"We can't get our crops out of the field without migrant workers"

[BOSSHOG]

A farmer speaking on NBC News last night 24 May) from Texas. He says Texas has tightened up on immigrant laws. His Onions are right this very moment rotting in the field.

- Americans have the opportunity to do the jobs that immigrants do
- The next installment of this story will be conservatives whining about the price of Onions.

[tanyev]

1. A lot of job opportunities for all the freepers still living with their parents.

[BOSSHOG]

2. They do get their panties in a wad

when someone suggests that Americans won't do the jobs that Immigrants do. Well, now is their chance to shove that caca in my face, unless, of course they have other priorities.

[mrcheerful]

3. He was on yesterday too saying that there wasn't enough american workers to pick onions

after all he was paying $20 a day to the immigrant workers. Having worked in the fields during the late 70's early 80's, let me tell you that the pay sucks big time. 14 hour days 6 days a week came out to $90 bring home pay. I was making $140 a week doing part time janitor work part time during those same time period.

[htuttle]

7. I picked strawberries in the late '70's, and made more than he's paying them today

[madinmaryland]

11. I thought he said he couldn't find anyone even at $20/hour.

I found that hard to believe.

[sinkingfeeling]

14. And I took home a mere $73 as a keypunch (data entry) operator in 1970-73.

[blueworld]

4. That's what they said about cotton & slavery, too. n/t

[BOSSHOG]

5. So you are on your way to Texas to harvest Onions?

[Horse with no Name]

6. My Dad owned a custom farming business when I was a kid

One of the jobs he did was for a man that was planting a field full of comfrey.
It is a paintstaking job. They have to be hand planted at a certain depth or they don't grow.
My Dad asked if my brother and I wanted to make some money. This was 35+ years ago.
We stood alongside the Mexican laborers (no idea of immigration status) and planted that crap and made $5 an hour.
We gave out at noon and they continued until after 6 in the hot sun in Arizona.
We also had family friends that were Native Americans that did migrant farm working. They chopped cotton. In Arizona they would start at 4 in the morning and work until noon.
Working the fields is the hardest work you can do. I wouldn't ever do it again.

[Warren Stupidity]

12. I picked cucumbers one summer. Hardest work I ever did.

My mexican-american co-workers picked circles around me. I was amazed. They just laughed at us gringos. It was all piece work and they maximazed their income.

[L. Coyote]

8. More like, "We cannot feed ourselves in the USA."

One reason is the impact of illegal hiring practices. How often have you seen this term in the news, "illegal hiring"?

"Illegal hiring" can include paying lower than legal wages, not paying social security taxes, not paying income taxes, not paying worker's comp, no meical coverage to worry about, no concerns with workers reporting job hazards, chemical exposures, not complying with OSHA, no overtime pay, no vacation pay, and more ......

[BOSSHOG]

9. You're right

Employers like what they have to pay to immigrants. So flag waving conservatives are going to solve the problem by rounding them all and sending them home. Then what? Just one more question I have of conservatives that go unanswered.

[DBoon]

15. They are 2 sides of the same thing

If they weren't a semi-criminal underclass, the employers couldn't get away with breaking all sorts of laws in hiring them.

Employers get cheap easily exploited labor. Xenophobes get a convenient target for their psychological problems. They both win.

[primative1]

10. Its called "disrespect for labor" ...

Its a societal thing ... The "haves" just have zero respect for labor, which is amazing considering most of them have the ability to do absolutly nothing for themselves .... We have minimum standard laws for a reason, no one should be able to exempt themselves from complying. Why should the government be in the habit of providing slave labor for businesses that feel they cant profit enough without skirting employment laws ... so we pay more for onions. Its the price of living in the real world. I wouldnt stay awake for 20 bucks a day. Who would.

[DBoon]

13. The go to the union hall and hire them!

If you treated your workers better and stopped smashing union organizing efforts, maybe you wouldn't have a shortage.

It worked for dock workers - longshoring went from inhuman casual labor to a desirable blue collar career on the West Coast thanks to the ILWU

After decades of union busting the UFW, I have no sympathy for Big Ag

Or, as conservative economists like to say, there is no such thing as a shortage in a free market. If you can't find enough workers, you are obviously artificially holding wages down.

[Odin2005]

16. There would be plenty of Americans willing to pick veggies...

...If the farm owners quit driving down wages by hiring illegal immigrants.

[SOS]

17. The NYT reported

that farm labor pay could be doubled from $6.50 an hour to $13 an hour, raising prices at the grocery store by 2%.
Americans would line up to do the work at $13.
But apparently paying $1.02 for apples instead of $1 is out of the question.

Someday we won't be growing much of anything here.
Under Shrub, the US has become a net food importer.
First time in American history.

A Chinese apple entrepeneur was unable to pass FDA inspections due to the air, water and soil contamination in China.
This guy dug out acres of land and replaced it with imported soil.
He then wrapped the apples in paper to limit their exposure to the toxic air in China.

Lo and behold, his apples passed USDA inspection. Say goodbye to that farm sector.

Farm sectors wiped out, lousy wages, exploitation.....

All this because Americans won't pay an extra 2 cents for a couple of apples??

[mitchtv]

19. Keep on believing they would go up 2 cents

if the farmers had to double their labor costs. Not saying impossible, just saying aint gonna happen.

[Javaman]

18. And just where are the fatass minute men helping to bring in those crops? nt

[mitchtv]

20. They are complaining around here too

Imperial Valley, We have a lot of UFW around here, just not enough.
Between this, and the Colorado river water being sent to the big cities(San Diego), I would think those days are coming to an end. Central America and Mexico are a refrigerated truck drive away at competitive prices.In the winter already half the fruit is from Chile, and most of the melons I see nowadays are from Mexico and Guatemala and Costa Rica. Those things used to be big here.

[AnnieBW]

21. I know that this sounds Freeperish, but...

What about all of the unemployed in Texas? Or the ones on Welfare? I mean, at least they'd doing something constructive!