Migrant Worker Research Paper

Even if it meant, working for low wages in a crowded or an unsafe environment. “From this hour, a hard life began for me. He refused to employ me except by the week. He paid me three dollars and for this he hurried me from early until late.” The owners, Blanck and Harris would often walk through their factory, looking the other way while young teenagers worked to improve their lives. This was the first indication the owners were guilty; the owners were present with their families just a few hours before the tragic fire started. They could see factory workers worked long hours with little or no breaks. They often worked without food or were afraid to stop to eat because of the demands from their boss. The pressure was real and it came from the owners and the people they hired to run the factory. One factory employee gave this description…“The bosses in the shops are hardly what you would call educated men, and the girls to them are part of the machines they are running. They yell at the girls and they "call them down" even worse than I imagine the Negro slaves were in the South.” (Life in the Shop, by Clara Lemlich)

Immigrants have always been a part of the United States and played a major role in building the foundation for the life in America, therefore, legal immigrants, should always be welcome granted that they come with good intentions. "Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" is a saying that has been associated with the country of The United States of America since its founding. That saying has infused immigrants with the idea that upon reaching this holy land, their lives will drastically change for the better. With that dream in mind, hundreds of thousands of immigrants, flock to this country to become part of its evolving culture.

“People were forced to work in harsh, dangerous conditions in order to be able to provide for their families” (Document 8). Although most people were grateful to have a job, the conditions that they were forced to work for in order to provide for their families were unfair to them, and their families. Just because they obtained a job one day, doesn’t mean they would have it the next day, for example, if an employee was sick, or injured and had to miss a day of work the employee wasn’t guaranteed to continually have the job after they finally recovered. “I am at work in a spinning room tending four sides of warp which is one girl’s work” (Document 1) working conditions such as these are very harsh for the employees, not only do they have to keep up with the work of four people. Not only do the employees have to keep up with the sea of work, they also have to attempt not to get injured with the very harsh conditions lots of employees did in fact end up with serious injuries. “5 in the morning till 9 at night…” (Document 7) Those were the harsh working hours according to twenty-three year old Elizabeth Bentley. Long hours such as those were very common for factory workers, which made life hard for employees. Not only was harsh working conditions bad, but also the worst consequence that came about through the Industrial Revolution was child

The working conditions of the new arrivals were hardly any better, as employees of factories were often overworked, underpaid, and penned up in dangerous conditions. Perhaps the horrors of these conditions can be highlighted by the devastating 1911 fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York City. Tragically, over one hundred young women lost their lives in the fire, as there was no way to get out, and the doors were locked, trapping the women inside. Safety was not the only problem, as workers initially were not given the right to organize into unions, essentially doomed to the repetitive motions of factory operation. This meant that they had no way to protest against child labor, wage slavery, and unhealthily long working hours. Eventually, with their growing clout and ever-present industrial dependence on their labor, workers organized and demanded reform along all aspects of hazardous working conditions.

A common biased opinion on immigration is that immigrants coming to the United States are taking American jobs. According to the Immigration Policy Center, “research indicates there is little connection between immigrant labor and unemployment rates of native-born workers.” The jobs that immigrants are taking are the low-budget jobs that Americans do not want. They not only get less pay, but also less benefits in comparison to American workers. In fact, according to Forbes, “illegal immigrants actually raise wages for documented/native workers.” America is considered to be more productive when we have more trading partners, Undocumented workers with limited English skills allows more American workers

The beginning stages of the UFW began in Delano, California where worksite conditions for farmworkers were deplorable, water and restroom facilities were not made readily available on a day-by-day basis at the worksite, and substandard housing offered to the farmworker made living conditions almost unlivable. Most if not all of the farmworkers were involved in unjust treatment while at work and at the labor camps where they lived. For example, workers in Delano were ordered to drink from the same cup while at another ranch, the ranch boss forced workers to pay twenty five cents per cup. Additionally, child labor arose as a problem for many as the issue worsened. Bosses at ranches and fields placed children into the same conditions as adults.

To overcome the harsh and terrible working conditions, workers decided to go on strikes to

There were a lot of issues that prompted employees at the Frontier hotel to take striking as an action to be heard. When watching this documentary for the first time I didn’t realize how long these workers were on strike for. One word to describe the owners of these hotels is “savages”. They started to fire individuals for no apparent reason it seemed the owners wanted to cut back. There was one girl that worked in the culinary department for eight years and she was let go. The hotel also took away health insurance benefits, pension contributions for employees trying to retire and the most important cutting employee wages for the hotel to save money and for the owners to profit even more letting these employees work next to nothing. A lot of workers said they felt their pride was being taken away also trying to take care of their own family will be even more inflexible. The hotel took away everything so these employees had no chose but to strike.

“The worst loneliness is to not be comfortable with yourself.” (-Mark Twain) Being a child of immigrant parents who move to American can be hard. There is a lingering feeling of not feeling like a child belongs. They are stuck in the invisible world between where their parents came from, in this specific case, Asia and where the child lives now. It can be difficult to be raised as an Asian American and learning both culture and traditions. Many Asian American kids end up deviating from the Asian culture and embracing the American culture. However, children of immigrants should embrace their own culture in order to keep traditions alive and be proud of who they are.

Women and children were able to join the work force, but for little pay and long hours. Many were face with poor work conditions, hazardous health issues and short lunch breaks. The economic success was often left unchecked by authorities, who were not ready to deal with the consequences of these uncharted waters.

That being said, the worker's problems did not end once they found steady employment. Employers were harsh and unforgiving in how they treated their employees. For example, if an employee was one minute late they were penalized an hours pay. If they were 20 minutes late they forfeited their employment. Worse yet, if they were injured or hurt on the job the company takes no responsibility and the worker is forced to recuperate on their own time without pay

An addition to the cheap labor, working conditions were harsh and the immigrants were exploited.

That being said, the worker's problems did not end once they found steady employment. Employers were harsh and unforgiving in how they treated their employees. For example, if an employee was one minute late they were penalized an hours pay. If they were 20 minutes late they forfeited their employment. Worse yet, if they were injured or hurt on the job the company takes no responsibility and the worker is forced to recuperate on their own time without pay (i.e.; when Jurgis sprained his ankle and had to recuperate at home for 3 months). The final insult to the workers was that even if they were always on time, worked hard and maintained their health they could lose their job due to the

More and more health-conscious individuals are scrutinizing the source of the food their family consumes. However, even the most conscientious consumer is not fully aware of the exhaustive efforts and struggle to get a juicy, ripe strawberry or that plump tomato in the middle of winter, even in Florida. These foods are harvested and picked mostly by seasonal and migrant farm workers. Migrant workers hail, in large part, from Mexico and the Caribbean, and their families often travel with them. Migrant farm workers must endure challenging conditions so that Americans can have the beautiful selection of berries, tomatoes, and other fresh foods often found at places like a farmer’s market or a traditional super market. Seasonal and

With an average 5 migrant workers to every Qatari citizen, Qataris are born with people from other foreign countries working for them in all streams of life. However, with the south Asian and