" The Burchard Regime had run on a campaign of fewer and more relaxed business regulations, ostensibly to allow factory owners to become more prosperous, which would in turn trickle down to the working class. In theory. In reality, factory owners got richer and workers got fewer protections. Wages actually went down as workloads went up. And unions were snuffed out by brute force before uprisings even began. The regime turned a blind eye to the plight of working men and women. "

― Bella Forrest , Ghost Towns (The Child Thief #5)