Here is a fascinating article about a farmer in Colorado who figured he could hire less foreign workers and replace them with local workers who were out of jobs.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/05/us/farmers-strain-to-hire-american-workers-in-place-of-migrant-labor.html?_r=1&emc=tnt&tntemail1=y
I found the following paragraph telling:
Six hours was enough, between the 6 a.m. start time and noon lunch break, for the first wave of local workers to quit. Some simply never came back and gave no reason. Twenty-five of them said specifically, according to farm records, that the work was too hard.
It's important to note that these workers were all getting paid $10.50 per hour. Despite the Great Recession it appears as if we still need guest workers.
This article illustrates that many of the assumption made about the economy and foreign workers are false. The “solution” to economic problems is often to work on hiring and buying locally. Foreign workers are often stereotyped and discriminated against because they are “stealing” local jobs. However, the work on this farm was so rigorous that local individuals weren’t willing to work there, even though they were being paid almost $3 over minimum wage. This illustrates clearly that brining in foreign workers may be more beneficial for the economy than hiring local workers, especially in certain industries.
ReplyDeleteThis raises an interesting racial question, though, because it demonstrates that foreign workers may be exploited while doing these jobs since they often have no other option for income. They, therefore, must endure jobs that are particularly exhausting in order to survive, something that white workers are not willing to do, even if they are unemployed. This article should act as a calling for further analysis of working conditions and how foreign workers should be treated.
-Ashley Seelos
As an American i find this rather embarrassing. We would rather be unemployed than do hard labor? I feel like the american dream just got flushed down the toilet. especially if those workers are supporting a family. It also calls to attention the situation of foreign workers and their value. If Americans do not have the gut for hard work than i think it is perfectly fair for foreign workers to take those jobs. but i think the pay should still be the same, especially in this scenario, because they really are needed.
ReplyDeleteI found this article very interesting and great evidence to refute the commonly held idea that foreign workers are "stealing" local jobs and pushing people out of work. While I cannot personally say that I would be thrilled to do hard farm labor, I'd like to think that if I had a family to support I would be able to tough it out. I find it discouraging that the local farm owners are the ones who get the short end of the stick when local workers quit, leaving them without a work force to harvest their fields. Hopefully this article opens some eyes about the importance foreign workers really have on our economy-at least in the farming sector.
ReplyDeleteAs an American I find this rather gratifying. It makes me proud that these foreign workers, most of whom share my Hispanic ancestry, are willing to work hard in order to provide for their families. The american dream is saved from the sewer system and embraced by people who appreciate it's redeeming potential. Maybe us Americans say that these foreign workers are "stealing" our local jobs in an attempt to rationalize our slothful tendencies. We need to learn to appreciate these "thiefs", for they allow us more time to dwell on everything else that seems to be wrong in every sector of our lives.
ReplyDeleteI find this interesting in the sense that it opposes how i have always felt! I have grown up in a family where we haven't ever been in poverty (as far as I know), but we have never been well off! We have struggled and fought to stay afloat. But because of this, I grew up understanding the importance of work.
ReplyDeleteBefore I could legally be employed, I wanted to do what I could to work and earn what I can. I worked on a farm for several summers for half of the wage mentioned in the article and was grateful for it despite the intense physical demands. I worked in fast food for two years. I am consistently looking for the best wages I can right now so that I can get by, regardless of what the work is! My current standing is that I would love to take even this job! It's a better wage than what I get now!
I found this article to be very telling of how our society is structured, that we have foreigners working in the hard manual labor jobs, while typical Americans are working in less physically demanding jobs. When these typical Americans are thrown into these hard manual jobs, it is too hard and they can't cope with it. I worked in a physically demanding job in the sun and was hard. This summer I worked at almost the same wages as those on the farm, but I did not quit because it was relatively good money. My english teacher had a quote on her wall that said, "it is called work, not fun, happy, skippy time." Americans have lost this sense of hard work because we now prefer a fast moving, interesting, and easy job. You would think that for those needing a job locally that this would be good employment, but as the article states "some simply never came back." Having local people hired helps the money stay in the community, but for this area this seems to be not what they want. Our culture is structured with foreigners at the bottom, with manual labor jobs, and Americans at the top, with less manual jobs. As Americans, we need to tighten up our work ethic. Apparently we have gone soft.
ReplyDelete-Adam Seelos