Puerto Rico: Migrant labor's newest source

The Pueblo Chieftain ^ | 8/13/2007 | Charles Ashby

[cll]

A Glenwood Springs entrepreneur sees the island's U.S. citizens as the solution to the 'illegal' problem.

By CHARLES ASHBY THE PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN

Glenwood Springs entrepreneur Johnny Gonzalez has a simple solution to his area's labor shortage.

Instead of relying on immigrant workers from Latin American countries that used to come to the Roaring Fork Valley before the state enacted tougher undocumented worker laws, Gonzalez has found another - legal - source of labor:

Puerto Rico.

Spurred by former state Rep. Gregg Rippy, R-Glenwood Springs, Gonzalez has started a new employment company that's bringing Puerto Rican workers to Colorado.

"The reason I did it was to provide labor here because the immigration issue is a real big nut," Gonzalez said. "But I said, ‘What are you guys worried about? You need workers? Let's go to Puerto Rico.’ But some people asked, ‘Puerto Rico? Where the hell is that?’ ”

Like an innovative plan to use state prison inmates to work farms in Pueblo County, Gonzalez believes he's the first in the nation to turn to the Caribbean island where his parents still live to bring cheap labor to the mainland.

Like farms and towns in Southern Colorado, communities from Aspen to Basalt to Glenwood Springs have seen a dramatic decline in immigrant and migrant workers coming to the state.

The Western Slope particularly has been hit hard because of an increase in oil and gas development in the region, which has drawn even more workers away from construction and service-industry jobs.

So Gonzalez decided the best way to help combat the labor shortage was to go to his home island where residents already are American citizens. He founded an employment firm called RicoManPower to do it.

The program hasn't been all wine and roses. Since he began bringing people in this year, some have returned to Puerto Rico. Some became homesick and others had difficulty acclimating to the region culturally, Gonzales said.

Of the 56 people Gonzalez and Rippy helped to bring to Colorado, roughly half remain on the job.

"If done properly, and some rich millionaire would put some money in it, this could take off," Gonzalez said. "We're just trying to help our community here. We've had some growing pains, but I've learned from my mistakes. Now we're being more selective in our hires."

Rippy, who runs Grand River Construction Co. in the valley, hired two truck drivers from Puerto Rico, but only one has remained with him. He said the whole idea makes perfect sense.

It not only helps solve his region's labor woes, but brings needed jobs to Puerto Ricans who have none, he said. The island's unemployment rate last month was 11.1 percent, nearly triple what it is in Colorado.

"It is a different culture for them, but I would say that its success/failure kind of mirrors what we see in the normal workplace," Rippy said. "We know they're legal U.S. citizens, they're in a depressed area and there's a lot of them who are very much excited about coming up here to try to work for more wages than they can make in Puerto Rico. It's a long way from home, but they've just got to learn to get used to it."

Rippy said he still plans to hire more Puerto Ricans as soon as Gonzalez can locate more drivers for him.

To do that, Gonzalez has hired his employment firm's first employee: Johnny Rodriquez, a Puerto Rico native who will be screening potential workers and helping them get to Colorado.

Hiring and getting them to Colorado is the easy part, Gonzalez said, though the two men plan to make potential workers better aware of the culture shock they're about to face.

"The hard part is retention," Gonzales said. "Housing is also an issue here. We don't have a lot of housing."

Although Gonzalez said he started the endeavor solely as a way to help his own community, he's interested in expanding his business into other fields, and perhaps even other areas of the state such as Pueblo.

He's already working to bring medical people, law enforcement and other skilled and trained Puerto Ricans to Colorado.

He and Rodriquez recently signed a contract with the Roaring Fork Transit Authority to hire 40 new bus drivers, many of whom will come from Puerto Rico.

"The economy's hurting so bad in Puerto Rico, the government's laid off 100,000 workers," Gonzalez said. "So, there are plenty of people there looking for work."

[cll]

It's the 1950's all over again.

[Hazcat]

Sounds like a good idea to me.

Capatalism at its best.

[cll]

Puerto Rico Ping! Please Freepmail me if you want on or off the list.

The cost of Freedom. Always honor their memory:

SFC Julian Ingles, USA (PRARNG), KIA August 2, 2007, Baghdad, Iraq
CPT Maria I. Ortiz, USA, KIA July 10, 2007, Baghdad, Iraq
CPT Anthony Palermo, USA, KIA April 6, 2007, Baghdad, Iraq
SGT David A. Mejías, USA, KIA April 1, 2007, Baghdad, Iraq
SPC Jason Nuñez, USA, KIA March 25, 2007, Baqubah, Iraq
SGT Eduardo Santini, USA, KIA March 17, 2007, Baghdad, Iraq
SSG Karl O. Soto-Pinedo, USA, KIA Feb. 27, 2007, Baghdad, Iraq
SSG Jesus M. Montalvo, USA, KIA Oct.18, 2006, Baghdad, Iraq
LCpl Yull Estrada Rodriguez, USMC, KIA Sept. 20, 2006, Al Anbar, Iraq
SSG Irving Hernan dez, Jr., USA, KIA Jun. 12, 2006, Mosul, Iraq
SGT Jose M. Velez, USA, KIA June 9, 2006, Kirkuk, Iraq
1SG Robert Mendez, USA, KIA April 27, 2006, Baghdad, Iraq
SSG Luis M. Melendez, USAF, KIA Feb. 17, 2006, Gulf of Aden
LCpl Orville Gerena, USMC, KIA Feb. 6, 2006, Hit, Iraq
SGT Radhames Camilo-Matos, USA, KIA Jan. 7, 2006, Taji, Iraq
SGT Jason Lopez-Reyes, USA, KIA Jan. 5, 2006, Baghdad, Iraq
CWO Isaias Santos, USA, KIA Dec. 26, 2005, Baghdad, Iraq
SPC William Lopez-Feliciano, USA, KIA Dec. 22, 2005, Baghdad, Iraq
SSG Milton Rivera-Vargas, USA, KIA Dec. 8, 2005, Kirkuk, Iraq
SPC Javier A. Villanueva, USA, KIA Nov. 24, 2005, Hit, Iraq
SPC Alexis Roman-Cruz, USA, KIA Nov. 16, 2005, Balad, Iraq
PFC Antonio Mendez-Sanchez, USA, KIA Nov. 11, 2005, Kirkut, Iraq
SFC Ramon A. Acevedo, USA, KIA Oct. 26, 2005, Rustamiyah, Iraq
1LT Carlos J. Diaz, USA, KIA Aug. 23, 2005, Baqubah, Iraq
SPC Miguel Carrasquillo, USA, KIA Aug. 9, 2005, Baghdad, Iraq
PFC Emmanuel Hernan dez, USA, KIA June 8, 2005, Shkin, Afghanistan
SGT Miguel A. Ramos, USA, KIA May 31, 2005, Baghdad, Iraq
MAJ Ricardo A. Crocker-Garcia, USA, KIA May 26, 2005, Haditah, Iraq
SGT Angelo Lozada, Jr., USA, KIA Apr. 16, 2005, Ramadi, Iraq
SPC Alenia Ramirez-Gonzalez, USA, KIA Apr. 15, 2005, Tikrit, Iraq
MSG Edwin Matos-Colon, USA, KIA Apr. 6, 2005, Afghanistan
CWO David Ayala-Rodriguez, USA, KIA Apr. 6 2005, Afghanistan
SPC Francisco G. Martinez, USA, KIA March 20, 2005, Tamin, Iraq
SPC Lizbeth Robles, USA , KIA March 1, 2005, Bayji , Iraq
SGT Julio E. Negron, USA, KIA Feb. 28, 2005, Bayji, Iraq
SGT Carlos J. Gil, USA, KIA Feb. 18, 2005, Humaniyah, Iraq
SFC Pedro A. Muñoz, USA, KIA Jan. 2, 2005, Shindand, Afghanistan
SPC Jose Rivera-Serrano, USA, KIA Dec. 27, 2004, Baghdad, Iraq
SSG Henry E. Irizarry, USA, KIA Dec. 3, 2004, Taji, Iraq
SGT Carlos Camacho-Rivera, USA, KIA Nov. 5, 2004, Fallujah, Iraq
LCpl Ramon Mateo, USMC, KIA Sept. 24, 2004, Al Anbar, Iraq
SPC Michael A. Martinez, USA, KIA Sept. 8, 2004, Baqubah, Iraq
SSG Gary A. Vaillant, USA, KIA Sept. 5, 2004, Khalidiya, Iraq
SPC Jacob D. Martir, USA, KIA Aug. 18, 2004, Iraq
SGT Melvin Mora-Lopez, USA, KIA June 6, 2004, Camp Cooke, Iraq
PO3 Fernando Mendez-Aceves, USN, KIA Apr. 6, 2004, Al Anbar, Iraq
SFC Jose A. Rivera, USA, KIA Nov. 5, 2003, Mahmudiyah, Iraq
SGT Francisco Martinez, USA, Nov. 4, 2003, Baghdad, Iraq
SGT Joel Perez, USA, KIA Nov. 2, 2003, Fallujah, Iraq
SPC Frances M. Vega, USA, KIA Nov. 2, 2003, Fallujah, Iraq
SGT Juan M. Serrano, USA, KIA July 24, 2003, Baghdad, Iraq
SPC Ramon Reyes-Torres, USA, KIA July 16, 2003, Baghdad, Iraq
SPC Kelvin Feliciano-Gutierrez, USA, KIA June 28, 2003, Bagram AB, Afghanistan
SPC Richard P. Orengo, USA, KIA June 26, 2003, Najaf, Iraq
SPC Gil Mercado, USA, KIA April 13, 2003, Iraq
SGT Orlando Morales, USA, KIA March 29, 2003, Helmaud, Afghanistan
LCpl Robert M. Rodriguez, USMC, KIA March 27, 2003, Al Nasiriyah, Iraq

[gubamyster]

ping

[ASA Vet]

Self ping so I can check later to see if this thread becomes racist hate as Rep. Moore says.

[stainlessbanner]

They’ve been doing this in FL for years. They do it in CO and think it’s something new.

[Vigilanteman]

"The economy's hurting so bad in Puerto Rico, the government's laid off 100,000 workers," Gonzalez said. "So, there are plenty of people there looking for work."

What's wrong with Puerto Rico? Didn't anyone tell them government workers are always exempt from lay-offs? Just raise taxes.

[JRios1968]

I’ve been in the CONUS since 1993...I am not going back to PR.

[cll]

Never say never...

Saludos

[JRios1968]

Only to visit, my FRiend...only to visit.

[hunter112]

Your list does not include Americans of Puerto Rican descent whose homes were in the United States. One of my new friends here in NY lost a second son in Iraq two years ago, the sacrifices made by Puerto Rican Americans are indeed numerous.

[cll]

That’s good enough for me.

[cll]

My list is not all inclusive. Sometimes it’s been critiqued as having heroes who are not actually from Puerto Rico. So, I’ve tried to keep it to service members who were born in Puerto Rico, those who entered active duty in Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico National Guardsmen and Reservists, or sons/daughters of Puerto Rican parents, not born in Puerto Rico, but who asked to be buried here.

But yes. Maybe all who called themselves Puerto Rican should be there.

Note: This is not a “Puerto Rican-American thing”. Nor is this “I’m a Puerto Rican first”. I am Puerto Rican and that makes me an American. You know, like Texans.

[OKIEDOC]

I don’t have a problem with bringing American citizens to fill jobs.

However, some will not like this idea because it will be American citizens doing jobs...well you get the idea...

[hunter112]

I am Puerto Rican and that makes me an American.

I was born in Canada, and made a naturalized citizen by my adoptive parents (two great gifts, a family who wanted me, and American citizenship!) You are more American than I am!

[cll]

I have two good friends who were adopted in Canada also. Must have been something common in the 60’s (not that I’m trying to guess your age).

[CHEE]

I see a lot of “pro” points to using Puerto Rico (USA Citizens) to come to CONUS to work.

They are already citizens.
It is Americans helping Americans.
Puerto Rico’s unemployment rate begs for help.
CONUS employers need legal employees.
As American citizens the Puerto Rico employees will not be subject to the slave labor syndrome that faces the illegal aliens.
CONUS residents will not have to compete with sub-par wages paid to the illegals.
The same idea can be applied to those parts of the USA that currently have high unemployment rates.
It is legal.

[3niner]

Puerto Rico is part of America, and Puerto Ricans are American citizens, so this is an appropriate source of labor.

It's too bad that so many Puerto Ricans are anti-American, but the same can be said of Americans in New York, California, Washington D.C., etc.

[hunter112]

Mid-1950’s for me! And yes, there was something going on. The Quebec government worked hand-in-hand with Catholic adoption agencies to convince pregnant women to give up their babies for adoption without questioning. Not to say that I didn’t have a better life here with two loving parents, but the secrecy surrounding that time means I will never have any contact with any biological ‘family’ that I might have up in Canada. It would be interesting to find a half-sibling someplace there.

[cll]

Interesting, thanks. I’m glad you made it, if you know what I mean.