Re: FWD [forteana] Health Care: USA, Iraq & Canada

From: Olga Bourlin (fauxever@sprynet.com)
Date: Sat Aug 09 2003 - 23:26:07 MDT

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    From: "Damien Broderick" <damienb@unimelb.edu.au>

    > At 03:53 PM 8/9/03 -0700, Lee wrote:
    >
    > >It would mean [that] fewer people
    > >would get fired. Like in 1830, the boss might come in
    > >one day and say, "You are not working out. Either leave
    > >or take a $15 per hour pay cut." Presumably the boss
    > >also goes over to the next worker and says, "you *are*
    > >working out here, I don't want to lose you, here is a
    > >$10 pay hike".
    >
    > HAHAHAHAHA! You slay me, Lee.

    I couldn't stop laughing myself. Nevertheless, I managed to google through
    my giggles to come up with some insights into the working conditions in the
    1800s and somewhat beyond:

    "... From the mid-1800s to the early 1900s, many young children in America
    worked long hours in a variety of dangerous environments, such as
    manufacturing and mining. Not only did they miss the opportunity to go to
    school and receive an education, but some even lost their health and their
    lives. It was because of these tragedies that U.S. child labor laws came
    into effect.":

    http://www.njsbf.com/njsbf/student/eagle/spring01-1.cfm

    "With heavy labor came long hours and rarely did the pay increase despite
    the grueling hours and often dangerous working environments. Over time,
    Irish Americans banded together to organize unions and improve the working
    conditions of all laborers. In 1879, Terence Powderly, a son of Irish
    immigrants, was elected head of the Knights of Labor, a national association
    of labor unions. Under his stewardship, it grew to include more than 700,000
    members....
    With the increase in numbers, the unions' ability to facilitate strikes and
    boycotts posed a real threat to industries. Soon negotiations were taking
    place and the working conditions for U.S. laborers began to improve
    dramatically.":

    http://www.immigration.net/lawyers/colum_article/articles/2001,0830-AILF.shtm

    "The mistreatment of child workers is not just a foreign problem. Since
    colonial times, the U.S. has counted on children to lend a helping hand in
    its fields and factories. In the 1800s, children as young as 7 worked in
    textile mills for 12 hours a day. Bad behavior sent a child straight to the
    'whipping room' for punishment.

    In 1938 a federal law was passed that set child-labor guidelines, limiting
    work hours for kids and requiring safe conditions."

    http://www.timeforkids.com/TFK/magazines/story/0,6277,94603,00.html

    "Throughout the 1800s, women began to enter industry in large numbers. Their
    jobs were primarily sex-segregated with most working in textiles,
    manufacturing, and domestic services. These women worked in extremely
    unhealthy, dangerous conditions for wages even worse than for their male
    counterparts. In this climate, it was women who bore the triple burden of
    exploitation by the factory owners, of having no voice in the government,
    and of the attacks by many male workers and sexist unions that feared the
    competition women represented. It was Lucy Parsons, the radical multi-racial
    anarcho-feminist, who summed up the condition of women in the six simple
    words: "'We are the slaves of slaves.'" :

    http://www-tech.mit.edu/V122/N10/col10brice.10c.html

    You get the picture. There's a *ton* of information about working
    conditions (or working restrictions) in the USA during the 19th century. Go
    ahead - anybody - defend them if you can.

    I say, Lee, what you wrote (in the sentence that began: "Like in 1830, the
    boss might come in one day and say...") put you in Wishfulthinkingland
    (cousin of Neverneverland), and maybe Peter Pan can fly there, as well ...
    but your example doesn't.

    Olga



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