Part 7 Women's Rights
The American unskilled laborer went from workhouse to sweatshop. Though the poor were no longer incarcerated in the prison-like workhouses and almshouses also known as the poorhouse, the conditions hardly improved at the turn of the century. Worse still is the fact that sweatshops still exist today.
Women traditionally have held the lowest paying jobs in America and so they also made the bulk of labor in the sweatshops. The only real advantage over workhouses was that they got to crawl home at night, to their own bed, in their own home, no matter how meager that home might be.
What is a sweatshop?
A sweatshop is usually a factory where people with unskilled workers labor long hours a day at a menial job that pays next to nothing. Sweatshops were not government regulated and so the workers had no benefits, no rights, and were at the mercy of their employer. The conditions in the sweatshop were atrocious; women worked in the sweltering heat with poor ventilation, dim lighting, no standard breaks or proper lunch hour. Anyone who could not do the job was sent home, often without pay. The sweatshop bosses did not treat their workers with respect, the were yelled at, cursed at and worse still they were often cornered in a back room some place where the boss would have his way with them. Today a sweatshop would also include the definition of a factory that does not follow the labor code but at the turn of the 20th century there were no labor codes to follow.
Why did they put up with this abuse?
In today’s society workers have rights and there is legislation to protect them. Back then at the turn of the century there were no rights, you put up with these conditions or you quit. But if you quit who would feed your babies who were waiting back home? A woman was caught between a rock and a hard spot and she had to accept the abuse in order to survive. Many sweatshops in foreign countries such as china still carry on these abusive practices today. We are fortunate that in Canada and the USA our sweatshops today are not half as bad as other countries or half as bad as they were back at the turn of the century but they still are not good under any stretch of the imagination.
The most infamous American Sweatshop in history
The lower east end of New York City was the hub of the garment industry at the turn of the 20th century. The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire made headlines on March 25, 1911 when 146 garment workers either died in the fire or plunged to their deaths by jumping out of the factories windows. The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory was housed in the Asch Building now called the Brown Building of Science and designated a national historical landmark.
The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory manufactured woman’s blouses, which were called shirtwaists in that era. Most of the 600 hundred workers were immigrant women originally from Germany, Italy, and Eastern Europe. The workers were as young as 12 years old and worked 14-hour-shifts in 60 to 72 hour workweeks. At a time in history when the average salary was $791 a year these workers made $338 a year.
There was already unrest dating back to 1909 when the workers staged a strike, known as the Uprising of 20,000. It started when the Triangle workers walked off the job and the company retaliated by locking them out. During the strike the owners of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory, Max Blanck and Issac Harris, hired thugs to attack the picketers and prostitutes to work in their place just to taunt them.
Though only 20 percent of the triangle workers walked out, this strike caught the attention of Clara Lemlich and the entire garment industry workers came on board and created massive strikes in New York City. The entire affair lasted 14 weeks.
Wealthy women of the time such as Ann Morgan and Alva Vanderbilt Belmont were sympathizers. The strike eventually gained better pay better and working conditions for garment workers but did not get union recognition, the triangle shirtwaist workers were among the groups that would not sign.
The Fire
Like all factories the inflammable material was scattered all over the place, including scraps on the floors. No one knows for sure why the fire started, or if it was intentional. It could have been caused by a lit cigarette or from the sewing machine engines, but it happened on the 8th floor. The people on the 8th and 10th floors were alerted about the fire and able to get out in time but the people on the 9th floor were trapped. the stairwell was already full of smoke and the only other exit was locked because the company was afraid of workers stealing from them. The elevators stopped working and the fire escape, which was already broken at the time collapsed as workers frantically tried to escape.
Horrified bystanders below watched as 62 women jumped out of the window 9 floors above and pummeled to their deaths. Some women were already on fire as they jumped to their deaths.
The owners were put on trial, yet it could not be proven if they knew the fire exit was locked. They were acquitted. The families of the victims got $75.00 per death, and the company owners got $400 per death in insurance money. In 1913 Max Blanck was arrested again for locking a fire exit, he was fined $20.00.
American Society of Safety Engineers
The American Society of Safety Engineers is the oldest professional safety organization and was founded on October 14, 1911 in direct response to the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire. This organization has over 32,000 members and manages, and consults and on occupational health and safety standards, within the private and public sectors as well as insurance and education.
Origin of sweatshops in America – Timeline
1820 – 1880 – The term sweatshop was originally used in the garment industry though any factory exhibiting the same conditions would be latter known as a sweatshop as well.
Since sewing had always been a skill that American women acquired, it would make sense that women seamstresses would seek work in an area they were very familiar with. The term cottage industry was given to women who worked from home and were paid by the piece. Women sewed every single piece of clothing worn by any American anywhere. Since they were paid by the piece and not by the hour, it was long and laborious work and women would work up to 16 hours a day trying to make a substandard pay. Nevertheless it was better than nothing at all.
To add insult to injury not only were the paid very little for their work, employers would scrutinize the work and reject many pieces or they just would not pay the workers at all.
1880 – 1940 – The Tenement Sweatshop – During this period of time immigrant workers often organized sweatshops in tenement buildings were people would come into to work and sweat over the sewing machines for low pay and long hours. The conditions were atrocious but the immigrants needed the work. Poor health and disease ran rampant in these businesses.
1940 – to present day – Sweatshops resurfaced in America around the 1960’s, this was due to the rising global demand in the garment industry and the rising immigrant population. The focus as usual was to get as much work out of desperate workers for as low a wage that you could get away with. These sweatshops were notorious for breaking labor codes.
Sexual abuse, verbal abuse, low wages, long hours, lack of breaks including bathroom breaks, and unreasonable working conditions still plagued sweatshop workers in America especially among the immigrant population. Do not think that the sweatshops were a piece of history long forgotten. Women in America are still facing some or all of these conditions every day.
The sweatshops of 1910 were the most horrendous, by 1950 there was marked improvement and by 1980 conditions of factory workers and sweatshop practices was on the rise again. The US and Canadian trade agreement – Nafta had paved the way for the relocating of a lot of industries (especially garment) to Mexico and these people work under sweatshop conditions. Other places like El Salvador in South America is notorious for sweatshop conditions, and of course we all know about the conditions in eastern countries.
The labor Code came into existence in 1935 yet not amended in 50 years, regardless of the changing times. The economic factors included globalization and the need to mass-produce for the world economy at the expense of the workers. The low wages given these workers kept the competition stiff.
On a social level there is racism in regards to immigrant workers in America, and there is also the immigrants’ reluctance to join of unions resulting from fear of retribution by their employers.
Also the US did not prevent businesses from taken their product to third world countries to benefit from the cheap labor there or to avoid unionization in America.
In 2001 Newsday reported that Hispanic workers are in a high-risk group for getting killed in the workforce. Two years later, according to the study produced by the National Academy of Sciences, the chances of Latinos dying on the job in America are 250 percent higher than other workers.
According to the Law as explained by Jennifer Gordon, the director of the Work Place Project, in Long Island, New York, and associate professor at Fordham University School of Law, companies in America are forbidden by law to hire immigrants without papers, but once they are hired, illegal immigrants are entitled to the same conditions and pay as their legal counterparts.
Anti-Sweatshop Legislation
The first legislation in America against sweatshop practices actually was effectuated in 1893. Florence Kelly’s campaign in Chicago was formulated to address the issue of public health. Kelly, who was the Illinois factory inspector, worked at the state level to set the working norms of the day. She worked to have the working hours cut for women and children workers and she got the legal requirement for factory and workshop inspections approved. However, the Illinois Supreme Court would declare later portions of the anti-sweatshop law regarding 8-hour workdays unconstitutional. Debate went on for years about this kind of legislation. After 1908 a 10-hour legislation was put in affect in Ohio.
Decent Working Conditions and Fair Competition Act Legislation was passed in 2006 to ban the import or export of sweatshop products in America. The National Labor Committee with the help of the United Steelworkers of America introduced senate bill 3485. Still there is room for more legislation to get factories to clean up their act or shutdown. The cheep wages is an economic necessity in some cases that practice should never be at the expense of the factory workers. Private sector profit and greed should never come before public welfare.
Sources:
http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/145
http://www.nlcnet.org/article.php?id=120
http://florencekelley.northwestern.edu/legal/court/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Society_of_Safety_Engineers
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triangle_Shirtwaist_Factory_fire
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Comments: 93
Interesting post. Thanks very much
you are welcome Deb
Carol, I butted in here to ask you to be sure and read my comments at the end of the thread. This is an article of great importance; were it not for a happenstance of seeing a documentary that told of this fire and the horrific conditions that prevailed in these slave-labor sweatshops, I would not have learned what my Mother tried hard not to tell her children, for she worked in these prisons throughout her youthful days.
yes most women did, they had no other choice, it was do it or starve to death,
I think you are following the whole series am I right?
Excellent, Carol. Excellent.
thanks Kathryn
I am stunned at the result of your hardwork. Finally I have read it whole.
I don't understand what you mean Kushal, my series is far from over,
Sadly, the result of all of this was that the sweatshops were moved to other countries rather than making any real effort to improve working conditions.
there were laws inacted and labor codes and modern sweatshops still exist in america, not the attrocious conditions of the past but attrocious conditions for this day and age.
Correct. And as our laws get tougher and it gets more difficult to run sweatshops here, more will be sent outside the country.
It's a crappy decision. Unemployment or abusive employment.
Maybe we need to take a look at our laws regarding imports (including our importing of workers).
Dan did you read the act I mentioned at the end of that that is suppose to address that very issue
Good information! Thanks for sharing! :)
you are welcome Xuong
Never heard of them called sweatshops, in fact didn't know what they was called. I had heard about them, and how hard working the woman was.
yep and the triangle fire was the worst in american history
After thoroughly checking every shirt in my wardrobe I realized immediately that none of them have waists and made a vital and critical appointment with my psychiatrist to discuss the matter before recognizing that I'm a man and perhaps mens shirts just don't have waists?
Do I dare say, "thanks for sharing" and appear vacuous and limited in my ability to comment effectively and appropriately? Or do I slink away quietly and remain silent? Do I limit my commentary to just a few words, fearing that by dwelling too long on one thread I might miss valuable earnings? Pshaw! Or do I make my thoughts known, laying out my psyche on the table for all to see? These questions, and more, arise when one is presented with a thought provoking editorial. The real question remains though, where are my shirtwaists and should I really have any at all?
thanks John, perhaps you will take a look at the 6 articles before this one, in the series as well.
What we all allow for the opportunity to own lots of cheap crap.
yep
UNIONIZE the WORLD - so what if it's more expensive - it's better made and compensates people who do the WORK - and we don't NEED SO MUCH crap !!!
true again
I'm for eliminating the cheap crap. Most of it of no of real value, or usefulness. All bobbles, sparklies, and decorative novelty items. That's why I haven't shopped at places like Walmart, or the Dollar type stores for years.
Good working conditions and pay don't have to mean exhorbitant prices. It just means that companies' executives can't make millions and millions in salaries and bonuses. It's the greed, people, the greed. And the public feeds it by agreeing to buy cheaper and cheaper goods at places like Wal-Mart. If the public demanded better goods and better conditions/pay for workers, things would turn around. And manufacturing would return to the US. We've silently supported this trend for way too long. Either stop buying the crap, or expect it to get worse for future generations.
some people have no choice though it is all they can afford, the greed is at the upper echelon.
Sorry, Carol - I don't buy that excuse. I've been in the stores - there are people who are obviously not rich, walking around the store with their baskets full of unnecessary crap - plastic toys made in China that will break and get their kids sick, junk food, etc. For some reason, the average American has totally bought into the pitch that having more stuff is better and makes you happier. I bet many of these people who 'have to shop at Wal-Mart' have cable and a big-screen tv at home, as well as cell phones for everyone in the family.
then there are the people you don't see like me that barely go to the stores because we cannot afford anything but when we do we have to buy cheap, you never really know how a person lives until you walk in their shoes,
With all due respect, Carol, when my husband and I married, we were still in school and didn't have a penny to our names. We didn't have cable, we didn't have extra phones, we didn't have much in the way of clothing, we certainly didn't have a computer. You obviously can afford a computer, and the line/cable to access the internet.
Overall, I think people have a different view of what is 'necessary' and 'basic' now. Personally, if I could barely afford to buy food and had to go to a Wal-Mart to pay a few pennies less for something, a computer would not be viewed as a necessity, nor would a tv, nor would cell phones, nor would a lot of things that I see kids walking around with these days.
I agree with both of you and have lived both lives. Most of my adult working life I was rather privileged and owned my own publishing company. I once looked at my Wal-Mart receipts and realized I was spending, with food purchases, over $200 a week there. I lived alone. DVD's, CD's and Playstation games made up a great deal of that.
Now I'm retired and I retired very young. I don't have any income and so I don't buy anything, ever. We've disconnected the cable, not to save money but because we never watch TV. We grow almost all of our own vegetables with both an indoor and an outdoor garden. We NEVER go to the store to buy stuff, ever. We even closed our bank accounts since we weren't really using them for anything other than storage. We rarely drive anywhere. People change based on their needs and experiences.
You know I think I'll comment on my impression regarding sweatshops too. The current business climate in the US is heading in a decidedly downward trend when workers rights and workers compensation is considered. The unions representing the auto workers just recently relinquished a majority of the benefits they worked diligently for over a period of many years.
The corporate world demands that profits are paramount to human needs. There's an ever increasing yearn for greater profit with no incentive to consider that human suffering might accompany that desire once the usual methods are implemented. We here in the US produce nothing because to produce in the US meant to produce expensively. Unions were great but they don't produce economically in a global economy.
I think we'll see an increase in the number of people that participate in using usurious policies in employment overseas and as the consumate global consumer we'll buy these baubles without a care in the world as to how they're made or who may have suffered to make them. It's the way Americans are today and I believe the way they'll always be. Sure, there are always a few that are quick to point out the errors of our ways and call for boycotts of egregious companies but the majority of people just walk on by, safe and comfortable in their oblivion.
Good for you, John. I guess I'm in the same place in life you are, although my husband and I started our own business a few years ago and are not making much at the moment, trying to grow it.
We also stopped 'consuming' - have a large garden, have sold many of our possessions at consignment stores and yard sales and almost never, ever go into a store. We have simplified our eating to basic, home-cooked organics, mostly vegetables, hardly any meat, and never eat fast food; we almost never buy anything in packaging, so we hardly have anything in our barrel for trash pickup; what we can we recycle, and we compost all natural matter. Although we have a tv, we mostly read or do things outside when not working. We are much happier now, and wish we had skipped that middle part of life when we did make some unnecessary purchases.
It's a very good feeling, to be a 'human being', not a 'consumer'.
Gee Sheryl, you're the first I've met.
We also buy nothing in packaging and don't eat out and would NEVER eat fast food, although we both have in the past. YES, we feel so much better to have eliminated all of the additives. We also eat hardly any meat. I've discovered that by using torrents I can download in HD quality any movie ever recorded including new releases so we watch a movie almost every night. We also have a huge iTunes collection that we really love listening to.
It is indeed a GREAT feeling not to be a consumer. I watch people at the grocery store where our purchases are quite limited and I don't understand how people can feed these pseudo-foods to their children but of course I too ate them at one time. We compost everything too. We keep stuff a milk carton on the counter and bring it ourside and dump it periodically.
If only everyone...
I know, John. On garbage day, I pass the buckets on the curb and see one-family homes that have two large buckets overflowing. And many recycling buckets overflowing with plastic water bottles. Why not just get a Brita and reuse? There is so much people could do that would save them money, save the environment and increase their overall quality of life.
I, too, wish we had started a long time ago with many of these practices. We were never big consumers, but should have started much sooner.
I have a computer because that is how I get paid, I work at the computer, I am a freelance writer and if it really was in all due respect you would respect that there are poor people, in this world, and not always is it because they are lazy, or frivolous. There are many reasons for poverty lumping everyone in the same category is the exact reason this series is being done in the first place. There are many people just like you were with no cable and anything else and they certainly cannot afford designer clothes if they cannot even get their basic needs met.
thanks John, thanks very much for your very insightful comments.
Well, I guess you're taking my comments wrongly, but taking the same comments from John with thanks. Too bad you can't see that we are basically saying the same thing. I'm not grouping all poor people together, nor berating them. Did you actually read my comments? And just because you are a free-lance writer doesn't mean that you have to have a cable connection to the internet.
That's the problem that I am trying to represent here. With respect. But, people don't want to hear it. They don't want to hear that they are wasteful and buy things that they do not need. They don't want to hear that they eat unhealthy, more expensive food, with the excuse that it's 'cheap' and 'all they can afford'. The fact is, you can convince yourself that paying for a few items on the McD's Dollar Menu is 'all you can afford', when actually, you can get much healthier food that will fill you up for less than that. Whenever I mention anything on Gather about unhealthy eating making people obese in this country I get attacked for being rude and people tell me that they cannot help it if they are fat. The whole tenor of the nation now is 'don't blame me for my habits, I can't help it.' Well, I think that's a bunch of BS myself.
And don't take my use of 'you' personally, please. I'm talking generically.
first of all you don't know me but you decided you know my behavior that is lumping everyone in the same category, I am sorry you don't see that really I am.
How can you tell me I don't need a cable connection to the internet, my work is on the computer I am a disabled woman who used to work outside the house all over her life, I have no husband to support me I support myself, but now I am house bond and all my work is done on the internet with companies in canada, the usa and uk,
this is my job, this is my livilihood and it doesn't pay a whole lot I would be better off working outside but I can no longer do that.
It is one thing to talk generally about a sitution such as poverty but to presume you know how I live or anybody lives is not right. Poor people cannot be lumped into one category, yes there are the frivilous ones but then there are the ones that are hard working and doing everything they can to get out of like the ones that sleep in cars at night while the comb the streets during the day looking for work, let's face these people are not here to defend themselves because they don't have the interne to talk to you and me, I am poor there are people that are poorer than I am and poverty is not a good state to be in for anyone, even middle class people are finding in hard to live in these times,
I worked for a man once years ago who had an epiphany he said to me, I complain if I don't have the means to by a brand new car, or at least I did until I met a woman who didn't have the needs to buy a quart of milk for her children, it was then I realized how we live in different worlds and how I would never know that life and thank god for that.
now if you meant that I have a computer and I should be thankful that I am not as poor as others, you would have needed to state that for it to be understand because it reads more like yeah you are so poor but you have the internet the cable whatever.
Words are written each one takes their understanding from them the clearer they are written the more the reader will understand, remember the reader is not in your head, ( I am not saying this to be mean or sacastic) so that is why will all have to be clear in what we mean, No I did not see your words as compliments if they were meant to be then I am sorry for that but that is how I understood your post,
I don't to fight about this at all, social justice is a very big issue for me, social justice for everyone race, creed or colour, and this series is just on women, though that does not mean that men have not had it hard there are many areas there too, but that would take a life time to write everything that is not just in this world as you are well aware of,
so can we chock this up to a misunderstanding of each others true intent and move on?
Fine with me. You don't want to group all poor people into a negative category, and I don't want to group all poor people into a positive one. And added to that, I'd like to say that I've travelled all over the world - and seen what real poverty is like. And I know for a fact that many people who claim to be 'poor' in this country would be considered quite well-off in others. It's all a matter of relativity and viewpoint and values, Carol. THAT'S the point I'm trying to make here.
Your words read to me as someone who is rather defensive about her position in life - you are right, I don't know you at all, except for your words and the fact that you are posting articles on Gather and commenting on them during the day and that you have a computer and an internet connection. I am making some assumptions, you are correct. And some of my assumptions may not be absolutely correct, as you say.
But, I also realize that what we call being 'deprived' here in the US is so above the living standards of the rest of the world it's almost not even comparable. I believe we got into this because of my remarks about people who claim they can only afford to shop at Wal-Mart, but I see their carts full of unnecessary items. That remark still holds, as I have seen lots of evidence over the years. I have seen many poor students in schools, having taught for years, who have cell phones and expensive sneakers, but are still getting free lunch. Would I deprive them of lunch? Absolutely not. I'm just saying that many Americans' values of what is 'necessary' in life, even when they claim to be poor, are totally screwed up.
I never grouped all poor people in a category if you read my work I did say there were different reasons why people are poor,
my life work has been being any advocate for the poor, at the working level and working among the communities.
Yes I am defensive in the sense to rid the myths, are their problems loads of them, but people looking at a poor person and judging just what they see does not fix the problem it adds to it.
I have worked with government agencies, lived in the communties, worked at the grassroots levels,
I have seen it all, from down right neglect and abusive and drunkeness and drug use to the system penalizing the poor and blocking every avenue of progress,
I have also seen and worked for agencies trying to make government changes, and with social workers at the grass roots level, educating providing resources and reprimanding with necessary,
and all that was before I took my degrees in counselling psychology. Then I worked with the mentally ill and the poor.
the attitude is if your are poor it is your fault,
well maybe it is and maybe it is not, you have to look in each situation with an unbiased eye and see what the issue is, and how it can be improved,
and so I am the last person that would lump the poor altogether in one category good or bad,
I agree, Carol. And you sound like a very good, caring person. As a teacher, I also approached each student from an individual perspective. That did not stop me, however, from realizing that not all their situation came from their up-bringing or their current problems. Unless people can compassionately assess people's problems, as you point out, they will never be able to assist them. Simply commiserating with someone's issues is not enough - there has got to be a point where the honest truth about how they are hurting themselves is spoken. When people become adults, they need to take a level of responsibility for their behavior. People who claim to only be able to shop at Wal-Mart because they are in a low income bracket, then choose to spend what little money they have on unnecessary items, are not being responsible. And, just for the record, even if someone is rich I still don't believe those items are 'necessary' and can even be harmful. That's all I'm saying. That belief has not stopped me from helping others, nor from being understanding and compassionate of others' problems or experiences. It has also not stopped me from pointing out that raising their kids on Dollar Menu food, or buying themselves unnecessary items is good for their family or for our society. That's what I was attemting to do here - point out that as citizens we DO have a choice that affects workers' rights in this country and in others. If we choose to shop at places that support sweatshops and terrible workers' conditions in other countries with our dollars, then we must answer for that..and not always with the excuse that we absolutely MUST have those items.
okay but what is the alternative, I don't condone sweatshops, I hate them, they are inhuman with it is happening in the usa or india, it does not matter human beings are human beings.
now here you have a family struggling in the usa to keep up with the rents, and I am not even talking about anyone who has a home but renters,
they do not have a car they live in the city but can't afford one, they have three little kids,
some will see santa at christmas and some kids will never see santa at all,
they get most of their clothes at charities but an item is needed lets say for school and they need it right away,
lets say it is a blouse, walmart sells the blouse for 10.00, it could very well have been manufactured in china or mexico or whereever,
that same blouse could be 20.00 else where,
what would you do? what is the most logical thing,
you are on a tight budget even that 10.00 blouse may be more than you can afford but it is a neccessity,
if you pay 20.00 on principle that is 20.00 less on the food budget, the rent money, the utility bill or whatever.
you are really caught between a rock and a hard spot,
then you have people like mirah carey who spends 2,000 a day on makeup,
there is a big world of difference between these two situations.
And I cannot argue with the specific case you present, Carol. They are not the people I am talking about...as I said before a few times, it's the people with carts full of unnecessary items, not shirts for school.
okay then I thnk we are on the same side here then,
sorry for the typos I am always under pressure to write quickly because I can never get through all that I have to do in a day otherwise, I know it is a poor excuse but nevertheless it is a reality with me, then there is also the issue that I do have a learning disability I do not see the errors even if they are glaring, and I managed a master degree, and published too books and on the third,
Having sweatshops in the first place, demoralizes workers and it's not good for anyone. This practice should be abolished and turned out to pasture.
It's way too easy for those employers to treat their workers like dogs, and it's not worth it in the end.
yep
Excellent article. Terrible though that some will do just about anything for money though.
yep that is the way of the world unfortunately
Awsome job , keep up the good work
thanks roger
Absolutely one of the most important and under-reported episodes of the American Dream turned to nightmare. I shall need to consult with family members in order to present a useful account of my Mother's history of working in 'the Millls', as she referred to them.
Thankfully, Mom's twin sister Ida is still here on Earth, in Littleton Colorado. I shall contact her this week.
How stunned I was after Evelyn Allenson [Bianchi], my Mother, passed into Mom Heaven. I was not informed that my Aunt Ida was coming to Brisbane to attend Mom's funereal. Just after Mom's passing a neighbor stopped me and said "Glenn, we heard your Mom had died last night but she just walked past our house a few minutes ago!"
Ida, who not only looked like her twin sister, she laughed and talked just like Mom, but Ida had not been here for many years, so for the most terrifying of seconds I wondered if Mom's death - Mom had died in my arms many hours earlier - had been only a cruel, Devil-spawned nightmare. But seconds later, after running to my Folks' house and finding Ida and her family there, I was slammed back into the reality that could not be denied.
How foolish I felt. How stupid I was.
How I hate Reality at times like that.
Again, I yammer on. Fine work Carol.
Really important work, that you bring forth.
Such is your True Nature.
yep I am an eclectic writer I wrote on just about everything, history, women's rights, medical information, poverty, social justice, psychology, health insurance (I freelance for that), current events, personal stories, inspirations like the one you read, I will connect with you and more.
I have to lay down away I am not feeling well but when I get up I will go and read some more of your stories.
Since I went crazy and posted those facts, I need to say: If you read my post titled 'Mom looks down from Mom Heaven to set me straight...AGAIN', be aware that I did not sleep much during those final days.
Had I been rested, I would probably not have gotten stupid about my neighbor's saying he saw Mom walking by. Probably. But for a few seconds I expected to run up Mom's stairs and see her sitting at her table, where she always was. For a few seconds I forgot Mom even had a twin sister.
Funny how this kind of thing stays in front of other memories. Funny, how the mind works, or fails to work.
Gees, I gotta stick with writing COMEDY!!!
glenn I started reading your first article published here, at least I think it was and I am going to read one or two more today, I will try to get to every one of them.
Good article Carol. And now we think we can do the same thing in other countries far from the view of workers and make people think it is a win-win thing, when it is a lose-lose race to the bottom.
And we do, too.
I also want to say, Good Article !!
And you are absolutely right that these conditions continue today, in countries that ship goods to our dear U.S.A.
Last year I caught a video on Current TV that showed the sweatshop lives of Chinese women (including women as young as 12) who make Mardi Gras beads. They work up to 20 hours per day under management that wields an iron fist. Some of the employees became obviously nervous when the film maker asked them questions about the working conditions; and many of those workers were shocked to find that the product they were making were used to award women for showing their breasts.
The video is less than ten minutes long.
Here is a link: Beads, Breasts and Business
yep we are all guilty of perpetuating this condition,
bill thanks for the link but I don't have a sound card in my computer, it is really an antiquated machine and when it finally goes, I have no idea how I am going to write to support myself.
Oh my! I'm glad I don't participate in Mardi Graus, nor buy at buy ay these Walmart junk stores.
I live much as Sheryl, and John discribed.
Yet sweatshops are always getting busted with illegal immigrants suffering as they get returned to their homelands where the sweatshops are legal!
there is no quick and easy solutions that is for sure
Some prison time with some heavy duty sentences might help some, and some better politicians, too.
these guys almost always get away it
The whole thing was so horrible, so sad.
yep and it is still going on
people as chattel1 Not a good way to be.
absolutely
The film was so sad. Up close, you could see the women's hands. Nicked, with red sores, from all that bead work.
This is what capitalism and entrepuralism is capable of. I know it can do much better than this. Why does it always have to be this route? Operating and feeding off such desperation. Taking such unsrcoupulous advantage of people.
I'm glad I'm not much into consumerism.
me either
It is a shame that these still operate in America.
it is a shame they operate anywhere
Sometimes the "history" is too close to the present.
exact it is still happening as we speak
It's inhuman how people were and are still forced to work for slave wages in sweat shops.
absolutely
thanks for the post
you are welcome chas
Very informative post. I really enjoyed it.
thanks Sandra
This is both interesting and informative
thank you shelbia
EXCELLENT.
This is a great article. Thanks for taking the time to share.
I'm going to go read the other 6 now.
thanks so much for the suggestion
And you're welcome. It's really interesting.