By Odeen Ishmael
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From the time of the abolition of the slave trade in 1807 and, particularly, during the period of the campaign to end slavery, the planters of the Caribbean and Guyana were aware of the acute need to find a substitute labour force that was both cheap and reliable to fill the ranks of the soon-to-be-liberated Africans. They initially were interested in seeking a labour force from Europe since they realised that there was a decreasing proportion of Whites in the colony.
They felt that this imbalance could be remedied by recruiting indentured labour from European countries. In addition to strengthening their own security, they wanted to have an alternative labour force to compete with the ex-slaves for plantation jobs after emancipation and thus forcing down employment costs. Continue reading
Coronavirus Outbreak – Fragile safety net leaves U.S. economy vulnerable to hit – Commentary : REUTERS
Jonnelle Marte, Heather Timmons – REUTERS
NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The spreading coronavirus outbreak poses a double-barreled threat to U.S. workers who face not only the prospect of lost wages if they are forced to stay home during a quarantine but also a fragile safety net to fall back on during such a crisis.
Unlike in other rich countries, the United States provides thin and uneven social assistance for its 130 million full-time workers, and even less for the country’s nearly 30 million part-time employees.
There also are no federal laws requiring companies to provide paid sick leave, or paid time off to care for sick relatives, leaving workers at the mercy of their employers and local governments. Continue reading →
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