Although the companies claimed to pay better wages than prevailed in the local economies, their wage scale for rural workers was low, and company polities favored low wages and kept them low. As some compensation, company employees did have access to schools, hospitals and housing from the company. This housing was usually segregated. "White Zones" were reserved for the company elite, and included better houses, recreational facilities, and schools; other employees lived outside this zone. Racial discrimination policies that were widespread in the United States at the time were transported to Central America.
