By what measure are working conditions better than ever?
Do we use the English system or metric?
Working conditions in America are better in America now than they were in England when Dickens wrote
Hard Times.
They're better now than in Feudal times.
Awhile ago I read a book about the history of Winchester Firearms. Back in the mid 19th century when that company was getting started, workers worked atleast 12 hour days 7 days a week. Oh, wait, not, that's not
exactly right. They got Sunday mornings off for church.
The average workweek now is maybe @ 40 hours per week. Plus we have lunch hours and other breaks as well as overtime.
Or, by
"better than ever," did you mean Nov. 27th, 2011?
I think it's pretty evident that working conditions have improved, however, expecting any real degree of "improvement" in a short time range (like November 27th 2011) is a bit unrealistic.