They worked in overcrowded rooms ... firetraps, really. Poorly heated in the winter. Sweatshops in the summer. They worked with few breaks. And
they were paid a wage that allowed
for little other than necessities.

Such was the way many people
spent 40 or more hours each week
in Ohio and elsewhere in the country
for much of the past century.
Conditions did not change overnight. Nor did they come without struggle, sometimes even death.

Ohio Workers a production of WBGU-PBS gives viewers a feel of what it was like to work in Ohio over the past two centuries and chronicles how laborers fought to improve what were, at times, deplorable conditions.

The production supplements on-location
footage with archival photos from the Ohio Historical Society which show workers on-the-job in many industries.

The program features interviews with today’s labor and management. Recordings of labor music -- from canal songs to laments of the Great Depression -- add flavor to the footage from the past.

In the course of traveling across Ohio taping locations where people continue striving for even better working conditions, producer Tony Howard gained an appreciation for the conditions under which Ohioans worked in the past.

“I can now really appreciate the pain these people went through that raised our current standard of living,” Howard said.

Although conditions have improved for most
Ohio workers, some may never have conditions
that would be considered pleasant. But through cooperative efforts, labor and management have realized the errors of the past and, in general,
have made working in Ohio today safe and personally rewarding.

Watch the Video