Comments on: Employee rights and responsibilities part 8 – No one should be held in slavery http://www.goodhonestdollar.com/employee-rights-and-responsibilities-part-8-no-one-should-be-held-in-slavery Discussion about ethical issues relating to business Wed, 31 Aug 2011 15:10:53 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 By: drew http://www.goodhonestdollar.com/employee-rights-and-responsibilities-part-8-no-one-should-be-held-in-slavery#comment-1900 drew Sat, 10 Jan 2009 00:15:03 +0000 http://www.goodhonestdollar.com/?p=227#comment-1900 Hi Brad, At least the right to freedom from slavery is recognised in the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, and is outlawed in most countries. I haven't done much research on this, but I would think that the majority of slavery would occur in countries in which the practice is technically outlawed but practiced anyway. This probably occurs either because the rules just sit on the books and are ignored in practice, or because the practice is undertaken by well organized crime gangs who know how to operate without being caught by law enforcement agencies. The type of slavery which you refer to above, where workers are bound to a singular employer due to lack of practical alternatives, is also a problem. I don't think the employer concerned does anything inherently wrong when they employ workers under such conditions (unless the workers are poorly treated). Nevertheless, governments in such countries need to work to develop a more diversified economy in order to expand the range of options which are available to workers. Hi Brad,

At least the right to freedom from slavery is recognised in the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, and is outlawed in most countries.

I haven’t done much research on this, but I would think that the majority of slavery would occur in countries in which the practice is technically outlawed but practiced anyway. This probably occurs either because the rules just sit on the books and are ignored in practice, or because the practice is undertaken by well organized crime gangs who know how to operate without being caught by law enforcement agencies.

The type of slavery which you refer to above, where workers are bound to a singular employer due to lack of practical alternatives, is also a problem.

I don’t think the employer concerned does anything inherently wrong when they employ workers under such conditions (unless the workers are poorly treated). Nevertheless, governments in such countries need to work to develop a more diversified economy in order to expand the range of options which are available to workers.

]]> By: Brad Shorr http://www.goodhonestdollar.com/employee-rights-and-responsibilities-part-8-no-one-should-be-held-in-slavery#comment-1877 Brad Shorr Fri, 09 Jan 2009 12:51:46 +0000 http://www.goodhonestdollar.com/?p=227#comment-1877 Andrew, It's a sad commentary on the state of modern civilization that the anti-slavery position needs defending. The exploitation of labor that goes on in parts of the world today is a travesty, and yet, it goes on and on. Sometimes there's a fine line between slavery de jure and slavery de facto. When workers are legally free but chained to their labor because there are no practical options, are those workers really free? Economies must grow and diversify in order for opportunities to expand. Some nations do a terrible job on that score. Sometimes I wonder whether it is intentional. <abbr><em>Brad Shorrs last blog post..<a href="http://www.wordsellinc.com/blog/books/uk-slang-round-2-join-me/" rel="nofollow">UK Slang, Round 2 - Join Me!</a></abbr></em> Andrew, It’s a sad commentary on the state of modern civilization that the anti-slavery position needs defending. The exploitation of labor that goes on in parts of the world today is a travesty, and yet, it goes on and on. Sometimes there’s a fine line between slavery de jure and slavery de facto. When workers are legally free but chained to their labor because there are no practical options, are those workers really free? Economies must grow and diversify in order for opportunities to expand. Some nations do a terrible job on that score. Sometimes I wonder whether it is intentional.

Brad Shorrs last blog post..UK Slang, Round 2 – Join Me!

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