Favorite jobs being stolen from me due to Mexican immigration

[zulchzulu]

Poll question: Favorite jobs being stolen from me due to Mexican immigration

I'm just so stinkin' mad that I can't get these stinkin' jobs becuase of those Mexicans coming over the border and stealing them right from my hands. My favorite jobs being stolen from me by these illegal aliens include:

:sarcasm:

[donco6]

1. I'm thinking the orgies in Oregon sound OK.

What's it pay?

[hippiechick]

2. Don't forget the kill floors at the meat packing plants ...

... my personal favorite :puke:

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

33. Here in the UK...

...a lot of jobs in meat packing are being taken by immigrants from eastern Europe, frequently from Poland. There's a BBC documentary on the UK meat packing industry available over on Google Video somewhere.

Edit to add: That documentary is not for the faint of heart.

[katty]

71. Maid/kid care service in Beverly Hills

[hunter]

72. Yeah, that's among the worst.

And when your arms wear out from the stress, you can't do anything anymore without hurting.

(Meat packing, not Beverly Hills kid care. I imagine that's another kind of hell entirely.)

[Nikia]

94. They pay $9/hour for that here

Why would you work at a job like that when you could be making $9/hour at another cleaner factory at a job that was less strenuous. Even if you only made $8/hour or maybe even $7/hour at another place, it would be worth it because of the mental and physical stress.
I have been told that they used to pay more. Not suprisingly, the job attracts mostly poor immigrants, many of them illegal.

[hippiechick]

97. Yep, that's exactly what I was thinking ...

... Packerland Packing in Green Bay was just 'upwind' from where I grew up, and by the time I was in college, the only folks that would work there were the immigrants. In fact, I think they got busted for having undocumented workers in like 96 or 97 ...

[Dunvegan]

3. The "insourcing" of workers is NOTHING when compared to the "outsourcing"

...of jobs in this country.

[Warren Stupidity]

6. Yeah but we can't build a wall around India.

So there is no sexy hate mongering to do there.

[Dunvegan]

12. Don't hate India...do despise the Administration's support

...of corporations, including tax breaks, that outsource American jobs.

[Warren Stupidity]

20. My point was that outsourcing is not being exploited

by the rightwing fearmongers as there is no 'angle' in it for them. I really wasn't attacking you or your post - in fact I agree with you. Sorry for the confusion.

[Dunvegan]

39. Sorry about the confusion...I get your point. Thanks for the clarification

[hunter]

77. Plus, they outnumber us and they have nukes.

Never annoy someone who is much bigger than you are, especially when they are standing between you and someone else very big who worries you more.

[John Barrett]

98. They're both bad for this country

I'd like to outsource some CEOs and insource some politicians. Then they both might get a flavor of how they are screwing the country.

[-..__...]

4. Brazillion Wax Jobber.

Now, there's an occupation where I'd be willing to pay my employer (or clients).

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

5. You forgot the joys of emptying bedpans.

Not to mention the overwhelming pleasure of changing sheets of the patients who didn't wait for the bedpans.

[-..__...]

8. Checked Criagslist lately?

What some people won't do for pleasure.

[radwriter0555]

7. Republican Owned Gulf Coast Oil Worker. Outside the restaurant trade

the oil cos are the largest employers of illegal immigrants in the USA.

It's just cheap labor economics. You see, bush won't really pass any new immigration laws. The corporations rely on their cheap illegal employee labor and will not do anything to harm their profit margins.

BUT you see, you're all wound up. And the PEOPLE will oppose ANY changes to the immigration laws in place, and the PEOPLE will prevent any improvements.

Bush can blame YOU.

Enjoy that.

[Redstone]

9. Well said. Well said, indeed. Thanks for the perspective,

though I'm not sure even your excellent poll will sink in for some people.

Redstone

[Berserker]

10. Sarcasm let's hope so

If you work construction it's not a fuckin joke.

[zulchzulu]

17. I agree...it's the contractors that hire the day laborers

Don't blame the immigrant help...it's the contractors that know where to drive and have the workers undersell each other like slave labor...

[Tulum_Moon]

49. Berserker I agree with you

If you work construction this IS no fucking joke!
Neither is masonry work, roofing, painting, plumbing and so on. Where are our union protections anymore.
Not putting all the blame on the immigrants. But there is brake down some where.
BTW These are all jobs my brothers were pushed out of over the years.They were hard working men who provided for their families.

[hunter]

78. It's not a joke in the other trades either.

There's always going to be someone hungrier than you are, and more willing to put up with crap from employers.

Unethical employers exploit this.

[PsN2Wind]

11. When my back failed in '79

I was making $11.70/hr as a journeyman roofer. I roofed in Tucson for years with more gringos than Hispanics doing the work. Citizens WILL do the work at a reasonable rate of pay. Construction work used to be a pretty good gig until the illegals knocked the bottom out of the pay structure.

[QC]

16. Shhhh...you're not supposed to mention construction.

We're supposed to pretend that the only jobs at stake here are "jobs Americans won't do."

[zulchzulu]

18. I recently had part of my roof done...

The company offered a very competitive price...they had the best staff...family-owned...great reputation in the neighborhood...

I had them work on the project while I was at work and came home to see there was one American manager overseeing the project and a dozen guys from Mexico and Central America finishing up the project. I wasn't about to ask for green cards and tell them to rip the roof of that was just installed.

My point is that contractors and owners of construction companies hire these workers. Blaming those that are willing to work at a lesser price (non-union) is not their fault. It's the companies that hire them. Chances are that the owners just LOVE Ronald Reagan, who was in a lot of ways responsible for the lessening of unions.

Perhaps there needs to be new business logo on construction companies that only use certified union workers and not use day laborers for jobs.

[Berserker]

27. This goes deeper than day labor

In the midwest you will see construction crews entirely made up of non english speaking workers with a lead man that speaks some english.
They do Roofing, Siding, Sheetrock, Painting and Carpentry. Now are these the jobs that Americans won't do? I am a contractor and I see this everywhere.
In the states I work in we have to have a contractors license, Insurance and Workers Comp. We also have to have the name of our company and lic. number on our trucks and trailers. Why don't they?
Many people seem to think that contractors using cheap labor will bring the cost of building down and it's not true it only goes into the pockets of the contractors that hire these crews.
These same workers will also under bid the contractors they are working for behind there backs. Oh yes I know they are just trying to make a better life for themselves but so are the legitimate contractors like myself.

[zulchzulu]

29. You're right...the contractors get the profits from hiring..not consumers

The cost for my roof repairs was a little higher than others...but I based the decision on the company's reputation and street cred. They pocketed the difference in wage costs from hiring who they did...I didn't get a special Green Card Rate...

[CAcyclist]

86. I even know of a guy who hired a day laborer to do HIS job

His dad owned the company - he was supposed to go out and do some work in the fields - it was a company that spread "oil-eating bacteria" on contaminated fields to recover them(personally i think it was a scam) - instead he and a co-worker hired some day laborers instead and they went and goofed off instead.

I do agree that unqualified people are being used for what should be skilled labor - you really do get what you pay for.

[Iris]

23. Um, that was 26 years ago. n/t

[PsN2Wind]

32. Unless you're just showing off your cyphering skill

post something that makes sense.

[Iris]

66. I don't think it makes sense to make draw a conclusion based

on your experience from 26 years ago.

[PsN2Wind]

69. Sorry Iris

As interesting as it is to try and make some sense of your posts, I don't enter into extended debates with those that won't pungle up a couple of bucks to buy themselves a little gold star and help support the site.

[BuyingThyme]

76. You should really leave DU if you feel that way.

You're not simply in the minority; you're pretty much the only one.

[PsN2Wind]

80. And I think you should

get yourself a star also. Over 4500 posts in little more than a year.
Not having a star makes you the minority. I'm at least paying my own way as I express my opinions here.

[Iris]

82. So, how much did you pay for your star?

You can get one for $1.00. So $1.00 makes someone's opnion more important than someone else's?

[BuyingThyme]

83. You don't know what DU is for. I am sad to see somebody like you

spending time here.

[Iris]

81. Fine with me. I'd rather not waste my time debating someone

who wants to use examples from 26 years ago to make a point.


And quite honestly, the reason I don't have a star is because not long ago the sexism on this board was outrageous. That seems to have been dealt with on some level, but some of the xenophobia I've seen here recently gives me yet another reason to pause when it comes to where I'm putting my $$$.

[Bridget Burke]

28. Certainly your Union protested!

Shouldn't you picket the jobs paying unfair wages? At least, start a publicity campaign.

[PsN2Wind]

34. If you weren't around at the time

Reagan busted the unions.

[Bridget Burke]

37. I was around at the time.

Reagan did not bust ALL the unions. Were you an air-traffic controller?

[PsN2Wind]

50. No, not a Air Traffic Controller

But most people are aware that the unions went into serious decline during the Reagan years.
But I have been in the Laborers Union, The Amalgamated Meat Cutter and Butcher Workers, The United Brotherhood Of Roofers, and The Maintenance of Way Employees unions so I think I can speak to Union difficulties with some degree of knowledge.
In the early '70s there were more than a dozen unionized roofing companies in Tucson which then had a population of less than 200,000.
Now Tucson is about 800,000 and there is less than a hand full of union shops and probably some are split shops, if you've ever been in an union, you'll know what I mean. Tucson no longer has its own local because there isn't enough membership to support one.
Have you ever been union, or a better question might be, have you ever sold your labor?

[Dem Agog]

13. Good.

:)

[AllieB]

14. You forgot cleaning toilets in a retirement home

[Terra Terra]

47. Well, let's see...

When I was in high school and college I worked as a dishwasher in a restaurant, hot, nasty work, for $4.35 an hour that also included scrubbing toilets, busboy, prep cook (again, hot & nasty, but for $6 an hour), and waiter. I'm an American citizen and I did those jobs that "Americans won't do".

[madokie]

15. The second poll I couldn't give my approval by voting, today

You are shitting me, right.

[Tulum_Moon]

54. what was the first one?

[Maru Kitteh]

19. Well I have a best friend who would most likely send a giant FUCK YOU

to anyone making fun of the lost jobs because illegals and the big and small companies who hire them have all but driven her husband out of work. There are no jobs here except for McWal*Mart where she's been forced into working overnight shifts even though she can't stand the job or the company. Her husband, a good man, now suffers from ulcers, hypertension, sleep disorders and depression because he can't find enough work to support his family. When he does find it he ends up bidding himself out for what amounts to $3-$4 dollars an hour.

Where's that in your poll?

[Cobalt Violet]

21. Well said, this poll sucks.

Stupidest thing I've ever seen on DU. :-( Mean spirited too. Why do so many who claim to be Democrats hate the working and lower class?

[Carni]

101. This poll is what causes the dems to get the *liberal elitist* title

It turns my stomach quite frankly...

[justice1]

24. Exactly Vegan

The meat processing jobs used to pay well, and had good benefits. People lined up for them, when the pay was comparable to that of GM assembly workers.

I know of one company that closed it's doors to get rid of the union. Shortly after that a new plant owned by a private company, hired the same management, hired illegals, and received $7.2 million for creating jobs. The price of meat went up, even though farmers were getting less at the market.

The company that ruined the sale of Japan, cracked down on employees trying to unionize, a year earlier. Had there been more oversight, we may still have that business, which is vital to my state.

As far as detasseling corn, those were good paying jobs for kids who weren't old enough to get a regular job.My son as well as other kids were let go early, because there wasn't enough work for them.

Maybe paying construction workers a decent wage, would force people to quit building energy consuming McMansions.

[Iris]

25. While I see your point,

it's hard for me to sympathized to some extent because of the numbers of union members who have been voting Republican over the past 25 or so years.

[Tulum_Moon]

60. When do Union workers vote republican. The union heads give the

big dues money to the Democrats.

[Iris]

65. That's the union heads.

The rank and file have been voting Republican for years.

on edit:

"There would be nothing wrong with such political spending if it expressed the wishes of labor's rank-and-file. But all too often, it does not. Usually, 35 to 40 percent of union members vote Republican. And even many Democratic union members do not approve of their dues going to political activities. When the AFL-CIO launched a $35 million campaign in 1996 to buy ads for Democratic congressional candidates, a Luntz Research poll showed that 62 percent of union members opposed the plan."

http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=7757

[zulchzulu]

30. The F Bomb needs to be sent to the contractors who hire who they do

This silly poll doesn't go into most construction jobs...if you want to blame someone for illegal aliens being hired, it the people who hire them. They are the ones who need to be investigated AND prosecuted.

[theHandpuppet]

44. Come to my neck of WV

Where housing developments are sprouting up like mushrooms due to D.C. metro moving ever further west. Illegal immigrants have taken over the construction trades -- carpentry, bricklaying, etc -- and union folks aren't wanted because they expect things like decent pay and health benefits. GOP-contributing millionaire developers are lovin' every moment of it because construction trade unions are being busted. Meanwhile, folks like my neighbor, a Vietnam Vet, are bussing at restaurants and hauling trash on the side.

Your poll is so biased it sucks.

[DrGonzoLives]

58. Hey, I agree with a vegan!

And you're damn right, that's the situation in a lot of places, and this "jobs that Americans don't want" riff is starting to wear thin. People around here would kill for $10 an hour landscaping jobs.

[zulchzulu]

99. Here's a suggestion

Have your friends show up at one of the places where contractors and developers show up and wave your hand and say you can do work for $10/hour. Nobody's stopping them from undermining themselves...sad but true.

[Cobalt Violet]

22. May I ask what you do for a living? n/t

[Mr.Green93]

26. Why should "illegal immigrants " be forced

to take low wages and bad jobs? They should have the same human rights and dignity as any worker. Is it discrimination and racism keeping them down? Yes.

[Tulum_Moon]

62. Maybe it is the word "Illegal"

People wait years to get to this country only to find a illegal has a job and they cant find one.

[beyond_the_pale]

31. Hispanics are capable of discrimination also

I see a lot of anglo bashing on the immigration threads. Discrimination isn't only a white non-hispanic issue.
Urban areas with latino majorities aren't very accomodating to low income anglo and black workers either. Then there is the discrimination of "landed hispanics" against other Spanish speakers.

Isn't the language issue a big factor in a lot of plants and factories and not just lower pay? Language is a safety issue and as the factory/plant becomes more and more Spanish speaking it becomes hazardous to hire people who don't speak the dominant language. Its economical to hire those who are willing to work for lower pay and then becomes necessary as only they can keep the assembly line going.

[newyawker99]

36. Hi beyond_the_pale!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[theHandpuppet]

45. Yeah, I've got next-door neighbors like that

An American Latino home where the husband and wife, transplants from Jersey, drive two monster SUVs, spend money like water and hire non-English speaking Latino immigrants to do all the labor around their house on the cheap.

[CAcyclist]

89. So white people are allowed to do these things, but Latinos aren't

allowed to?

[CAcyclist]

88. That's bizarre. I've lived in lots of Hispanic-dominated neighborhoods

, I'm white and I have yet to experience any discrimination by them against me. A little sexism maybe when I, a female, pass another bicyclist on the road, but that's true of all races of men. I have friends who are Hispanic, clients who are Hispanic, etc, etc, and I have to say, umm, they are just like you and me. And until we stop the racism on our side, it's hypocritical to complain about them complaining about us.

[crispini]

35. This is SO ELITIST.

My God, why not put up a big sign that says "PEOPLE WHO WORK WITH THEIR HANDS NOT WELCOME ON DU."

What a snotty attitude. Get over yourself.

[blindpig]

38. You got that right.

Why not title this thread "fuck the working poor and the working class"?
Christ, this is embarassing.

[zulchzulu]

42. You misinterpreted...

You missed the point. It has nothing to do with how people who work with their hands are not welcome on DU.

The point of this semi-sarcastic poll was to show how so many of the jobs that "illegal aliens" do are not at all what a very large majority of Americans would ever do these days. There are some great examples from responses in this thread that show exactly what those jobs are.

Granted, construction companies and contractors hire cheap labor outside of the great union-waged talent pool. They are the guys that show up in company trucks on locations that have those who want to work underbid each other and then throw them out like garbage at any point during the project. These people are the ones that need to be shown that they are taking good jobs away from skilled Americans with families to support...

The demonization of "illegal aliens" and even the policies that would allow "illegal aliens" to work temporarily cater exactly to the contractors that would love to hire someone at a fraction of a sustainable union wage and pocket the profits for themselves.

[crispini]

46. You are buying into the myth that there are jobs that Americans don't want

I don't believe that. I believe that any American will do any job as long as they are treated with respect and paid fairly.

One of my good friends cleans toilets for a living.

[zulchzulu]

52. As one who shucked corn for a summer job way back when...

...I understand that people need jobs...the choice about picking fruit with hippies and having campground orgies was not too far off the mark...

I don't think it's a myth that there are jobs Americans don't want these days. The pay is certainly a part of the job and there will never be a good grape-picking job in California wineries for a decent wage. And thus not many if any Americans will work that type of job.

Cleaning toilets for a decent wage ain't so bad...especially if there work at a school under decent working conditions.

[crispini]

57. The pay is certainly part of the job, BUT,

would these jobs be so low paying if they weren't going to people who were in the country illegally, and therefore being taken advantage of by being paid under the table, not subject to social security with-holding, income tax with-holding, etctera? I really have to wonder.

[Tulum_Moon]

64. In the Central Valley

All the high school kids picked grapes and fruit after school in the spring an summer.They made great pocket money. Not anymore!

[CAcyclist]

93. I grew up in the Central Valley

None of the high school kids I grew up with did that. Some worked on cattle ranches but no one I knew worked in the fields.

[Carni]

102. "way back when" but you are so evolved now...

Let me guess you have to be a teacher with tenure, or you work for local government?

Your poll sucks ass.

[slide to the left]

73. My very smart uncle

frames houses...

My friends in college do construction and landscaping during the summer...

Best friend's family shucks their corn on the farm, the only hired help is a white guy.

Woman that used to clean our house was a neighbor

My nanny was a 5'10" blonde

Many people will do these jobs...

[Radical Activist]

40. How about the Tyson Chicken plants in Arkansas?

They should be paying good union wages but instead they import illegal Mexican workers.

[zulchzulu]

41. Tyson has been union busting for years

It's pretty tragic...

[ceile]

43. Doing roofing in jobs in TX

in July and August!! (that would be about 100F on any given day).

[PsN2Wind]

92. Did it but in Tucson

which is a bit hotter than Dallas, but it's a dry heat. Used to come home with little blisters all over the bottoms of my feet from walking on asphalt that was put down at almost 400 degrees. And I got up the next day and did it again, for years.
Just because some here are above that sort of labor doesn't mean that they represent all citizens.
Of course, I was union and was probably making then what the illegals are making now for the same job.

[DrGonzoLives]

48. So, those jobs are "below" you then?

n/t

[zulchzulu]

55. You miss the point...

The point is that most of these jobs are what "illegal aliens" do and the phony line that they are to blame for those jobs being taken away from Americans and packaged as "immigration reform" is silly.

Also, blaming "illegal aliens" for taking away construction jobs is not looking at the full picture...that it's the contractors and construction companies that go out of their way to pick up cheap labor and then fire at will...

[Jersey Devil]

51. Hey dude, mowing lawns put me through college & law school

I also busted up concrete for new driveways and sidewalks, installed porch railings, worked as a roofer's helper, mason's helper, unloaded trucks at the local supermarket, all jobs done now by nobody except illegals.

If it weren't for those jobs you are looking down your nose at and assuming no Americans would take I wouldn't have been able to get my education.

I bet there are a lot of American college kids today who could use those jobs and would do them willingly for a decent wage and also those who simply can't find any work in order to tide them over until they can find something more permanent.

It's outsourcing in reverse with the outsourced jobs done right here on American soil.

[zulchzulu]

96. I've worked in restaurants, warehouses, factories while going through...

...college. I've done temp jobs where I was replacing office supplies and fixing office machines. I've painted houses, done roofs, masonry...

All those jobs are now done by people who are hired by companies that use "illegal aliens" for a few bucks an hour...far less than most Americans would be willing to work for.

The point of my little thread/poll was that there are a LOT of jobs out there that only those that are the most desparate or the most exploited would ever do...you could make more money on welfare than some horrible job killing cows in a meat killing zone or whatever IF you're an American citizen.

As for blame, I put it solidly on the contractors and businesses that exploit "illegal aliens" and know they can get away with it.

[izzybeans]

53. It's a shame that labor unions do not internationalize. The true

adversaries are employers vs. employees; not workers against workers. Employers exploiting nationalism and xenophobia to drive down wages; this is the issue. Work with "illegals" to increase wages regardless of the type of labor; don't push them out. Give them citizenship and you even the playing field. You'll never stop immigration between imaginary boundaries. Either that or build your wall and keep the "monguls" out.

[zulchzulu]

59. I couldn't agree more

It's the employers that hire...not the workers...it's the employers that pick the cheap labor...not the workers...

[blondeatlast]

75. Excellent idea. I couldn't agree any more. nt

[hunter]

85. Yes. International Unions might work.

But I can't imagine any national government that wouldn't be afraid of this happening.

Any successful international union would be immediately tarred with the label "communist" and associated with Soviet style Internationalism.

[izzybeans]

95. Well Marx did predict similar divisions among the world's workers

which prompted "internationalism" among the "orthodox marxists". But Soviet style need not be American style. If we are to have CAFTA and NAFTA we better have the unions to protect all the "freedom" that supposedly goes along with it. A free labor force is an organized labor force is a powerful labor force. Right now the divisiveness does nothing for the American worker nor the immigrant worker; because they have been turned against one another. Imagine what they could do together.

Part of union busting has been to divide workers along the color line, this is just the international version.

[Cleita]

90. This is what is needed but the hard heads don't

want to think about it. Also, the GOP found a new wedge issue like abortion to divide us with so they will milk it for what it's worth. What is sad is the people that are caught between a rock and a hard place like the immigrants in the first and women, especially poor women in the latter.

[Toucano]

105. What you say is so DAMN TRUE!

What is wrong with people? They just keep taking the same bait over and over again, turning against each other.

Who's completely left out of the discussion whenever Globalization is discussed? Workers!

It's always, "My business", "My customers", "My profits". Never, "My community", "My brothers".

[bluedog]

56. this post is crazy

my mother was a cleaning person at one of the best colleges in NY..yes she cleaned toilets.made beds and cleaned walls...whats so degrading about this?.my dad was a truck driver for Duffy Motts.these were not high paying jobs...we didn't have the best clothes or the best food.but by GOD.they never took a dime from welfare and always paid their Doctor bills.........

We had kids in NY who would bale hay.pick apple in season.pick coen...do field work during the summer and fall harvest.just to get extra money or perhaps money to help their families.......Don't say Americans won't take the jobs......

[Tulum_Moon]

70. Don't dare say that!

Americans are some of the hardest working people on the planet. We will work! I could not begin to list the king of jobs I have had to support myself! If I ever hear "The jobs americans wont do" again I may scream.:grr:

[Nutmegger]

61. "Workin' at some millionaire's house gardening in Connecticut"

:rofl:

[BuyingThyme]

63. The pro-illegal immigration contingent has been backed into a corner

to where they now go out of their ways to denigrate hard-working Americans, while convincing themselves they're making a point.

Debate over. Pro-illegal immigration contingent loses by a long-shot.

[blondeatlast]

68. Who's pro illegal-immigration? Please be specific and cite examples.

I used to teach honors English. :evilgrin:

[BuyingThyme]

79. You're kidding, right?

Just look around. From the people who say, "people are not illegal," to the people who want amnesty for all illegal aliens, to the people who say illegal immigrants don't take American jobs because Americans won't do those jobs, to the people (like the poster) who denigrate Americans in hopes of garnering support for illegal immigrants, it's hard to miss (if you're being honest).

[blondeatlast]

84. I fit into all the categories you mention (in your view), yet I oppose

illegal immigration.

As, I suspect, nearly everyone at DU does--it's just that some of us are realists.

Do you DISAGREE that people are not illegal? Please do tell.

If you've got some ideas, rather than platitudes and cliches, pony them up here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=772639&mesg_id=772639

Edit: typo

[BuyingThyme]

87. You talk about platitudes and cliches

in the same post you use the "people are not illegal" nonsense. Why do you PRETEND that you don't know what illegal immigrants are? Why do you PRETEND that the phrase means something other than what it means?

[blondeatlast]

91. WTF DOES it mean?

How the hell can people be inherently illegal?

FWIW, I'm not pretending anything--I don't know what it means either.

I didn't use the phrase in the first place and never would, but I find it interesting that you can't expand on it, yet it bothers you so.

Ah, well--this is why I love DU.

[Warren Stupidity]

104. If the problem is illegal immigration then we should just legalize it.

End of problem. But it seems that doesn't satisfy the anti-immigrant folks. So we can stop with the 'but its illegal crap' as that is irrelevant.

[blondeatlast]

67. Other: manicuring Scotssdale, AZ golf courses in the 110 degree afternoon

so that billionaires can play a short 9 near sundown.

[hunter]

74. Other. Being a "friend/housekeeper" for tight ass conservative columnist.

And getting paid in "loans" whenever you "needed the money."

[Carni]

100. favorite jobs?

This is probably one of the most elitist threads I have ever read on DU--

I don't think the people that take the jobs in your poll (that you seem so eager to ridicule) take them, because they aspire to do them... but what the fuck we weren't ALL in a position to have our parents pay for master's a degree.

And BTW here's a news flash... the highest paid jobs are currently on the chopping block too.

ENJOY!

[zulchzulu]

103. You completely missed the point...sorry if you're offended

The main point (besides being a little sarcastic) of this poll/thread was to show that all the big hullabaloo with Repugs trying to change the subject with introducing another war on "illegal aliens" is nonsense. Most of the jobs taken by "illegal aliens" are indeed not jobs most people would take.

Granted, there is also the issue of construction contractors and developers that drive to locations to pick out "illegal aliens" to work for crappy wages, no security and unsafe conditions. There are other industries that use women for cheap garment labor, the sex trade and domestic help...again with crappy wages, no security and unsafe conditions.

I blame the contractors and businesses that take advantage of the current situation and make "illegal aliens" lowball their wages and undercut those American workers who not only need those jobs, but need a union that helps them get a sustainable wage and support.

When I hear a demogogic politician say that "illegal aliens" are the cause of America's economic breakdown, the first thing I think of is how these "illegal aliens" have taken great risk to get into this country and generally do jobs at very low wages and live in squalid camps...here in this country.

I also know about higher paid jobs being outsourced...I've been working in net-related jobs since the 1990's...you don't have to remind me how IT jobs are going offshore at an alarming rate.

An interesting contribution that I've seen in this thread are jobs that "illegal aliens" do that are indeed horrible...working in slaughterhouses with unsafe conditions and others.

I'm sorry if you're offended or if you thought this thread was "elitist"...that was not my intent at all.

[Codeine]

106. Fucking self-righteous bullshit!

I'm so glad your lily-white, uncalloused hands do a job that isn't threatened by the influx of cheap, illegal labor, but someof us still do the sort of job that you seem to denigrate. Should the economy continue on its present course it's quite possible that many more will find themselves in a manual-labor job. I'm sickened by the attitude I see leveled at the working class on this progressive board.

There was a time not that long ago when a laborer could get a drop hanging drywall (sheetrock) and make a decent living. Now that's an industry dominated by illegals. Roofing, janitorial, concrete -- same story.

I'll do anything for a job if need be -- I'll flip burgers, clean houses, vacuum motel rooms; I don't care. But because an exploitable labor pool exists that is willing to do those tasks for a pittance we aren't able to do those jobs for a living anymore. I'm glad you think that's a joke, but some of us, the folks that actually work hard to put food on the table, aren't laughing.

[NMMNG]

107. Yeah, that's right

Denigrate the jobs that wage-slaves work, as well as the wage-slaves themselves. Too many people around here keep forgetting that plenty of Americans, including many DUers work these sorts of jobs. They are not confined to "illegal immigrants".

Thanks for your kind post. :sarcasm: