The line of applicants hoping to fill jobs vacated by undocumented workers taken away by immigration agents at the Swift & Co. meat-processing plant earlier this week was out the door Thursday. ÂGreg Bonifacio heard about the job openings on television and brought his passport, his Colorado driver’s license, his Social Security card and even a color photograph of himself as a young Naval officer to prove his military service.
“I don’t want to hassle with any identification problems because of my last name,” said Bonifacio, a 59- year-old Thornton resident of Filipino heritage.
About Those Jobs Americans Won’t Do…They Will!
Posted by Pam
on 12/20/2006
Americans are now looking to get jobs that they supposedly would,nt do looks like their taking those jobs after all:cool:
And Greg didn’t apply for that job before? Why?
2, Az, how do you know that he didn’t and was rejected?
You may have a point. However I don’t think that the majority of the workers at the swift plant were illegals. That being said, I have to assume that the presence of illegals held down wages for everyone at the plant.
Furthermore, I think the “jobs Americans won’t do” is a canard. I can’t recall the exact source but earlier on as the illegal immigration debate started heating up someone made the point that there was not a single industry or job category where American citizens and/or legal residents do not make up the majority of the workforce. So clearly Americans WILL and are doing these jobs. I have little sympathy for employers who say they can’t hire enough workers. Well maybe not at $7.00 an hour with no health insurance but maybe at $9, $10 or higher with some benefits and who knows?
Az,
We used to have a packing plant in town. Smithfield bought it and closed it from Farmland Foods. Yes, Illegals do somewhat depress wages, but the unions fight that tooth and nail. The union wages were above $15/hour.
The perception that there are jobs Americans won’t do comes from the ‘Common Wisdom” that Americans won’t dig ditches or pick fruit, etc. Of course, NO ONE will do that type of job if they have a better job, either better paying or less stenuous.
The pay issue is important. I remember picking strawberries for 15 cents a quart in Green Bay back in the 60s. As a teenager between lawn mowing jobs and not having a paper route, that was a job I could get, and did.
The other side of this issue is the more people are paid, that makes higer costs for the farmer or company. If the farmer or company can’t get their costs plus enough profit to stay in business, they don’t stay in business. That is one concept the liberals just go whistling past with out addressing or recognizing it.
The cheap labor is great for the companies or individuals that directly benefit from it.
But common sense will tell you that the activity is being (unfairly) subsidized by the rest of economy/society, arguably at a greater total cost than the savings from the cheap labor.
That $1 head of lettuce may cost $2 if the farmer had to pay market wages. But I’ll bet that lettuce really costs about $5 when you factor in the real costs.
I’m not ready to destroy America because these industries want artificially cheap labor and Hillary wants someone to clean her toilets (ugh) for minimum wage.