take our jobs . org

[Ryan in Maine]

http://www.takeourjobs.org/

Found via Yahoo news feed: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100624/ap_on_en_tv/us_immigration_take_our_jobs

Immigrant farm workers' challenge: Take our jobs

  By JULIANA BARBASSA, Associated Press Writer Juliana Barbassa, Associated Press Writer   – Thu Jun 24, 5:42 pm ET

SAN FRANCISCO – In a tongue-in-cheek call for immigration reform, farm workers are teaming up with comedian Stephen Colbert to challenge unemployed Americans: Come on, take our jobs.

Farm workers are tired of being blamed by politicians and anti-immigrant activists for taking work that should go to Americans and dragging down the economy, said Arturo Rodriguez, the president of the United Farm Workers of America.

So the group is encouraging the unemployed — and any Washington pundits or anti-immigrant activists who want to join them — to apply for the some of thousands of agricultural jobs being posted with state agencies as harvest season begins.

All applicants need to do is fill out an online form under the banner "I want to be a farm worker" at http://www.takeourjobs.org, and experienced field hands will train them and connect them to farms.

According to the Labor Department, three out of four farm workers were born abroad, and more than half are illegal immigrants.

Proponents of tougher immigration laws have argued that farmers have become used to cheap labor and don't want to raise wages enough to draw in other workers.

And don't count on a big paycheck. Farm workers are excluded from federal overtime provisions, and small farms don't even have to pay the minimum wage. Fifteen states don't require farm labor to be covered by workers compensation laws.

Any takers?

"The reality is farmworkers who are here today aren't taking any American jobs away. They work in often unbearable situations," Rodriguez said. "I don't think there will be many takers, but the offer is being made. Let's see what happens."

To highlight how unlikely the prospect of Americans lining up to pick strawberries or grapes, Comedy Central's "Colbert Report" plans to feature the "Take Our Jobs" campaign on July 8.

The campaign is being played for jokes, but the need to secure the right to work for immigrants who are here is serious business, said Michael Rubio, supervisor in Kern County, one of the biggest ag producing counties in the nation.

"Our county, our economy, rely heavily on the work of immigrant and unauthorized workers," he said. "I would encourage all our national leaders to come visit Kern County and to spend one day, or even half a day, in the shoes of these farm workers."

"Give us a legal, qualified work force. Right now, farmers don't know from day to day if they're going to get hammered by ICE," he said, referring to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. "What happens to my labor pool?"

His organization supports AgJobs, a bill currently in the Senate which would allow those who have worked in U.S. agriculture for at least 150 days in the previous two years to get legal status.

The bill has been proposed in various forms since the late 1990s, with backing from the United Farm Workers of America and other farming groups, but has never passed.

Where to begin? Do you sympathize or empathize with the farmers and half of their employees? Do you support the legislation to give illegal immigrants US citizenship if they've been working here illegally for x-amount of days (half a year or something like that)? Etc?

Why would I take a job on a farm for less than minimum wage when I could work in an air conditioned Walmart (or other large company with a large work force to match)?

I admit that I'm not really familiar with wages on farms down on border states. What sort of pay are you looking at? Up here we have seasonal workers that get a solid wage for their work, so I'm not familiar with any disparities.

[Jamisjockey]

A) Unions made most of those jobs unaffordable to employers when done by Americans
B) as soon as all those illegals are legals, they will demand unionization and higher pay
C) Before we had a welfare state and massive illegal immigration, those jobs were done by American migrant workers and by recent legal immigrants

I absolutely and unequivacoly (spelling? I'm a little buzzed tonight) do not support legalization of illegal immigrants.  I'd rather see every one of them rounded up and sent whence they came.

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

whats farm work pay in maine?

[RileyCA]

We don't have an illegal immigrant problem, we have an illegal employer problem.  Start fining, indicting and jailing some of these corporate CEO's who exploit illegals, and you see and end to it.  No jobs, no illegals.

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

http://business.mainetoday.com/news/061001fritzsche.html

[RevDisk]

And don't count on a big paycheck. Farm workers are excluded from federal overtime provisions, and small farms don't even have to pay the minimum wage. Fifteen states don't require farm labor to be covered by workers compensation laws.

Uh huh.  Perhaps because supply and demand is off kilter?

If farms currently employing illegals were subject to actual market pressures, they'd raise pay and benefits to a level that people would work for.  By breaking the law and hiring illegals, they are intentionally (and illegally) keeping wages at an unappealing level.

Which brings the question, why aren't folks that intentionally hire illegals being arrested for their criminal activities?

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

because some of them have good lobby's?  and when they start arresting folks for hiring day labor to move and do yard work it'll bite em in the tail?

[RileyCA]

Which brings the question, why aren't folks that intentionally hire illegals being arrested for their criminal activities?

Good question with a simple answer.  Because the people in power, who would arrest criminal employers, are wholly owned, bought and paid for, by those same employers.

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

since many of the people hiring either in person or by proxy are voters whats the surprise?

[Ryan in Maine]

http://business.mainetoday.com/news/061001fritzsche.html

That article is inaccurate. Which is likely why he doesn't cite any references, or anything for that matter.

If you have any sort of work ethic, you can make twice minimum wage in blueberry, potato, or broccoli fields here. If you have a strong work ethic, you can do even better. Folks who aren't getting paid well are the ones who spend most of their time in the fields socializing rather than producing or folks who are using it as an excuse to take a short vacation and spend more time at the mall than in the fields.

Apple picking will get you minimum wage, maybe a little better. Maple syrup will get you minimum wage but there's not much demand for a work-force.

Lumber work will get you twice minimum wage.

Ocean harvests will get you better than minimum wage, easily, as long as you get your butt on a boat and have a strong work ethic. Blood worms and clams aren't producing the same numbers as they were in past years, so shore work has been hit. Not sure what you'll make going after those two this year.

Oh, and "animal farming" makes lots of Mainers good money every hunting season.  

[KD5NRH]

And don't count on a big paycheck. Farm workers are excluded from federal overtime provisions, and small farms don't even have to pay the minimum wage.

"Small farms" are defined as ones using less than 500 man-days of hired help in any quarter of the previous year, meaning that they're most likely padding out their help with lots of unreported illegal labor to keep the reported man-days down.

Make piece-rate pay for regular employees easier to handle, and a lot of the problems go away when the lazy workers don't cost their employers as much as good ones.

[Tallpine]

Heck, I've done farm work.  Plowed, leveled, and planted fields for a local guy a few years ago, then sprayed weeds half-days (5am - 9am) most of that summer.

Lumber: I logged for years.  Trouble is that what little hasn't been shut down by the enviro-nazis now is mechanized so that one or two guys can do all the work.  I would go back to falling timber with a chainsaw in a heartbeat, if such work existed anymore.

[P5 Guy]

When an employer cannot make a profit because of labor costs what is the boss to do?
Get cheaper labor or learn to automate the process?
I worked for a company that has factories all over the world. A good number of them had automated production lines. But the boss went out to find cheaper labor when the robots started to wear out. They closed the plant I worked at and moved to Mexico for the cheap labor there because the boss found that Mexicans were cheaper than robots.
I wonder how that boss is doing now. The plant moved to Ciudad Juerez?

[MechAg94]

I'd be curious if the quality was the same for the Mexican labor.

What is the break down of industries that hire illegals?  Are farm workers and migrant workers the majority or a smaller percentage? 

[Balog]

Unions and fed.gov create the "problem" of jobs Americans won't do, then try to "solve" them by screwing over a second time the people they hurt the first time.

[P5 Guy]

Unions and fed.gov create the "problem" of jobs Americans won't do, then try to "solve" them by screwing over a second time the people they hurt the first time.

Yeah, its them dang unions. Oh come on now which union are we talking about? The Screen Actors and Writers Guild? NFL Players Union, MBL Players, AFT or NEA, Police and Firefighters Unions, Bus drivers, Conductors and Engineers of the state funded mass transit? Yeah the UAW did provide unsustainable legacy benefits but they had help from the management of the Big Three. And please do not forget the Government Workers both Federal and State also have Collective Bargaining Units. Now that is one Union I'd like to broken Have the Government, Teachers (and I'd be hard pressed not to include teacher in with the entertainers) and Entertainment Unions. And yes Sports are just Entertainment.
It has been awfully easy to get Unions decertified since RWR fired all the PATCO union members. Just how many of the several states are "right to work" states?
The CEOs that are taking huge bonuses for failing to turn a profit, that sit on the Boards of their fellow CEOs' companies. Maybe that is a contributing factor?

[makattak]

Yeah, its them dang unions. Oh come on now which union are we talking about? The Screen Actors and Writers Guild? NFL Players Union, MBL Players, AFT or NEA, Police and Firefighters Unions, Bus drivers, Conductors and Engineers of the state funded mass transit? Yeah the UAW did provide unsustainable legacy benefits but they had help from the management of the Big Three. And please do not forget the Government Workers both Federal and State also have Collective Bargaining Units. Now that is one Union I'd like to broken Have the Government, Teachers (and I'd be hard pressed not to include teacher in with the entertainers) and Entertainment Unions. And yes Sports are just Entertainment.
It has been awfully easy to get Unions decertified since RWR fired all the PATCO union members. Just how many of the several states are "right to work" states?
The CEOs that are taking huge bonuses for failing to turn a profit, that sit on the Boards of their fellow CEOs' companies. Maybe that is a contributing factor?

Yes, I think that's a pretty comprehensive list of what's wrong with unions in this country. Well done.

Also, as to "BIG BONUSES," compare the price of those bonuses to the price of getting rid of a CEO unwillingly.

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

take a look at the salaries and
"other compensation " the union shmucks stash away. its quite impressive  they could give lessons to the king of zimbabwe  the one who was quoted "  steal a lil... wisely..."

[KD5NRH]

Also, as to "BIG BONUSES," compare the price of those bonuses to the price of getting rid of a CEO unwillingly.

Accidents can happen cheaply.

[Jamisjockey]

Yeah, its them dang unions. Oh come on now which union are we talking about? The Screen Actors and Writers Guild? NFL Players Union, MBL Players, AFT or NEA, Police and Firefighters Unions, Bus drivers, Conductors and Engineers of the state funded mass transit? Yeah the UAW did provide unsustainable legacy benefits but they had help from the management of the Big Three. And please do not forget the Government Workers both Federal and State also have Collective Bargaining Units. Now that is one Union I'd like to broken Have the Government, Teachers (and I'd be hard pressed not to include teacher in with the entertainers) and Entertainment Unions. And yes Sports are just Entertainment.
It has been awfully easy to get Unions decertified since RWR fired all the PATCO union members. Just how many of the several states are "right to work" states?
The CEOs that are taking huge bonuses for failing to turn a profit, that sit on the Boards of their fellow CEOs' companies. Maybe that is a contributing factor?

UFW.  Gee, here's a shock, the UFW is BEHIND THE TAKE OUR JOBS.ORG WEBSITE.  And then there is the UFCW for all those illegals working in processing plants.  Oh, and SEIU will certainly step in and take care of the illegal dishwashers, etc.
 
If you don't think that when these illegals become legal they won't be becoming part of the Unions....I've got some oceanfront property in Arizona for you too.
Big Labor drives up the cost of labor, which in turn drives up the cost of everything.

[MechAg94]

The biggest problem I have with unions is that many of them don't seem to put much effort into making sure their members (including the senior guys) are well trained and do a competent job in a reasonable time.  They don't maintain standards.  If they did, I think many people would favor union labor. 

Ask the new plant construction managers with our company what they think of union labor and it normally falls down to bad attitude, workmanship, and potential sabotage.  Most them have run into that in closed shop states.

[P5 Guy]

The biggest problem with Unions is they are now just another "Big Business".
The biggest problem with our supposed "Free Market Capitalism" is it is a fiction. Both the Big Unions and the Big Business have too much power over our elected servants. And they have tilted the playing field so far into there favor the "Free Market" is tightly controlled. Corporatist Fascism would be a much better way to describe the economic system "We the (Small) People" deal with day to day.
But this is just My opinion and being one of the little people what do I know.

[makattak]

The biggest problem with Unions is they are now just another "Big Business".
The biggest problem with our supposed "Free Market Capitalism" is it is a fiction. Both the Big Unions and the Big Business have too much power over our elected servants. And they have tilted the playing field so far into there favor the "Free Market" is tightly controlled. Corporatist Fascism would be a much better way to describe the economic system "We the (Small) People" deal with day to day.
But this is just My opinion and being one of the little people what do I know.

That's great. I won't even argue whether or not that's the case, because it doesn't matter.

Because the problem ISN'T business or labor. The problem is here:

our elected servants

If you get government out of business and labor, the problems disappear. The businesses won't seek "power over our elected servants" if the servants didn't have anything to do with business.

You want business and labor out of government? Get the government out of business.

[P5 Guy]

Made more difficult by the SCOTUS ruling that Corp. has all the rights of a real living person, even super rights as compared to yours. All of the rules and laws cannot be focused on making business super rights. I'm in favor of leaving them alone to make the products and provide the services that We want to purchase. And those of us that work for them the freedom to organize. I'm NOT in favor of the system we have now. There is way too many stumbling blocks for Labor and way too many loopholes for the boss. NAFTA comes to mind first.
Anyway please stop our elected servant from serving only those with almost all the money. Please remember that the Founding Fathers didn't want the Corporate nor central government we are dealing with today.

[makattak]

Made more difficult by the SCOTUS ruling that Corp. has all the rights of a real living person, even super rights as compared to yours. All of the rules and laws cannot be focused on making business super rights. I'm in favor of leaving them alone to make the products and provide the services that We want to purchase. And those of us that work for them the freedom to organize. I'm NOT in favor of the system we have now. There is way too many stumbling blocks for Labor and way too many loopholes for the boss. NAFTA comes to mind first.
Anyway please stop our elected servant from serving only those with almost all the money. Please remember that the Founding Fathers didn't want the Corporate nor central government we are dealing with today.

It's like you didn't even read the previous post.

The problem is government meddling. So the solution is to have government meddle even more in how they get elected?