No sympathy...

[bradclark1]

Originally Posted by DeepIron

The guys been bringing in temps from Mexico because "he can't find enough Americans to do the job".

The question is are you willing to pay more than quadruple the price for fruit and veg?
We will always need cheap Mexican labor the deal is making it legal and controllable.

[Platapus]

Originally Posted by bradclark1

The question is are you willing to pay more than quadruple the price for fruit and veg?
We will always need cheap Mexican labor the deal is making it legal and controllable.

This is the basic concept.

People complain about "cheap foreign labour" and lament why can't these businesses pay higher wages and benefits. But how many of them are willing to pay the extra money?

My landscaper uses day workers. These are legal foreign workers. He pays a low rate and gives no benefits. The result is that I get great service for for $35.00 per month.

If he were to hire "americans" and pay what they would demand, my costs would be 3-4 times higher.

I am a capitalist. I want the best product for the lowest price. Why would I pay more for a product of equal (or most likely lower) quality?

It is sad when American's lose their jobs. But this is hardly a new concept. Americans have been losing jobs to machines and lower labour for over 200 years.

100 years ago, should we have restricted the automobile industry because all the horsey workers had their jobs threatened? I don't think so.

It is called evolution. If your job is being threatened by either technology or cheaper labour, the solution may be that you need to move to another career? It is not fun nor easy but what else can we do? Restrict future technology/economics?

It is not a fair or nice world. I worked crap wages and studied for over 12 years to get a career where I feel comfortable and secure. If the environment changes and my job is threatened, I will move to another career. I won't expect the government or society to stay static just because of me.

What the Government/industry should be doing is enabling these American workers to retrain into career/job fields that they can be competitive in.