I thought that part of the point of the union was that the workers needed ear protection from the noise of the machines. But in several scenes, I see a worker or two wearing ear protection.
Were we supposed to assume that there weren't enough to go around?
"I'd say this cloud is Cumulo Nimbus."
"Didn't he discover America?"
"Penfold, shush."
In fact, Sally Field's character is wearing earplugs on a string (not
in her ears) during the famous "UNION" sign scene. Several workers
are wearing them (in their ears), as well, as they watch her and then
shut down all the machines. Look closely at both black guys in that
sequence, for example, and others besides.
Or maybe just that it wasn't mandatory. And there are some people who won't use safety equipment (life vests, safety glasses, helmets) unless they're required to. How many people still drive without seatbelts fastened even though it's required by law (in the U.S., anyway)?
Or maybe they were expected to pay for those things themselves and, being as poor as some of them were portrayed, they'd rather spend the cash on food than ear plugs?
I work in an optical lab. We wear safety glasses.
"This is sickening... You sound like chapters from a self-help booklet! Prepare yourselves!""
If you have never been in the weaving room in a textile mill, or a press room at a newspaper, you cannot imagine how loud those places are. Ear plugs don't really do much good because that racket shakes you to your core. Many employees lost their hearing; I worked at a printing plant once (but not on the factory floor) and there were a couple pf picnic tables where the employees conversed in ASL. Factories would hand out the most basic safety equipment to prevent the most egregious worker's comp complaints. Disposable ear plugs fell into that category.
shareEar plugs are cheap. Employees should buy their own, just like they buy their own shoes.
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