Shoaib Sheikh HIST 1312, Zimmer 9/29/2015 "Preventable Fires" A little over a hundred years ago, America suffered one of the most deadliest industrial accidents in the country's history. On March 25th, 1911, a fire ignited by a cigarette began on the eight floor of the Triangle Shirtwaist Company. The fire spread to the entire building and eventually resulted in the death of 146 shirtwaist workers (mostly girls.) This tragedy exposed the horrible conditions in which these workers were forced to work and the disregard of the safety of the workers by the factory owners.
The lack of proper English and understanding of the American culture was a huge problem for those working in sweatshops in Los Angeles, emphasized profoundly by Shipler. These individuals were unable to escape the low wages they were receiving for many reasons, including lack of English or fear of being deported. A consequential result of language barriers and immigration also affects the ability to obtain proper health care for families and children. In chapter eight, Shipler writes, “ Many legal immigrants are reluctant to accept food stamps or Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program, to which they may be entitled, because they are afraid they will be judged ‘public charges’ and therefore be denied permanent residence leading to citizenship” (Shipler, 207). This is a great example of how families are not receiving benefits they deserve due to fear of deportation or not gaining citizenship.
Hiring Non US citizens to work in American factories The journal article “Michael Bianco Inc. - Immigrant Workers to Save Costs” written by Lynn Ruggieri references a rather small organization in 2001 with an employee count of 85. The organization was awarded contracts worth multimillions and they were form the department of defense. A growing organization now has 500 employees by 2004. Homeland security watched the organization and raided it to find 300 illegal workers, unfair work conditions, workers doing double shifts at single pay and working in unheated areas.
The exploitation is brutal for the working class, while the rich does not stop making money out of these unfortunate
Fast Food Nation is a well written novel that describes how the fast food industry has revolutionized the United States. Within the novel, Eric Schlosser focuses on bringing to light the dreadful problems that have resulted from this new line of business. He heavily addresses the industry's unsanitary conditions, greediness, and criminally low wages. Throughout the whole novel he tries to make a strong case for avoiding fast food entirely. This piece of nonfiction is primarily set in and around the cities of Colorado’s Front Range and takes place from the late 1900s to early 2000s.
Both in the late 19th century and today, immigrants face unfair pay, resulting from nationalist attitudes and exploitative employers. During the Gilded age, there was retaliation against so-called “new” immigrants. “The Immigration Restriction League…blamed the [new immigrants] for problems ranging from urban crime and poverty to mass unemployment” (Foner et al. 524). New immigrants, unlike old immigrants from northern and western Europe who were more aligned with white “stock” Americans, were darker-skinned and came from southern and eastern Europe. The surge of new immigrants and the changing demographics from old to new immigration caused a resurgence of nationalism, and the Immigration Restriction League reflected the population’s negative perception of these immigrants, accusing them of stealing jobs and crime.
Numerous stories are heart retching and devastating. Trying to imagine being in the shoes of those immigrants is almost impossible, as I have been blessed with a wonderful problem-free life. Unfortunately, I am unable to even relate to any of the several issues immigrants encountered daily, as I have never experienced anything they have suffered through. Although, I personally cannot attest to such horrible experiences, I can promote acceptance and equality among immigrants in America. Similarly, a quote by Carlos Ramirez suggests the same.
Immigrants are making a life in the United States and working in jobs without background checks. Everyday immigrants are in danger that the immigration Agency to find Immigrants working in their jobs or in their homes. The Immigration Agency does not like the fact Immigrants crossed the border without any papers to come to the U.S. Immigrants in the United States are afraid of the Immigration Agency because of the rough tactics the Immigration Agency does to sometimes arresting Immigrants. When sometimes the Immigration Agency thinks all immigrants are all criminals which gives the immigration agency an excuse to arrest innocent immigrants. , but not all are bad.
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.
Hispanic Immigrants are one of the most oppressed Hispanic groups in this country. Regardless of feeling oppressed in the United States, they usually had it worse in their native country. Pew Hispanic Research center conducted a survey asking people why they chose to immigrate to the United States 55 percent of those survey responded that they came to this country for economic opportunities. (Pew Hispanic Research) Upon arrival to the United States, immigrants all experience different changes or processes. Some people go through the process of assimilation which means that they let go of their culture of origin while incorporating norms and behaviors of the new culture.
Among all of these problems that immigrant workers face from past history and present history. There is solutions for immigrant workers, for example groups and organizations help out immigrant workers by providing them with labor law protection that apply to its own nationals. By having this protection for immigrant workers it creates remedies for compensate workers, stop ongoing violations and defer future violations. For instance the “AWPA it contains significant protections regarding recruitment, migrant farm workers. While the immigration workers are doing their job, they have a protection labor law for them.
A survey found that 51 percent of Americans think that their jobs have been taken by unworthy undocumented immigrants who have cheated their way into this country.. “Rasmussen Reports survey found that 51 percent of Americans believe they are competing for their jobs against illegal immigrants living in the country.” Wrote International Business Times. Illegal immigrants take jobs in service, construction, and manufacturing. IV.
And, unfortunately, it’s more prevalent in America than many may believe. When defining what exactly a sweatshop is and what it consists of, there are many forms that it has taken over the many decades of America’s existence. The basic definition of a sweatshop is a factory in which its employees, many being children, are exploited; working long hours in extreme cases of hazardous and unhealthful conditions for little pay. Despite the fact this is a
Another characteristic of alienation in the production process is that the worker is seen as an object in the production process. Again, the second article claims that 40 Nepalese workers had died in July and the first article claims, “The evidence-based assessment of the mortality rate of migrant workers in Qatar shows that at least one worker on average per day is dying”. The fact that so many of these workers are losing their lives as a result of their labor for the capitalists proves that the workers are expendable, or objects, to the
Illegal immigration has been a sensitive topic to discuss over the years. Most of these immigrants come into the United States in look for a better life, escaping the poverty from their country of origin. Many people are against illegal workers coming into the country, others are greatly benefited by their work. Many opportunistic employers have targeted these “day laborers”, called by Abel Valenzuela Jr., the author of the article “Immigrant Day Laborers”, to take advantage of their work. Immigrant workers are an important part of the U.S. economy and should be benefited by the work they do.
