Immigration Enforcement and Increasing Farmworker Wages

[Jewish Lawyer]

The whining farmers of California, finding it more difficult to attract low wage workers to exploit, are complaining of a "labor shortage" and are having to pay more than minimum wage to attract workers. Seems that immigration enforcement by the Obama administration continues to be needed to prevent unscrupulous and greedy employers from taking advantage of Mexican immigrants. This proves immigration is also an economic issue and not solely a racial issue. Why should we flood the country with unskilled poor people and their families and the associated tax burdens so a few farmers in California can get rich?
It's not like they can't find workers when they pay more per hour, the cheap bastards.

"

FRESNO, Calif. -- With the harvest in full swing on the West Coast, farmers in California and other states say they can't find enough people to pick high value crops such as grapes, peppers, apples and pears.
In some cases, workers have walked off fields in the middle of harvest, lured by offers of better pay or easier work elsewhere.
The shortage and competition for workers means labor expenses have climbed, harvests are getting delayed and less fruit and vegetable products are being picked, prompting some growers to say their income is suffering. Experts say, however, the shortage is not expected to affect prices for consumers.
But farmworkers, whose incomes are some of the lowest in the nation, have benefited, their wages jumping in California to $2 to $3 over the $8 hourly minimum wage and even more for those working piece rate.
The shortage – driven by a struggling U.S. economy, more jobs in Mexico, and bigger hurdles to illegal border crossings – has led some farmers to offer unusual incentives: they're buying meals for their workers, paying for transportation to and from fields, even giving bonuses to those who stay for the whole season.
And a few have stationed foremen near their crews to prevent other farmers from wooing away their workers.
"In the past, we were overrun with farmworkers. But not anymore," said labor contractor Jesus Mateo, whose crews saw a 20 percent pay increase. "Employers have to do something to attract them. The fastest workers can now earn more than $1,000 per week."
A California Farm Bureau Federation member survey being conducted this year thus far has found about half of farmers are experiencing shortages, said bureau manager Rayne Pegg. Many of the growers say their workforce has decreased by up to one-third.
In some cases, farmers are being paid below market prices, because their produce is past its prime, having stayed on the branch or vine for too long. Hardest hit are small farmers, who can't afford to pay more for labor, Pegg said.
Farmers say immigration reform, which would legalize their current workforce and create a guest worker program to legally bring farmworkers from other countries, could solve the labor shortage problem. Immigration reform, however, has stalled in Congress.
Farmers in other states are also facing shortages. In Washington, apple growers are having a hard time finding enough workers in time for peak harvest in October. And in Oregon, pear growers – whose crop is very big this year – are facing the same problem.
"They are really struggling to get that crop off the trees," said Barry Bushue, president of the Oregon Farm Bureau. "These growers have decades of investment into plant stock, they can't just transition overnight to be less labor-intensive."
For years, farmers throughout the U.S. had access to an abundant, cheap, mostly unauthorized labor force streaming in from Mexico. Workers say they often had to beg growers for even a few hours of work and their wages were low.
As the U.S. plunged into a recession and Mexico's economy improved, some seasonal migrant workers chose to remain home.
Increased border security and drug cartel violence made crossings more dangerous and expensive, deterring workers. A sharp drop in Mexico's fertility rate further decreased the number of young men crossing into the U.S. to work in the fields.
The trend appears long-lasting, spelling trouble for farmers, according to a new report by the nonpartisan Pew Hispanic Center. While the recession is over, the report finds, mass migration from Mexico has not resumed.
"This year, it has become even more challenging to find agricultural employees, and it's going to get worse in the next few years," said Noe Cisneros Jr. of Freedom AG, a Kern County labor contractor who manages a crew of up to 300 workers.
On a recent September morning in an endless stretch of San Joaquin Valley vineyards, workers lifted paper trays filled with raisins and heaped them onto a trailer – the final step in an exceptionally profitable raisin harvest for the workers.
With farmworkers in such high demand, many said they shun remote locations and choose fields closer to home; they pick crops that pay better; they also prefer lighter work instead of tougher jobs that require being bent over all day. More women are also in the fields.
Because most workers now have smartphones, they text each other information about pay and working conditions – and some switch employers mid-way through harvest if better opportunities arise.
As a result, labor contractors and growers must work harder to fill and retain work crews. Cisneros said he even trained and hired high school students this summer to pick grapes – something he was not willing to do in the past.
Growers like Carson Smith, in turn, have raised wages by 20 percent over the past two years. The wine grape grower, who farms 800 acres near Fresno, said his biggest competition for workers is from table grape growers who are also raising wages for their pickers.
"The fear of a shortage drove us to increase pay," said Smith, who paid his machine drivers $12.75 per hour, $2 more than previous years. "We set our wages to where we thought we could attract people, though it was still tougher than other years to fill our positions."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/26/farm-labor-shortages_n_3996502.html

[Chica Chaser]

This article was from last September during harvest season.

Farmers say immigration reform, which would legalize their current workforce and create a guest worker program to legally bring farmworkers from other countries, could solve the labor shortage problem. Immigration reform, however, has stalled in Congress.

Here is one area where a guest worker program would be excellent.

[Jewish Lawyer]

Originally Posted by Chica Chaser

This article was from last September during harvest season.



Here is one area where a guest worker program would be excellent.

A guest worker program is just as bad. Ultimately, all those poor, huddled masses yearning to get exploited FTBO wealthy farming concerns so they can anchor their family here in the US and get goodies from the government will demand and be granted citizenship.
Those fucking farmers and everyone else needs to pay higher wages and then the unemployed American citizens will stop getting government benefits and start paying taxes. Everyone wins except dishonest race baiting politicians and sleazy business owners. All labor shortages get solved by the free market, eventually - you guys do claim to be capitalists, don't you? Not commies like that fucking bastard Putin, right?
Unfettered immigration only benefits those who want cheap labor to exploit, and the politicians who benefit - Democrats and their divisive race based fake caring.

[CuteOldGuy]

Wow! The market sitting wages. Equilibrium price of labor exceeds government mandated minimum. Just think what could happen if the market could set the price of wages in other markets?

[I B Hankering]

Originally Posted by CuteOldGuy

Wow! The market sitting wages. Equilibrium price of labor exceeds government mandated minimum. Just think what could happen if the market could set the price of wages in other markets?

+1

[WTF]

Originally Posted by CuteOldGuy

Wow! The market sitting wages. Equilibrium price of labor exceeds government mandated minimum. Just think what could happen if the market could set the price of wages in other markets?

The government is choking off the supply of workers....how is that the market at work? I'm not saying I am against it, just asking the question.

How about the government mandate everything bought and sold in this country be made by workers in this country.

My question to you is why is it ok to restrict labor but not goods.

To answer these questions will lead to understanding why the income disparity in this country has ballooned.

[Jewish Lawyer]

Originally Posted by WTF

The government is choking off the supply of workers....how is that the market at work? I'm not saying I am against it, just asking the question.

How about the government mandate everything bought and sold in this country be made by workers in this country.

My question to you is why is it ok to restrict labor but not goods.

To answer these questions will lead to understanding why the income disparity in this country has ballooned.

The government needs to have a policy favoring the workers here, and it accomplishes that by not allowing a massive influx of unskilled labor. Unskilled labor is somewhat valuable when the workers are young, but they age out and need services far exceeding their contributions when they are old. Add their families to the equation and they are a net loss to the country in most cases.
I think we should have a restriction via a tax which covers the government infrastructure needed to process it and prevent dangerous and unhealthy products from entering the country, as well as counterfeits.
Income inequality is a result of depressed worker wages from excess labor. Unrestricted immigration leads to a dissolution of the middle class.

[CuteOldGuy]

Originally Posted by WTF

The government is choking off the supply of workers....how is that the market at work? I'm not saying I am against it, just asking the question.

How about the government mandate everything bought and sold in this country be made by workers in this country.

My question to you is why is it ok to restrict labor but not goods.

To answer these questions will lead to understanding why the income disparity in this country has ballooned.

WPF. Why don't you have someone explain the article to you before you make stupid posts.

[WTF]

Originally Posted by CuteOldGuy

WPF. Why don't you have someone explain the article to you before you make stupid posts.

Should have known the question was to hard fer ya....

I understood the simple question, my question(s) addressed the more complex questions.

http://www.mediaite.com/tv/on-red-ey...es-to-workers/

Former New Mexico governor and libertarian presidential candidateGary Johnson took on StreetCarnage.com writer Gavin McInnes over illegal immigration on Friday night’s Red Eye, with Johnson arguing that those crossing the U.S.-Mexico border were hard workers who were more likely to obey the law.
“We’re getting the cream of the crop when it comes to workers from Mexico,” Johnson said. “And I am speaking having been a border state governor. These are hard-working individuals, that are just in pursuit of the American dream.”

[WTF]

Originally Posted by Jewish Lawyer

Add their families to the equation and they are a net loss to the country in most cases.
I think we should have a restriction via a tax which covers the government infrastructure needed to process it and prevent dangerous and unhealthy products from entering the country, as well as counterfeits.
Income inequality is a result of depressed worker wages from excess labor. Unrestricted immigration leads to a dissolution of the middle class.

So you only see a problem with counterfeits and unhealthy products.

You see no problem with say shipping textile jobs off to be done by cheap labor in other countries as long as say Martha Stewart does not get ripped off by counterfeits?

Maybe COG knew wtf he was doing when he dodged this can of worms. Maybe COG knew what an idiot he looked like when he screams about the government restricting labor so then the free market can work its magic.

This is a very complicated subject that some of you folks only see as black and white.

[Jewish Lawyer]

Originally Posted by WTF

So you only see a problem with counterfeits and unhealthy products.

You see no problem with say shipping textile jobs off to be done by cheap labor in other countries as long as say Martha Stewart does not get ripped off by counterfeits?

Maybe COG knew wtf he was doing when he dodged this can of worms. Maybe COG knew what an idiot he looked like when he screams about the government restricting labor so then the free market can work its magic.

This is a very complicated subject that some of you folks only see as black and white.

The government does all sorts of things to distort a free market. It is merely a matter of definitions and who benefits. I'm advocating a free market within the United States, with limited government to address cheaters.

[CuteOldGuy]

Enforcing the law is not restricting the market. If you want cheap, illegal labor, as we have already established that you do, WPF, change the law.

[WTF]

Originally Posted by CuteOldGuy

Enforcing the law is not restricting the market. If you want cheap, illegal labor, as we have already established that you do, WPF, change the law.

So a law that makes it illegal for certain people to work is not restricting the market? You teach that nonsense in any of your old classes?

The candidate you voted for in the last Presidential election was the one wanting to change the law.

What is a matter old man....get caught with your panties down again?


http://www.thepoliticalguide.com/Pro...s/Immigration/

Governor Johnson believes in open borders and amnesty for illegal aliens. He has stated that the border should be dealt with on a free market basis to make it as easy as possible to come to the US and start working. This is based on the libertarian viewpoint that each person has the right to seek out employment and that markets will function best to establish workforces and people will react to those markets.

[WTF]

Originally Posted by Jewish Lawyer

The government does all sorts of things to distort a free market. It is merely a matter of definitions and who benefits. I'm advocating a free market within the United States, with limited government to address cheaters.

Yes the government does. At least you are not a chickenshit like COG and not answer the question(s)

My question was "What about goods? Should we restrict goods made in other countries that displace workers here in this country? "

Again let me use Martha Stewart as an example. Should she be forced to sell only goods made here in this country?

Again you and COG are trying to make a simple solution to a complicated problem.

[Jewish Lawyer]

Originally Posted by WTF

Yes the government does. At least you are not a chickenshit like COG and not answer the question(s)

My question was "What about goods? Should we restrict goods made in other countries that displace workers here in this country? "

Again let me use Martha Stewart as an example. Should she be forced to sell only goods made here in this country?

Again you and COG are trying to make a simple solution to a complicated problem.

Yes, we should restrict via taxation the import of items from other countries, insofar as it harms our economy, our workers and costs us money to regulate it.

Free crossing of borders for labor should be accompanied by severe restrictions on government benefits, which we do not have the stomach for at all. They would all eventually get lavish benefits which would continue us on the path to financial disaster.