Posted on 11/15/2011 10:19:20 AM PST by JerseyanExile
Skinning, gutting, and cutting up catfish is not easy or pleasant work. No one knows this better than Randy Rhodes, president of Harvest Select, which has a processing plant in impoverished Uniontown, Ala. For years, Rhodes has had trouble finding Americans willing to grab a knife and stand 10 or more hours a day in a cold, wet room for minimum wage and skimpy benefits.
Most of his employees are Guatemalan. Or they were, until Alabama enacted an immigration law in September that requires police to question people they suspect might be in the U.S. illegally and punish businesses -
(Excerpt) Read more at today.msnbc.msn.com ...
Actually, the influx of illegal aliens into Alabama is only a couple of decades old, and the Hispanic percentage of the population is still very low, but it has increased as it has most everywhere in the US.
But what this article also points is what low wages these farmers are paying, I don't think the nation should dramatically increase its population and pay the costs of the illegals the farmers don't pay just so they can remain in business.
The time when the laws should be ignored so some businesses can lure the cheapest possible labor need to be put behind us. Raise the pay offered to more competitive levels.
You keep telling yourself that to avoid facing the fact your market has changed and you don't want to change with it.
Pointing to a few slackers does not justify the HUGE demand for illegal workers.
And furthermore, have you tried to see what life would be like for one of your "well paid" workers by doing a standard budget for their income level?
It's simply asinine to expect any half-way cognizant individual to give up 25k of benefits from the government for 15k of wages that still will not satisfy that person's financial responsibilities.
As of the census of 2000, there were 1,636 people in uniontown. The racial makeup of the city was 88.20% Black or African American and 11.80% White. 1.10% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uniontown,_Alabama#Demographics
So all 16 Guats were illegal?
As of the census of 2000, The median income for a household in the city was $12,386. The per capita income for the city was $8,268. About 48.2% of families and 47.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 60.4% of those under age 18 and 31.9% of those age 65 or over.
Can’t argue with that. But your statement that cotton farmers couldn’t survive without slaves was wrong. What happened is they had to start paying them, and us po’ whites, to chop and pick the cotton. It was another hundred years before the cotton picker took over completely.
No, it's not, but if you want a closer analogy...when's the last time you saw a paperboy?
It is intellectually dishonest to note gutting fish hasn't changed while ignoring everything else in the market that HAS changed.
When I first started working, managers would have sworn the safety standards we live by today would have drove them out of business. Now, they risk losing their business to lawsuits if they DON"T abide by those standards. So nothing changed, you say?
Years ago I ran production and packaging lines for PepsiCo. We had 63 lines taht each required a human being to fold a box, pick up the product, place in box, seal box and label. Insanely boring and repetitive work, but getting a machine to do this was incredibly hard. The technology just isn’t there yet.
Instead of human-like hands, clumsy metal paddles and doors. We finally got an internally-developed prototype running, but the maintenance required made the payout even worse.
Some jobs will still require humans, even 100 years from now.
Enough until the locals take the job, or others move there to do the work. If I'm an unskilled worker in NYC, I might not find a job. It sounds like there is a need for laborers in Uniontown, AL though...
The thesis of the article is basically correct: there are certain nasty jobs that Americans won’t do. That doesn’t translate into support for illegal immigrants. If we can’t get our native population to do those jobs, bring in the guest-workers....legally.
The taxpayers are picking up the expensive cost of the illegal Guatemalans medical care, welfare, jail, and schools for their children so the employer and their customers are getting a free ride. If the cost of socialism was priced into their wages then automation would be competitive. Many technologies get about 10% cheaper every year, assuming there is a working market for them, while labor costs increase. We need to enforce the labor laws better. If one competitor uses illegal labor, they all have to to stay competitive. Automation leads to a better quality of life for Americans, while importing more Democrat voters leads to a worse future.
A+
***Again, if it wasn’t for the illegals,****
Actually, those the CHICKEN MAN brought in were legals.
Their LEGAL children, many born here, refused to do the same work and found honest work locally and many have become pillars of the communities and are well respected.
The Illegls are another matter, as some are real pains in the buttocks.
Then the US Government imported Hmong into the area.
Then Marshallese Islanders.
Now Somalis.
Well, given that unemployment will pay you about the same to sit around whining that you can't find a job, which would you do? Skin catfish in a freezer for half a day, or stay home emailing CVs for half an hour a day?
“Get rid of welfare and Americans will do these jobs..”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Only 10 words. But they are the best 10 words posted on this thread.
I haven't the first clue of what they are going to do with their future. It is my sincere hope that they start a business or two of their own and become wealthy enough to employ several other people.
What does that have to do with working in the here and now?
LOL.
I just love these people who try to cheat the labor market, then blame the quality of the workforce when they can't get away with it.
The fact of the matter is: if you can't get anyone to gut fish for less than $100 an hour, the rate for fish gutting is now $100 an hour, no matter what YOU think it should be.
I see the same thing down here in Florida whenever we have a hurricane. Many people would rather have business owners thrown in jail for "gouging" rather than admit the value of a sheet of plywood just skyrocketed due to market conditions.
How many businesses do you own?
It's relevant because they are a statistical anomaly. You have no right to "get lucky."
They can't, or won't work like that forever, so you are going to have to replace them, eventually.
When you can't replace them for what you were paying them what are you going to do, look for more "foreigners?"
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