Simplify the following text for a Grade 11 native English-speaking person.
Original: Sinclair 's observations of the state of turn-of-the-century labor were placed front and center for the American public to see , suggesting that something needed to be changed to get rid of American `` wage slavery '' .
Simplified: The sad state of turn-of-the-century work is placed for the American public to see , suggesting that something needed to be changed to get rid of American `` wage slavery '' .