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The life in the Spanish factories
Today we are going to interview Paula, she is a worker from a factory of Spain who has been affected by the industrial revolution and capitalism.
When the industrial revolution began in Spain, the men were replaced by machines, which led to the manufacturing of more products, and also led to a possible worse quality of the products. Salaries were also reduced and employees worked in very poor conditions, and many of the old craftsmen were left out of work by factory competition.
She is Paula, before the industrial revolution she hadn’t got a job, she only took care of her children, after the industrial revolution (19th century) a factory has given her a job, but Paula isn’t happy because, although she has work and has more money in her house, she works in very poor conditions and works many hours.
Paula believes that with the new ideology that has emerged (19th century), Marxism, they can live better than now and won't have to work in the Factory any more. Marxism is an ideology that has emerged to help workers and says that workers have to have a political party in order to have a voice and vote and decide on their future and that their future doesn't depend on bourgeois and tries to destroy private property.
Paula had 8 children, but 4 of them died because of working in the factory, her husband also died a few months ago due to poor working conditions. She is tired of working in the factory under these conditions because she knows that sooner or later they wile fire her because she won’t be able to work as she used to do.
Interviewer: What does it feel like to work in a factory?
Paula: Working in a factory isn't fun, I get up at 5 am to go to the factory and I'm there until 9 pm without stopping working. Here many people work in a little space and there is almost no room to breathe.
Interviewer: Does your boss treat you well?
Paula: No, he doesn't treat us well because if we do something wrong, he hits us or removes our pay for a week.
Interviewer: Do only women work in the factory?
Paula: No, women, children and men work in the factory. And we all work under the same conditions, the boss fires us when we turn 25 because they say that we are too old to work hard as we did before. The children start working when they are only 7. Many people die at work and bosses don't care, they simply substitute them for someone else.
by Paula Martinez