User blog comment:ChishioKunrin/The Schnee Dust Company's treatment of Faunus workers/@comment-24144063-20150105060823

I think it's probably less about faunus lives being less valuable (though they probably are to the SDC) and more about Faunus' lacking bargaining power. The faunus can't get any better jobs, and so no matter how shitty and dangerous the work is, they have no choice but to suck it up and work to put food on the table for their families. Humans can just quit and get another job, but the faunus can't afford that luxioury. The SDC doesn't adequatly protect it's faunus laborors because they don't have any financial reason to.