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| "The Tea Drinkers" (1880) by Mary Cassatt |
According to Soni, the camp manager warned the workers that they would be punished for drinking in the man camp.
If a company provides its workers with living quarters, should the company have to right to impose regulations like this? Or should the workers have freedom to decide what they want to do in their free time, when they are not "on the clock"?
Answer this question only after you've read part two, chapter three and all preceding chapters.
As has previously been established throughout the book, Signal did not treat it's workers fairly. However, in a normal working situation where employees live on the premises I think it is perfectly reasonable to ask them not to have alcohol on campus for safety and professionalism reasons. Although, in those situations, fair and legal working environments, workers would be free to leave at any point and do whatever they would like. Signal did not just house it's workers, it imprisoned them, so it is not surprising that they would limit their freedoms. Because inhibiting them from partaking in a legal activity is treading upon their rights.
ReplyDeleteCompanies should have the right to regulate the living quarters they own however they like. However, the Indian workers at Signal were not allowed to leave and therefore were not allowed to drink alcohol at any time. This situation was not fair for the Indian workers, but this is obviously a rare case.
ReplyDeleteI think Signal had no right to impose rules on the workers like they did. Later on in the book it is mentioned that the men were made to pay rent to stay in those living quarters, and by that logic the company has no right to sanction the men on what they can and cannot do in their domicile that they pay for. Once off the clock, the workers should have been free to do as they please.
ReplyDeleteIf the workers are off the clock, then signal needs to leave them alone. If the workers aren’t harming anyone and just having a good time amongst each other, then let them be. Let them have alcohol and just enjoy themselves for the little time they get. Now if the workers get sluggish at work or even violent because of the alcohol, then precautions need to be taken as the alcohol has become a problem. But no it is not fair to completely ban alcohol before even giving the workers a chance.
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