in India.
TLDR, Signal is claiming they don't have the resources to pay, trying to declare bankruptcy, and leave the wronged to walk away with nothing (from them at least). But rest assured, the Signal executives would be fine, financially, in that outcome.
Even if they are not charged criminally, piecing the corporate veil in the case of willful and malicious activity is well established, and this is exactly the type of case where that action should be taken.
Amazing considering how many Indians pour millions into temples and such in the US.
Edit: I see this was downvoted, my point was that it's not the lack of millions, but the attitude of the people that run it that makes consular services suck.
If you have ever seen that in action, you'll totally understand. It's a fact of nature. Same for cops etc.
Glad the workers took action... if not, when their visa ended in 30 months they would have gone home abused.
The Indian Consular Service has never had a reputation for worrying about Indians - they do their best not to ruffle the feathers of their hosts. Your best bet with them is hoping that you reach the odd 'good-guy/gal' at the consulate.
> When working for an abusive employer, H-2B workers have the untenable options of returning to the source country, often with debts that cannot be repaid; leaving the employer but remaining in the US as undocumented workers; or remaining with the abusive employer.
Kerala is where most of the spices such as Pepper, Cardamom, Cinnamon, Cloves etc have been grown for centuries. The ports of Kerala, Calicut (Kozhikode) has been the main gateway of trade all the way back to the Phoenicians.
BTW, as HN visitors, you may be interested in the fact that Kerala is now also home to a vibrant Startup culture. Just in the last few months, Menlo Park and Kochi (the city mentioned in the article) has announced that they are going to be sister cities.
http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Kochi/kochi-to-sign-sist...
http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-02-10/news...
Now back to the article being discussed. Some of the factors that made this case possible are the fact that the key players who were being exploited are from Kerala. This may seem strange but let me explain.
Kerala, along with West Bengal, can be considered as two of the most intellectually forward states of India. By that I mean, very high literacy (almost 100%) and as a result of that a very keen awareness of when they are exploited and have a fierce willingness to fight all forms of injustice. Communism is a very bad word in America, but it has helped these two states rise up from the feudal system that was prevalent in these states and is still prevalent in most of the poorest states in India. The downsides of a Communist approach (militant labor) is very evident in these States also, as being the worst states to create a labor based business in. The day after you start a business there, you can be guaranteed that labor will start an agitation and bring the business to its knees.
The article also mentions the attempted suicide, which is also one of of the disturbing aspects of life in Kerala. The state is very affluent compared to other states, but there is huge social pressure (perceived or otherwise) that forces people to take extreme measures to avoid failure. Whole family suicides are not unheard of if something bad happens.
Thanks to the effort of the tragic few who were willing to stand up to the exploiters and risk everything to bring this to court. Their efforts will have an impact far beyond their own.
This is one of the reasons that I try and contribute to organizations like the ACLU whenever I can. Henceforth I shall do the same for the SPLC.
"Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?" (Who will guard the guards themselves).
Do you live there now?
I remember we were going to leave Kochi and go for a trip to Munnar (the hills where all the spices grow and tea estates are), but on that day the labor unions had declared 'hartal', which was somekind of statewide halt which meant that if you were driving on the road that day, it was open season for people to throw rocks at your car.
Our guide just wiggled his head, smiled and said that we'd be fine :) And we were. Saw no signs of rock-thowers by the road. But instead our chauffeur drove like a maniac up those hills in that old Ambassador, and I didn't have any medical insurance at that time. That's when I learned the art of praying :D
Hartals, an effective non-violent form of protest against British occupation, is a double edged sword. Now its mainly used to bring the country or state to its knees. If there is any violence it is usually politically motivated or by militant student movements. It is a weapon used by both the left and right sides of the political spectrum. But generally non-violent.
Bad driving unfortunately is universal. I wouldn't risk driving there myself.
Isn't that what is normally taught in schools?
I repeat: the pepper, if you please; for if it had not been for peppercorns, then what is ending now in East and West might never have begun. Pepper it was that brought Vasco de Gama's tall ships across the ocean, from Lisbon's Tower of Belém to the Malabar Coast: first to Calicut and later, for its lagoon harbor, to Cochin.
English and French sailed in the wake of that first-arrived Portugee, so that in the period called Discovery-of-India -- but how could we be discovered when we were not covered before? -- we were 'not so much sub-continent as sub-condiment', as my distinguished mother had it. 'From the beginning, what the world wanted from bloody mother India was daylight-clear,' she'd say. 'They came for the hot stuff, just like any man calling on a tart.'
This is the cost of a lack of diversity in a team and how stereotypes can come to bite one in the foot. As illustrated by the emails expecting the workers to be happy with their living conditions given they were assumed to be "pooping in ditches".
I would wager with better diversity someone is most likely to have challenged some of these views a lot earlier and helped the company from its blunders.
Look at the US: 18 billion dollars are spent each year for enforcing immigration laws. The result? anywhere between 7 and 30 Million illegal immigrants, which are essential to the country's economy, but unable to work, seek the best medical attention or raise their socioeconomic status.
In Germany, we have a new kind of "dynamic". Our constitution grants a right to asylum. Because of that right, every application has to be reviewed, even though two thirds of them are rejected. The first problem is that the bureaucracy is completely overwhelmed by the applications. Second problem is that even the rejected Applicants can't be deported, for sheer impracticality of scaling the "deportation" machinery by several magnitudes.
Of course, this state of affairs has drawn the attention of even more people smugglers and potential immigrants, raising the burden on our immigration enforcement. It didn't have to be Germany, who was stuck in that cycle first. It could have been France. Italy and Greece aren't stuck because they essentially tell the immigrants to go to Germany or risk being mistreated.
In Germany, these asylum seekers are not allowed to work ever. Which means they have to be paid some form of social support. In my belief, paying social support is cheaper than dealing with the consequences of about a million human beings prohibited from earning a living in a legal way. But even cheaper would be to allow them to work, like they actually want to do.
But alas, the majority of citizens in the developed countries have fear of immigrants, so they will have to learn what I just described the hard way.
The reason is because the gov't doesn't enforce the law. If they did punish employers for hiring illegal immigrants then there would be a lot less. The employers skirt the law to increase the bottom line while pushing the cost off on the taxpayer. Cut of the work then a lot less will come. Wages will rise for the lowest earning Americans.
You think anyone in the world should be able to come to Germany? Get ready for a couple million people in the first 6 months. People who don't speak German and may not share your values.
What I envision for the future is stopping immigration controls in the entire developed world. Preferably happening all at once. The burden for Germany would likely even decrease. Because just as it is, Germany has been selected for the first breaking point, and the situation is such that pretty much anybody can immigrate to Germany already and not be deported anyway...
> Andrews Isaac Padavettiyil
Most Indian names I see tend not to mix in bits and pieces that look western. Is something like this just random chance, or are there some groups or cultures where this is a done thing?
In general, if you are Christian, your name has three parts to it, <First Name> <Middle Name> <Last Name> where the <First Name > is your given name, <Middle Name> is your father's given name and <Last Name> 'may' be a family name. The first and middle names are generally of Biblical origin and will be recognizable by Westerners, the family name will be a local name in Malayalam, which denotes many families of the same family tree so to speak.
The names of Malayalis (people of Kerala who speak the native tongue, Malayalam) are a source of confusion for Westerners. I am often asked is that you real name?
BTW, the Orthodox Christians of Kerala are 'believed' to be descendants of the first families, converted by St. Thomas (one of the 12 apostles of Christ) who is believed to have settled in Kerala (around 50 AD) in a place called Cranganore, and later is believed to have died/martyred in the neighboring state of Tamil Nadu. They are also called St. Thomas Christians. I leave it to more knowledgeable people to argue about authenticity of these beliefs.
My family belongs somewhere in this group. A few Australians have been confused by my last name which is biblical. Occasionally I remind them that India has more Christians than the Australian population and most of us have biblical names mixed in.
As an aside, I suspect the case was also driven by the fact that Keralite people are generally more aware of their rights given their high levels of education, knowledge of worker rights and socilaist exposure( the world first elected communist govt was here).
Most keralites migrate out to escape the socialist pressure that kills jobs there. Quite ironical that they get out and put up with such cr@p for so long but understandable given the obligations they get into.
1. Americans workers have jobs and see an increase in pay
2. Less likely to be abused workers
3. Less money given to bureaucracy
4. Less money to lawyers
5. No exploited foreigners
6. Money earned by workers stays in US instead of leaving the US economy and being sent overseas.
7. Churches have more time to help local population.
This is work that has to be done in the US. This isn't the same as a visa for a high tech worker creating a company.
There is no reason to have this visa for this type of work. It only helps rich business owners at the expense of American workers.
To turn the point on its head, if you have the infrastructure and environment for talent to be used and valued, they would come, and they did, to USA. However given the strong anti immigrant rhetoric that is becoming popular in USA I am interested to see how this is going to play out.