Employees Need Labor Unions

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Recommended: Labor union effects on workers'lives

Horrible working conditions in factories have been around since the industrialization era. Although most conditions have changed for majority of the industries, the meat packing industry has yet to experience these improvements. Fast Food Nation publicizes the problems for the employees inside meat packing plants. The affects of the terrible working conditions that employees are put in due to careless employers are shown in Fast Food Nation, which can be addressed by stronger labor unions.
The book exposes every aspect of the fast food industry, good and bad. Eric Schlosser, the author of Fast Food Nation uses these aspects to present all of the problems going on throughout the country. In chapter eight, he exposes the side of the fast food culture that no one ever bears in mind, the employees’ well being. In order to raise awareness, he interviewed workers, went inside a packing plant and viewed the average day of meat packers. The most grotesque descriptions of the fatalities and thoughts from their insensitive employers’ are exhibited.
Schlosser depicts the horrid working conditions employees are in while on the job, ones that can have safer regulations through stronger labor unions. Employees’ lives are constantly being put at risk, day by day: “ Lacerations are the most common injuries suffered by meatpackers, who often stab themselves or stab someone working nearby” (Schlosser 173). No matter what time of day, both meatpackers and cleaning crewmembers suffer from all types of injuries that occur on the job. Employees are forced to work side by side as they cut and clean the meat. They deserve to have a safe working environment, without having the constant fear of being killed. A strong job union formed by the ...

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...gal, and if it occurs, the employers can be taken to court.
Although having strong labor unions within a job isn’t beneficial to the careless employers, the employees are able to have better working conditions. The fear of reporting an injury or a simple complaint isn’t going to end with someone losing his or her job, his or her life, or his or her family. Despite the fact that it’s nearly impossible to make someone care about something, job unions have the ability to control the wages they receive, working conditions, protection, and their treatment. The employees that work in fast food nation have the ability to come together and fight for what they believe is right, without fearing the loss of a job.

Works Cited

Schlosser, Eric. "The Most Dangerous Job." Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2001. 169-90. Print.

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