Laborer versus Employer

Throughout the story, repeated references are made to an imbalance in the power structure between laborers and employers. Even as a young boy in Jalco, Ernie perceives that laborers are often powerless to resist unfair wages and working conditions. When the family moves to the city, Gustavo, who works in a sugar mill outside of the city, regularly receives only one day off. Each Sunday, he makes the long walk from the mill to Tepic, spends an afternoon with his family, and then returns to the mill that same day. In Mazatlbn, one of Josy's employers tries to have him shot rather than pay the wages that Josy has already earned. The issue becomes more concrete for Ernie when he joins the working class. In the farmland outside of Sacramento, Ernie is exposed to work camps where the living conditions are poor at best and life-threatening...