They were unsafe because there were no regulations on how they were built. Some tenements didn’t even have windows or fire escapes. As a result many immigrants were caught and killed in fires (OK). Some groups tried to change the living conditions for the better. Immigrants worked in sweatshops that were dangerous.
Employers had no compassion or empathy for their workers who slaved away in their factories. Because immigrant labor was cheap, it was often exploited by the employer. Workers tried to better the situation by unionizing and have a show of strength with the numbers of workers. The big businesses, used government support to suppress the organization of strikes or work revolts. However, when unions rised up and demanded fair wages, employers would have to consider these demands and negotiations would have to take place.
Families moved from rural areas to the newly industrialized cities to find work. Once there, things were not as great as they dreamed they would be. In order to survive, families had to have everyone in the household working. This led to the epidemic of child labor with children, as young as six years old, working in harsh conditions for long hours in factories or coal mines (Dunlop, 1912). Young children could be hired to do the same jobs as adults for much less pay and could often fit into places adults couldn't.
In Lithuania, its custom that guests at a wedding-feast leave money to cover the cost, but since they were in America, many of the guest leave the feast without leaving any money since money was being budgeted amongst each person due to the lack of jobs available. Jurgis, who has great faith in the American Dream, vowed that he will simply work harder to make more money so that they may pay off the debt and continue living in America without struggling. Jobs in Packingtown involve back-breaking labor, however, conducted in unsafe conditions with little regard for individual workers. Therefore, Jurgis quickly finds work since he is young and eager to work. The family signed an agreement to buy a house, but the house was poorly maintained so it was full of repairs which evidently would cost money that they didn’t have.
Over-production – Fewer products such as cars, consumer good etc were not being sold as factories were making more goods than Americans needed or could afford to buy. As the number of sells went down, the prices of goods also went down which meant that wages had to be kept low. When this did not work, industrialists had to resort to sacking workers, and because the workers did not have any more money, they could not afford luxury so factories continued to
54). Greed was a recurring topic in the factories during this time. Factory owners did not want to shovel money out of their own pocket for any extra expenses, such as safer equipment. Greed also constituted the reason why factory owners hadn’t wanted to unionize for fear of losing money and power. Mike’s death, from a blast furnace accident, left his wife and four children to carryon without him in the midst of the first world war; however, unlike Dubik only receiving 75 dollars for funeral expenses, Mike’s family received thirteen-hundred dollars for compensation along with a five-hundred dollar death benefit to pay for the funeral signaling a better compensation plan as time progressed (pg.
Nordstrom does not offer extensive training programs to its customers. Employees are paid on a commission basis, they are surrounded by a very competitive environment and it is ingrained in them that customer satisfaction is key. Employees needing to train new employees may not emphasize to the new employee why the need for customer satisfaction is so important. Also, because of the competitive environment, it may cause the employee to not train the new employee appropriately because of threat to their sales, which could in turn cause a misconception of their family environment. There is no training program for them that state any reasons why the culture of the company relies on customer satisfaction.
Labor Unions and working Conditions. Working conditions were part of the problems that Labor Unions took care of. At the beginning of the industrial Revolution there were not many laws made for working field, without laws or having being told how to have a company/factory kept, owners were too uncaring and paid a little attention to the cleanliness of the business but more to the profit that was being made. Also owners were not paying their employees enough money, and the factories were unsafe. The cause of the problem was that owners were selfish and very greedy.
Which can be supported by the quote “[…] none knew he was in debt” (Prologue Chaucer 123). Many people didn’t leave their homes or went and moved far away from cities to avoid the plague. This happening caused many people to not attend their jobs and sell goods. Trading was also affected a lot from this plague; some cities even closed their shipping docks, scared that incoming ships would bring more of the Black Plague with them. The only people who enjoyed the black plague were the peasants as said in the quote “As the Black Death swung the balance in the peasants favor” (Routt).
The Progressive Era The decades between 1890 and 1920 was a period of vital reform activity that historians have called, The Progressive Era. In this era millions of Americans organized in voluntary associations to come up with solutions to the many problems. Industrialization, with all its increase in productivity and the number of consumer goods, created unemployment and labor unrest, wasteful use of natural resources and abuses of corporate power. Growing cities added to the problems of African Americans versus The Social Sciences American segregation was a bitter part of American history. Even worse, though, are the securing reasons for the need of segregation and the defense of the institution.