Is my workplace ethical?

[hordeorcrogue]

During my research for my international business class, I've come across the 4 main philosophical approaches to Ethics in international business. A part of one of the theories states this, "Kantian ethics holds that people should be treated as ends and never purely as means to the ends of others. People are not instruments, like a machine. People have dignity and need to be respected as such. Employing people in sweatshops, making them work long hours for low pay in poor work conditions, is a violation of ethics, according to Kantian philosophy, because it treats people as mere cogs in a machine and not as conscious moral beings that have dignity." (Hill, p.138)

I work as a package handler while going to school and the work sucks. We are held to standards with moving boxes that are unreasonable and we are paid pretty low. On top of that the working conditions are awful. Dust, dirt, and other things are constantly in the air making it hard to breathe, and everybody has constant back pain. And as the quote says we are treated as cogs in a machine, the manage could care less about the employees. When the day ends the big speaker comes on and somebody yells, "Get off the clock!". I just feel as though everything that the Kantian ethics says is wrong, this company does.

Do you guys think that this place is ethical?

Hill, C. (2015). International Business: Competing in the Global Marketplace. (W. John, Ed.) (10th ed.). The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.

Edit: We also had an employee commit suicide after he out of work early last night, whether it was tied to these horrible conditions or not nobody knows.

[Nadiru]

Your workplace isn't ethical, but most labor laws aren't enforcing an ethical workplace but a worker-safe workplace. You should ask for tools to assist your labor, handtrucks, things like that. Depending on where you live, your workplace may or may not be obliged to adhere to laws which enforce a modicum of decency, however, telling your boss that you'd like to be more productive tends to be persuasive. You'll have less back pain and they'll have more product moved.

[Fibby76]

The thing is, with the kind of job you have, which is largely considered unskilled labor, a worker like you can easily be replaced. Hence, the terrible working conditions. Because if you protested or complained about the low pay and/or the conditions, they'd just replace you.

In theory, the conditions should be better as it is according to your class, but in practice, it's not.

Learn to pick your battles. Just power through it til you're done with college then seek a better job elsewhere with that graduation paper in your hand.

[Pendulous]

You just described most physical-labor jobs. Ethical, no, never. Not against the law in any way.

[Deleted]

No, it is definitely not ethical, but then the majority of workplaces aren't - especially those at low pay or unskilled labour. Yours isn't even decent working standards, I assume people work there because they really need the money and can't find anything better, not because of any level of job satisfaction.

[Pyroballer]

No its not, quit your job and find something that wont cause you health problems for the rest of your life. Back pain and lung problems are not something you want to have as recurring issues as you get older.