I believe that to appreciate the mentality of ruthless, cruel employers, and of anyone who advocates on behalf of legislation, regulations, or policies that deny workers the dignity of enjoying their time away from work, you need to understand that such people—by virtue of their own ambition and greed—have denied themselves this same dignity. Having sacrificed their families and their dreams for their work, such people suffer—and cause others to suffer—because they know of no other way to pursue their own psychological needs.
Being acutely aware of the poverty of their character—yet also being unable either to admit their folly or to change their own behavior—these losers use whatever power they wield to normalize this pathology in order to populate a like-minded in-group that justifies such shittiness.
Again, these people sacrificed everything that makes life worth living, and expect everyone else to likewise squander their humanity.
I invite everyone to test this hypothesis by learning more about the lives of whichever shitty people try to bully you into accepting undignified working conditions and pay. If confirmed, then use evidence of this pattern to your advantage by publicly shaming everyone who would act to deny you a shot at living a dignified life. Press upon what utter failures at humanity these cretins are. Even if no meaningful change comes about, you at least retain your own dignity, and enjoy the satisfaction of knowing that they know you see right through them.
Don't brood in silence. Speak up and shame everyone who would project their suffering onto all of us.