Posted on 11/25/2006 9:00:16 PM PST by Kimberly GG
Homeless, felons help fill poultry jobs South Georgia plant labors after immigration raid loss
By MARY LOU PICKEL The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Published on: 11/26/06
Stillmore — Felons on probation and homeless men have filled some of the poultry jobs left by illegal Mexican laborers deported in raids two months ago.
About 40 convicted felons from the Macon Diversion Center are bused in each day to work at the Crider Poultry plant in Stillmore — the focus of the raids.
Pastor Ariel Rodriguez (from left), talks with Ernesto Gutierrez Ordoñez and Antonio Gutierrez Lopez about the raids.
Stacie Bell pushes chicken onto a conveyor belt at the Crider Poultry plant in Stillmore. More workers have been hired to fill job gaps.
Additionally, 16 men from the Garden City Rescue Mission in Augusta have come to work in the plant. Several from the mission have become shift leaders, said Lavond Reynolds, director of men's housing for the mission.
"Compared to the attrition rate [at the plant] in general, these guys have really stuck so far," Reynolds said. The mission might send another 15 soon.
Still, that's just a drop in the bucket. The Crider plant is operating at about 450 employees — less than half its preraid level of 1,000, company president David Purtle said.
The Mexican population in Stillmore has plummeted since immigration officials first visited the Crider plant in May, town residents said. Immigration agents estimated that 700 workers were using fraudulent IDs. The company began checking documents and confronting employees. Many were fired and hundreds of illegal immigrants left town on their own throughout the summer.
Then, over Labor Day, federal agents rounded up and deported more than 125 illegal immigrants working at the Crider plant or living in Emanuel and surrounding counties.
That left Crider with a big labor gap, and finding workers to fill the jobs has been a challenge. Among the efforts and changes at the plant since the raids:
• The company outsourced 250 jobs in its raw deboning operation to Alabama.
• Some processing has slowed because of the downturn in the work force.
• Crider has turned to an outside company to hire about 100 workers to clean the plant each night.
• The company raised starting wages by about 40 cents and now offers attendance bonuses to new hires. Before, it took a year to be eligible for the extra pay. (Starting base pay is $6 an hour; most workers earn more through bonuses and overtime.)
• The company is spending more on hiring and training as turnover is high among new employees.
For instance, Crider advanced money to house the homeless men from the mission in trailers and to turn on their utilities. The company also pays to bus state probationers from Macon each day and is busing workers from surrounding communities.
Purtle said about 50 percent of applicants since the raids either did not pass the drug test or reference checks. Many of those who did have poor attendance or quit quickly.
"Our challenge is — in hiring unskilled people — their ability to understand what's expected of them," Purtle said. "Attendance is important. No acting up, no mouthing off. They just haven't learned."
The raids not only affected the chicken plant, but the surrounding community.
At least two landlords near Stillmore who rented to immigrants have put their properties up for sale. The Hispanic-run stores in town are operating at reduced hours.
"There's no people anymore," said Liliana Santos, 24, the clerk behind the counter at Salinas Surcusal No. 2 in downtown Stillmore.
"They don't have any jobs," she said in Spanish.
"Before, people would be walking around downtown," said Manuel Mendoza, 22, who stopped to buy tortillas. The store's jukebox played Mariachi music to an empty sideroom pool hall.
Mendoza has been in the United States 10 years and says he has a Social Security card and a job making pallets for $8.50 an hour. His hometown of Oaxaca, Mexico, has descended into anarchy with armed fighting in the streets, and he is in no hurry to return home.
Pastor Ariel Rodriguez drives around Stillmore, explaining what happened to each of the Mexican families that used to live in trailers and apartments.
"The majority of people have gone to Kentucky," he said. They knew a priest who used to live in the area and followed him up there, Rodriguez said. Other residents have gone back to Mexico.
At least one local businessman said his business has gone up since the raids. The churn of new folks applying and working at Crider has brought new customers to Mighty Mike's Hot Stop gas station and convenience store in town.
"They come in here and shop," said manager Willie Gordon. "Our inside sales have gone up $3,000 per week since the raids."
It's been a mixture of new clientele. But Gordon, who is African-American, attributes a good part of the increase to more black workers coming into town. Gordon notes: "You gotta be legal now." Click here to find out more! MOST POPULAR STORIES
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So they can check to see if a prospective employee smoked a joint last month, or last year, and what his/her employment record has been, but they couldn't check to see it they were citizens or green card holders? Riiight.
"Plus a GREAT way for convicts to pay for (at least some of) the costs of keeping them in jail -- "
...except these are ex-cons on probation, not in jail.
Ping!
The company was left with a lot of jobs to fill in a very short time (their own damn fault I might add). It probably took them considerable time to fill those jobs in the first place, even with abundant Mexican slave labor.
So is the wittle Beebe going to enforce the laws, or only the laws he likes?
Arkansas was screwed on the illegal issue no matter who won the election.
"They don't have any jobs," she said in Spanish.
Sounds like there's at least one more place in town INS needs to raid.
L
Good point.
Most of the illegals had fake social security cards and other IDs. Thanks to the years of PC police and Human Resource activists there was limited research allowed since the applicants presented the required documents. At least this is one company that is cleaning up its act.
So Mr. Crider donated to Republicans - what's the problem? It was the Republican controlled state government in GA that tightened up the laws and improved enforcement capabilities that led to this purge of illegals.
Well, here we aren't talking about management.
Not to mention that the homeless are working and making their way, however little, in the world. It could lead to great things!
"D@mn! Why couldn't they do this with all the Tyson plants in Arkansas?"
Won't happen. If memory serves me, Tyson has been a major campaign contributor to BOTH Clinton and Bush. Their CEO's contribution records below, imo, shows that they put the money in the hands of whomever is going to do their bidding, wether it be D or R. I believe I've read that 30% of their work force are illegals. And they are currently being prosecuted in a RICO suit by Howard Foster.
John Tyson
Tyson Foods chairman, ceo
$52,600 Republican
$136,510 Democrat
$176,300 special interest
total: $365,410
Let's see: Third circle of Hell, or employment in a poultry plant. ---Third circle of Hell, or employment in a poultry plant. And the winner is- Yes , Ladies and Gentlemen, it's Damnation by a nose!!
Yep. That about sums it up. Meanwhile, the entire northwest quadrant of the state has large areas that are starting to look like the low rent district of Nogales.
That's great news. Add to the worker list all able-bodied people collecting welfare.
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