Dear all,
I understand that many of you do not like to have the government interfering with businesses; however, the working conditions have been deteriorating rapidly and as a government official, I can tolerate this no more. In order for factories to function, we definitely need workers, but employing workers does not mean that we get that right to "exploit" them. I realize that the Luddites are not just bunch of rebels, they have a point and we have to answer them! And these are my proposals: improve urban sanitation, shorten work hours, prohibit any violence toward workers from employers, and reduce child labors.
Improving sanitation in the city is extremely crucial because in order for workers to be working, they have to be in healthy conditions in the first place. A lot of factories emit fatal chemicals that affected people's health greatly. For example, burning coal affected people's health by emitting soot. As workers breathe in the unhealthy air, they get sick, thus decrease their ability to work. Therefore, I propose to have all factories pay close attention of how they are going to eliminate the waste.
My second proposal is to shorten work hours for the workers. "We went to the mill at five in the morning. We worked until dinner time and then to nine or ten at night; on Saturday it could be till eleven and often till twelve at night. We were sent to clean the machinery on the Sunday," says a child who had worked in a mill during an interview. Such long hours of non-resting work caused workers' health conditions to deteriorate quickly. As workers get weaker and weaker, they lost the ability to do the jobs. Therefore, I propose to set a standard: a worker's daily working time must be within 10 hours. And during those 10 hours, the workers must have an hour for lunch break and an hour for dinner break.
My third proposal is to prohibit any sort of violence conducted in the factories towards workers. "I have seen my master, Luke Taylor, with a horse whip standing outside the mill when the children have come too late.........he lashed them all the way to the mill." said, John Fairbrother, an overlooker, in an interview. This shows how brutally the employers treated their workers. In order to prevent this from happening again, I propose to enforce a law that will punish any employers who do not treat the workers well.
My last proposal is to reduce the occurrence of child labor. "Two children I know got employment in a factory when they were five years old………….the spinning men or women employ children if they can get a child to do their business……..the child is paid one shilling or one shilling and six pence, and they will take that (five year old) child before they take an older one who will cost more." wrote George Gould, a Manchester merchant. Children shouldn't be doing the factories work because they are still very small and young, and they can't stand to do all the hard works. Such hard works for children had often lead to mortality at a young age. Therefore, in order to reduce child labor, factories must only employ children older than 7 years old, and no any children should be doing the same work as adults.
These four proposals are sustainable and feasible. With these four solutions, I believe that working conditions would be greatly improved. Workers would actually enjoy going to work, and they can once again enjoy the rights they have as employees.
I understand that many of you do not like to have the government interfering with businesses; however, the working conditions have been deteriorating rapidly and as a government official, I can tolerate this no more. In order for factories to function, we definitely need workers, but employing workers does not mean that we get that right to "exploit" them. I realize that the Luddites are not just bunch of rebels, they have a point and we have to answer them! And these are my proposals: improve urban sanitation, shorten work hours, prohibit any violence toward workers from employers, and reduce child labors.
Improving sanitation in the city is extremely crucial because in order for workers to be working, they have to be in healthy conditions in the first place. A lot of factories emit fatal chemicals that affected people's health greatly. For example, burning coal affected people's health by emitting soot. As workers breathe in the unhealthy air, they get sick, thus decrease their ability to work. Therefore, I propose to have all factories pay close attention of how they are going to eliminate the waste.
My second proposal is to shorten work hours for the workers. "We went to the mill at five in the morning. We worked until dinner time and then to nine or ten at night; on Saturday it could be till eleven and often till twelve at night. We were sent to clean the machinery on the Sunday," says a child who had worked in a mill during an interview. Such long hours of non-resting work caused workers' health conditions to deteriorate quickly. As workers get weaker and weaker, they lost the ability to do the jobs. Therefore, I propose to set a standard: a worker's daily working time must be within 10 hours. And during those 10 hours, the workers must have an hour for lunch break and an hour for dinner break.
My third proposal is to prohibit any sort of violence conducted in the factories towards workers. "I have seen my master, Luke Taylor, with a horse whip standing outside the mill when the children have come too late.........he lashed them all the way to the mill." said, John Fairbrother, an overlooker, in an interview. This shows how brutally the employers treated their workers. In order to prevent this from happening again, I propose to enforce a law that will punish any employers who do not treat the workers well.
My last proposal is to reduce the occurrence of child labor. "Two children I know got employment in a factory when they were five years old………….the spinning men or women employ children if they can get a child to do their business……..the child is paid one shilling or one shilling and six pence, and they will take that (five year old) child before they take an older one who will cost more." wrote George Gould, a Manchester merchant. Children shouldn't be doing the factories work because they are still very small and young, and they can't stand to do all the hard works. Such hard works for children had often lead to mortality at a young age. Therefore, in order to reduce child labor, factories must only employ children older than 7 years old, and no any children should be doing the same work as adults.
These four proposals are sustainable and feasible. With these four solutions, I believe that working conditions would be greatly improved. Workers would actually enjoy going to work, and they can once again enjoy the rights they have as employees.