I’m going to look up and watch Sayles other films if available. I have seen “Lone Star,” and it was great. Let’s try his other movies if available. I like how this guy thinks.

(Wiki). Company scrip is scrip (a substitute for government-issued legal tender or currency) issued by a company to pay its employees. It can only be exchanged in company stores owned by the employers.
In the UK, such truck systems have long been formally outlawed under the Truck Acts.

In the United States, mining and logging camps were typically created, owned and operated by a single company. These locations, some quite remote, were often cash poor; even in ones that were not, workers paid in scrip had little choice but to purchase goods at a company store, as exchange into currency, if even available, would exhaust some of the value via the exchange fee.

With this economic monopoly, the employer could place large markups on goods, making workers dependent on the company, thus enforcing employee "loyalty...



- Scrip used by Olga Coal Company, Coalwood, West Virginia.

More, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Company_scrip