rw wrote:

notbob wrote:

On 2008-03-24, rw wrote:


....even skilled construction or an array of other things.



In case you haven't noticed, housing prices have increased to the
point of
unaffordable insanity, while construction labor pay is roughly the
same as
it was 30 yrs ago or even lower. This is not by accident.


I get ****ed off when I hear people say that illegal immigrants "are
only doing the jobs that Americans won't do." The reason that Americans
won't do these jobs is that the cheap labor pool of illegals has
depressed wages. This isn't true only in agriculture, but also in
skilled areas like construction.


actually, hasn't the cost of doing business and the end-product pricing
caused many smaller scale employers, including farmers, to search for
ways to make ends meet...cheaper (not always illegal) labor is one
approach. depressed wages don't necessarily equal high profits,
chiseling employers, or even illegal immigrant employment practices.

also, in some occupations, there seems to be a real difference in the
individual worker's drive to do the work - quality of the employee.
roofing for example. awful and strenuous work. low wages for unskilled
labor. i know several roofing contractors. they pay the same wage, with
the same poor benefits, to their laborers - caucasian, african-american,
mexican. gradually, their work force became mexican. all are assumed
legal, but i doubt it's so. the wages are the same. the contractors
say there wasn't any wage saving...but, the other unskilled workers
simply weren't as "passionate" or dependable in doing the day's work.
speed in completing jobs became a problem, affecting the bottom line.
attrition ultimately led to an all mexican work force...hourly wages
stayed at the same scale, but the mexican workers were better on the job
and in meeting deadlines.