The Hand that Feeds is an hour and 25-minute documentary. It was released in April of 2014. The documentary is about undocumented immigrants, mostly from Mexico, who fight their way for a right treatment from their employers. When I saw …show more content…
They are part of the Laundry Workers Center. The goal of this organization is to help workers get what they deserve. There are also activists who support and help them plan what they should do. The first thing they did is hand out flyers to by-passers. They wanted to gain the attention of everyone so they would know what is happening in the workplace. They do not demand the business to close, they only want them to treat them right; pay them the right amount that they owed. The owners were afraid of this and they settled the balance they have for their workers. After this, they do not want this scenario to regulate. They said that they would not settle with individuals, they need to have a union. Having a union means that they first need to win the election, which is difficult to accomplish. It is a long process and winning this battle is a long shot. Some of the unions who tried it before did not last. But this time, they did it. They lost some members because we have to admit that some has different priorities including their families. Mahoma, the person who served as their leader, was offered a higher position in the store and a raise. However, he has to stand up for his co-workers. Because if he won’t, they will be continued to get exploited. They did anything that they can to have them agreed to their terms and conditions. I remembered one of the passer-by said that they should just go back to …show more content…
They are being exploited because they are “illegally” settling in the US. However, they seemed to be the best thing that can happen to businesses here. Owners, altogether, keep the wages down and employees cannot complain regarding the matter. Even if they try to look for other jobs that might hire them, it will just be the same. According to Ben, the lawyer helping the LWC, workers have rights to organize under the National Labor Relations Act, even though they are undocumented, they are absolutely part of the workers. They should receive minimum wage and overtime. New York should protect its workers. They are one of the reasons why businesses in New York are still running this day. I also remembered one of them saying that “the system does not work for poor people.” This film is more or less than 3 years in the making. However, it might still be the same. I have friends who are earning $6 per hour and they work longer hours. They do not want to leave the job they have now since they are afraid they might not get something else. What I am saying is that it is still out