> >A sadistic and cruel business owner would not have hundreds of healthy Oompa-Loompas

> Were they compensated for their efforts? Slave labour. (please don't be offended, it's a joke)

In at least one of the movies, Wonka reveals that he saved the entire race of Oompa-Loompas from some sort of ecological disaster, giving them a new home, and jobs.

Personally, I don't recall any of them seeming to resent their work, peeing in a bottle, or being sniped at in performance reviews. Reasonable labor for reasonable compensation is quite fulfilling (although that sentiment is often twisted sadistically by those in power into a caricature of 'reasonable').