Diary of Systematic Injustices Showcase
Earlier this week, I was enlightened by a systematic injustice that was taking place at the restaurant I worked at. I have been working at Smokey’s Restaurant in Vernon, New Jersey for approximately 4 years, and never once did I question to legality of the workers in the kitchen until the other day a conversation came about. My coworker Henry has been at this restaurant longer than I have, he is about 45 years old and one of the hardest workers I have ever seen. I was taken back when he mentioned to me the hours he had been working for all of these years. He began to explain to me that he began his mornings at 4:00am and did not leave the restaurant until 11:00pm and sometimes even later. Like any parent, Henry would do absolutely anything to provide a meal and a home for his family, illegally in the states or not it is not right to expect this out of a human. I myself being a waitress usually only work morning shifts which are 6 hour shifts, and the idea that someone is being forced to work a 20-hour shift for below minimum wage is sickening, and is something that needs to be fixed.
Undocumented workers, have been forced to work these insane hours in order to provide for their families. Not only are they working double a legal worker, but they are illegally making below minimum wage and physically exhausting themselves in order to survive. It is inhumane to expect a human being to work these hours daily, and even more cruel to not pay them equally, and what they deserve. This video on YouTube, of a girl name Viviana who described her life here in America as an undocumented worker describes the struggle she went through to find a job to provide for a family, and more importantly she goes into detail on the hours she was expected to perform. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQO09s_LcUE
This is an injustice in the system that is detrimental to human health and is blatantly disrespectful. The system itself needs to change its ways, and give opportunity to those “aliens” residing in this country. Either the system as a whole need to make it easier and more acceptable for immigrants to come to this country, or the system needs to stop overworking these people for below minimum wage. Henry has every right as a HUMAN to make equal wage in the United States, he works harder than I do and he performs for hours on end with no break. I read an article from the Washington Post about an immigrant who was told he was going to “work like a donkey, and was grateful,” and the fact that these people are grateful for a penny’s worth of money is nauseating. The article is attached below.
Not being paid equally, and being given inhumane working hours is an example of a systematic injustice, because these people are being taken advantage of. These people’s immigration status is being used to a lot of companies benefit, because many immigrants fear being tossed out of the country. Companies are providing minimal money and overexertion to these undocumented workers and this injustice needs to be addressed. A lot of these experiences I have read about and personally encountered remind me a lot of The Leavers, and Polly’s experience as a Chinese immigrant. Polly moved to New York in hopes of a better life, and after learning she is too late in her pregnancy for an abortion she has her son Deming Cho. Later on, in the novel, Polly is taken by the immigration authorizes and is eventually deported. This situation reminds me of the hardships undocumented workers face, with their constant fear of being sent back. Nobody should live in this fear of constantly checking over their shoulder for ICE, the system needs to change and I hope my friend Henry can soon provide for his family without being taken advantage of.