Factory Job

On Monday one of the refugee families I know stopped over at my house to get some advice. The husband had just quit his first job in America after only two weeks. We generally ask refugees to keep their fist job for at least six months, even if it's difficult, because that first job is often hard to find and if a refugee disappoints a company, that company is unlikely to hire more refugees in the future. So my first response was "Why would you quit after only two weeks? Everyone's first job is hard." He looked upset and said this:

This company cares only about making money, not about the workers. Twenty workers quit a few days before me because of the heat in the factory. There is no air and no good vent. The machines melt the foam for cups for places like McDonalds, so the machines are hot and they make everything hot. When I started they had me running three machines, but after the other workers left I had to manage eight. I tried for a few days. I had to run back and forth all day long. My feet became so covered with bubbles that I could not put on my shoes. I thought this land is the land for freedom. How can anybody force me to work in a place like this?

Refugees frequently find themselves stuck in difficult factory jobs. For many it is the only viable work option. I'm not sure if the conditions my friend described are unusual or typical. I am sure that there are plenty of other refugees who stick it out and put up with those working conditions because they have no choice, or at least feel like they have no choice.

Earlier this year, another refugee man I know fell at another foam cup factory that he had been working at for seven years (though he had been an assistant to an eye surgeon in Africa.) The man slipped on a loose cup on the floor and fell and broke his hip. Even though an ambulance came directly to his work to take him to the hospital, the company tried to get away with not paying him the worker's compensation he was due. I guess they were betting that he wouldn't know his rights and wouldn't be able to sue. In this case they were wrong, but more often than not they are probably right.

I know that refugees must work and pay their own bills and be self-sufficient. This is a must. The preservation of their own dignity requires it and most want to work. But I hate to think that for some their only choice will be putting up with unsafe conditions and unscrupulous companies. And I know it is not only refugees who face this problem. There is a whole silent people in our country who face this everyday.

As I sit in my comfortable, temperature controlled office doing work that I find meaningful, significant, and fulfilling, I feel like a big jerk telling my refugee friend to get back out there and get another factory job as soon as possible, even if the conditions are not the best, because otherwise they will have no money to pay the rent and they will be evicted. My friend is college educated too. He also longs for meaningful work. But he, like many others, may need to settle for hoping that the opportunity will be open to his children.

There is nothing I have done to deserve the easy path, but it has been given to me. I pray I won't forget the ones who have been given paths filled with land mines and obstacles.


"Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days. Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter." James 5