Chinese Factory Workers Work ‘Inside’ Huge Metal Press

At this very moment, somebody out there is not having a good day at work. In fact, there could be entire factories of people out there who are on the verge of walking away from their jobs, but can’t or don’t. Many such individuals just don’t have a choice in the situation. A different perspective on this video comes from some viewers who’ve commented that this is how foreign economies are able to steal our factory jobs. Whether it be true, I’m more apt to focus on something else entirely — on the difficulty of performing this sort of occupation day in and day out. Turnover for this sort of work must be extremely high just from injuries alone, but I’m speculating.

In America, where some jobs like this do still exist (surprise!) but in relatively palatable surroundings, some outfits pay pretty competitively. I have a buddy whose 62 year old mother works here in Silicon Valley at one of those bag manufacturing factories that have shared some profits with their workers. She received something like $80,000 for a one time distribution, care of the successful sale of their company. Stories like these are what entices and attracts would-be-immigrants who believe they can do the same job here for much better pay and conditions. To them, this is the American Dream.

I have many friends who are second generation immigrants whose parents perform work in hotel housekeeping, fish mongering, at small restaurant kitchens or even at highly risky jobs, and am always awed by their dedication to such occupations that have helped pave the way for their own children to lead better lives. Those children today work at IT departments or have careers as Silicon Valley engineers, while their parents continue to work into their senior years to eventually collect retirement, social security and sometimes, disability checks. I’m glad to see that class mobility is alive and well in my backyard, especially for the newer immigration population.

This still doesn’t change the fact that achieving class mobility is still a clear struggle for many: so even as I sometimes feel like complaining heartily about my job, these stories and images — no matter where they originate — serve to remind me that I’m not the one who has it so tough.