Customer Reviews

Cutting Into the Meatpacking Line: Workers and Change in the Rural Midwest (Studies in Rural Culture)

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While I do not disagree with the previous review, I felt the need to point out that illegal immigrants are certainly NOT the only ones forming the backbone of the workforce at these rural meatpacking plants. Indeed, in the small Midwestern town in which I grew up, meatpacking is just about the only job that pays something resembling a living wage for those who choose to stay in the rural Midwest. And from observing the people I knew who worked there, believe me, it's not exactly living high on the hog. In my opinion, these blue collar workers are being squeezed just about as hard as they can be, and not enough light is shed on that fact. But for many people who choose to live in the place of their birth (or a place they've come to call home), they don't have much choice when it comes to where to work.

If you're not already aware of the heroic struggle immigrants undergo as they pursue the American dream, this book will clue you in.

We've all heard xenophobes rant about immigrants taking jobs away from American workers. Now meet the immigrants who sign on to jobs Americans won't touch -- the ones with no safety nets -- low wages and no benefits, i.e., no paid vacations, no profit-sharing, no health insurance (despite dangerous working conditions), no compensation for loss of limbs, no pension plan, no social security contributions.

One's perspective is changed with the realization that these new Americans are proud to be working at a place where the hourly wage is a whopping $7-8/hr. If this is the American dream, imagine what life must be like at home!

Fink goes to work in a meat-packing plant in Iowa for an up-close look at the conditions and environment in which immigrants (mostly from Mexico and Central America) toil to support families both here and in their homelands. Her sensitivity to the workers' pride and plight, and her empathy with their every-day existence is remarkable for an American. She is to be commended for her courage in wading into a stark and noisy reality -- one not altogether known by many U.S. citizens -- while retaining her writer's objectivity.

This book is highly recommended.