Chinese workers building the Canadian Pacific Railway were paid about one dollar per day and were assigned dangerous work such as explosives and demolition.
NOT BSTOTAL BS
NOT BS — Verdict: True
Verified by Lenz ·
The Short Version
Historical evidence clearly supports the core claim. Chinese CPR workers were commonly paid about $1 a day in nominal wages, and many were assigned the most dangerous tasks, especially blasting and tunnelling with explosives. The main caveat is that actual take-home pay was often lower after deductions, and sources usually describe blasting rather than "demolition."
Caveats
The $1 figure generally refers to nominal daily pay, not net earnings after deductions for food, lodging, or equipment.
Sources most commonly describe hazardous blasting, tunnelling, and rock-clearing work; "demolition" is a looser paraphrase than the usual historical wording.
Conditions varied by contractor and location, but the overall pattern of low pay and dangerous assignments is well documented.