Gloriavale - kid's work not 'chores'

[Lilith7]

A small victory for those who worked at Gloriavale when they were kids. With luck this will be just the first step in ending people including children, being exploited there & perhaps may eventually end the Gloriavale cult.



https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/1285919...court-case


"Former Gloriavale members say they are ÔÇ£ecstaticÔÇØ over the Employment CourtÔÇÖs ruling that they were employees.

Two of the three former workers who brought the case, Daniel Pilgrim and Hosea Courage, spoke to media outside ChristchurchÔÇÖs justice precinct after Chief Judge Christina InglisÔÇÖ judgment was released on Tuesday.

The judge considered whether┬áan employment relationship existed between Gloriavale leaders and the leavers┬áwhen they worked in the communityÔÇÖs commercial businesses. She reserved her decision on the identity of the employer/employers within the Gloriavale structure, and also reserved details of the costs the plaintiffs were entitled to.

Pilgrim said it was ÔÇ£overwhelmingÔÇØ that they were ÔÇ£finally being heardÔÇØ, and the decision would have ÔÇ£ramifications for a lot of peopleÔÇØ.



Courage said the ÔÇ£exploitationÔÇØ in Gloriavale ÔÇ£may not be able to be stopped unless it is closed downÔÇØ.
The former members ÔÇô Hosea Courage, Levi Courage and Pilgrim ÔÇô who were born in Gloriavale,┬ádescribed beginning work in the businesses from the age of 6.

During a hearing in February, they said they were hit with implements such as rods, food was withheld, and they were publicly shamed if they failed to work."

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/1278479...-told?rm=a

[harm_less]

Refer to my comments on religious abuse in the Taliban thread

[Lilith7]

There isn't that much difference between some of the more unevolved sects of the three Abrahamic religions.

[Oh_hunnihunni]

My farcebook page has a quote from MLK about how we are told capitalism was built on hard work, sacrifice and enterprise, but neglects to point out the roles of slavery and exploitation. It is very pertinent these days when we hear of the various oppositions' plans to cut minimum wages, increase hours of work, and general clear the way for more profiteering based on human resources...

Bring on technology to free up human being to become more than worker drones for the top one percenters.

[Lilith7]

My farcebook page has a quote from MLK about how we are told capitalism was built on hard work, sacrifice and enterprise, but neglects to point out the roles of slavery and exploitation. It is very pertinent these days when we hear of the various oppositions' plans to cut minimum wages, increase hours of work, and general clear the way for more profiteering based on human resources...

Bring on technology to free up human being to become more than worker drones for the top one percenters.

It seems some would prefer to ignore the role which slavery played in the past, &  have us return to Victorian times - pay as little as possible while making maximum profits.


I'd like to think that eventually technology might lead to a time when humans become far more creative & educated

[nzoomed]

For a start its a business and not a charity because none of the profits "help" anyone outside the community and even then, their "workers" are mostly born into it and forced to work from a young age who have had no choice.
If there is any "charity" its only just keeping their members fed with a small bunkroom they sometimes have to share with others.
I remember hearing on the TV how their showers are set at one temperature with no hot or cold taps.

The sooner their charity status gets removed the better.

[Lilith7]

Yes, that should be the outcome of this, & the sooner, the better; they're a business rather than a charity.

[Lilith7]

Ex member hopes there'll be further investigation; its likely to get very interesting if in the future there's a ruling which obliges those who were working are now paid for that work....might use up all their ill gotten gains. With any sort of luck.


https://www.odt.co.nz/star-news/star-nat...H7sBVV0yME


"Judge Inglis will rule on the question of compensation later.

One of those child employees, Daniel Pilgrim, told Morning Report that it was a "mind-blowing" legal victory.

"On every point we argued, we won. So that was pretty huge.

He said he now hoped the police, the Labour Inspectorate and Oranga Tamariki investigated the Gloriavale community further.

Pilgrim said his work involved milking dairy cows, and when younger he worked "down in the swamps" and in factories, doing a mixture of jobs.

He said understood at the time that these were not the sort of jobs expected of other children, but that this was all he had ever known and it was expected in Gloriavale.

Pilgrim said he had always been resolute about pursuing the Gloriavale sect in court.

"I was definitely unsure of the outcome, but I never considered dropping the case," he said.

Steeling that resolve had been the belief that his experience and that of others he knew had amounted to slavery."

[Zurdo]

My Grandfather would've thought that was pretty normal work for kids that age...probably think they had it easy. He also thought women shouldn't wear trousers. We've come a long way since his day.

[Lilith7]

My Grandfather would've thought that was pretty normal work for kids that age...probably think they had it easy. He also thought women shouldn't wear trousers. We've come a long way since his day.

We certainly have, thankfully - the times they are a changing!