It is difficult to say if the conditions were better then or now, simply because both good and bad changes have occurred in the past century, which causes the pros and cons to balance out. Sadly, the working and living circumstances are nearly too horrendous to exist. In fact, it is one of the most dangerous jobs in the country. Despite the amount of changes in the industry, working in the meat packing factories proved to be a repulsive job, both in the 1900s and today. Thankfully, these works have inspired millions of citizens to stand up and promote change in this gruesome and cruel
The workplace was not clean. There were no health or safety standards in the workplace. Many people contracted diseases from where they had worked and would frequently die from those diseases. The only lighting in most factories was from sunlight coming through windows, if there were windows. Factory smoke filled the inside of factories and workers would leave covered in soot.
The owners forced them to live in isolated communities near workshops and forced them to buy goods with high interests. The cities were poorly constructed and crowded with people and residents. The work was also dangerous with not much supervising by the government.Workers, on the other hand, had little or even no bargaining power to leave the unsafe conditions. Nowadays, When Americans only pay attention when extreme work strike, levels of abuse are the norm hidden in the factories around the globe. Although the condition seems much improved, consumers don’t know the true fact- “Today, American citizens simply cannot know the working conditions of the factories that make the products they buy.
The family members have been working for the meat industries, and have learned all their schemes. They describe the many inhuman and gruesome things that occur in the factories. “…The beef had lain in vats full of chemicals, and mean with great forks speared it out and dumped into trucks, to be taken to the cooking room.” (Sinclair 69), the factories found ways to mix spoiled meat with regular meat to sell, one being the amount of different chemicals used to relieve of the stench. They also state that there were rat problems and when the rats die they were usually proceed with the rest of the meat. Even with the fact that the family knew the secrets behind the meat, there are forced to buy and consume the meat.
It was simple for capitalists to cut costs in terms of labor because workers depended on holding a job to survive. As a result, working conditions worsened, and wages decreased substantially. In Zola’s Germinal, the working-class Maheu family faced horrible working conditions in the coal mine. The conditions are described using these gruesome terms: “At the bottom of the shaft, it had been very cold, and in the haulage roadway—through which all the air in the mine passed—an icy wind blew, whipped to a storm by the narrowness of the space between the walls. Then, as they penetrated deeper into the other roads, which each received only a meager ration of air, the wind dropped and the temperatures rose…” These conditions were typical of a worker during this time period, as laws did not exist at the time to outlaw child labor, long work days, or toxic air conditions.
The workers are placed into cruel work conditions and expected to work for next to nothing. This is just as unethical as the meat production industry was is in the early 1900s. The only solution I see fit to correct this bad business is to enforce labor laws. If these foreign countries were to enforce labor laws, there may be improvement in the workplace. The workers could finally earn the wages they deserve and the environment best that may be provided.
During 1607-1611, early Jamestown colonists died to many reasons like starvation, occupations, and drought. Colonists did not have many resources to live a long life. That is why they died so fast through 1607-1611. Colonists died because they tried to find a new settlement for more land so they can have more resources and for a stronger defense, but instead they got attacked and there was not a lot of food there to feed them all. Colonists died by attacks by Indians.
The workers have been struggle in the work place they work the whole day in the middle of the heat without any sun protection and also their health was as risk because the growers were spray pesticide to the product. The workers work the whole day in a very inhumanity way because where they didn’t have any restroom also when the growers takes water to the workers they will only providing one cup for everyone so that they can use to drink water. They had no labor laws and for that reason they went in to strike. Growers didn’t want to agree to pay the workers more money. Workers were denied a decent life in the fields of the agricultures in California they were discriminated for been poor and they were seen as inferiors for the fact that they were Mexican and growers tried to oppressive them.
The fight soon turns and Curley is the one fighting for himself, “Curley was white and shrunken by now, and his struggling had become weak” (Steinbeck 62). Considering the unfairness of Curley’s attack and his cocky attitude, readers feel no remorse when his hand is crushed by Lennie and the feeling of callousness remains the same. Furthermore, after Lennie is killed by George, a farmhand asks Curley, “Now what the hell ya suppose is eatin them two guys” (Steinbeck 105). His question makes readers realize the lack of compassion many workers during the Great Depression had for others. The mood goes from dislike to pity since the farmhand and Curley both fail to understand the definition of love and friendship.
Many kids and adults had to work all day on their feet and never really got time to relax and go home. they had to work for hours in machines which could make people sick because there were pollutions and other chemical that gave people health problems and they may sometimes have died because maybe they couldn’t afford to go to the doctors because, workers in the factories didn’t really get pay that much because of how they work for long times . according to Document 2 it explains “ the hour labor was from 6 to t night; it was very difficult work “as a result, even though many people work they couldn’t afford to buy much food for their family and barely saw their kids and have a time to enjoy each other. Also there were many people adult that could no longer work and manger would offer little kids to work at a very younger age and didn’t have to go to school. Many girls who work had to tie their hair back because it would be catch on the machines.