Interesting, but ultimately a smoke-and-mirrors campaign by illegal sympathizers. While it might initially appear to be a validation of the argument that "illegals do the jobs Americans won't", it really just underscores the fact that the agribusiness industry is really the reason for illegal immigration in the first place and has gotten exceptionally greedy (and dependent upon) artificially low-cost labor. The comparison of American salary expectations to illegals' salaries (who deliberately undercut them) is not apples-to-apples.
Read on...
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United Farm Workers invite Americans to 'Take Our Jobs' - Jul. 7, 2010
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Farm workers: Take our jobs, please!
Most farm workers in the U.S. are illegal immigrants, but a union representing these workers has offered their jobs to Americans.
By Aaron Smith, staff writer
July 10, 2010: 1:14 PM ET
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Facing growing anti-immigrant rhetoric, the United Farm Workers union is challenging Americans to take their labor-intensive,
low-paying farm jobs.
[as in, "the same rate we pay the illegals, not what people SHOULD be paid to do these jobs...]
As communities nationwide grapple with tenacious unemployment, migrant workers are often accused of stealing jobs from Americans. The union believes this accusation is without basis, and intends to demonstrate this with a newly-launched campaign called "Take Our Jobs."
"Farm workers do the work that most Americans are not willing to do," said union president Arturo Rodriguez in the announcement of the campaign.
[the critical part of that statement that he's leaving out is "AT THAT PRICE"]
At least half a million applicants are needed to replace the immigrant workforce, so the union has posted an online application for Americans who want to work on a farm.
Through its Web site, at
www.takeourjobs.org, the union promises to connect applicants with farm jobs in their area.
[and naturally the union won't stand to gain anything from this, right?]
Since June 24, at least 4,000 people have responded to the application, said Rodriguez. Some are serious responses and others are hate mail. "Only a few dozen have really followed through with the process," he said.
Most applicants quickly lose interest once the reality sinks in that these are back-breaking jobs in triple-digit temperatures that pay minimum wage, usually without benefits, according to the union. Some small farms are not required to pay minimum wage and in 15 states farms aren't required to offer workers' compensation.
[I wonder what the salary is before the union takes its cut for doing such a fine job of looking out for the interests of those workers]
Despite the dismal job market in the U.S., where the unemployment rate is 9.5% and 14.6 million people are out of work, there have been few takers.
[First I've heard about this - I suspect the lackluster response has less to do with willingness to work and more to do with unawareness of the opportunity and the fact that people can do better on either UI or working at McDonalds. If the program were marketed better and/or they paid what the market rate wage was (not the "illegal market rate wage") they'd have people beating the door down]
"I think everybody in our society is pretty clear that the least desirable job in the U.S. is being a migrant farm worker," said Rob Williams, director of the Migrant Farm Worker Justice Project. "If someone said to me, 'Here's a hazardous job and there's no worker's compensation,' I'd say, 'No thanks, It's kind of a no-brainer."
The Department of Agriculture counts nearly one million farm workers in the United States. According to the Migrant Farm Worker Justice Project, 85% of farm workers are immigrants -- and up to 70% of them are illegal.
Rodriguez, the union president, said the campaign is meant to draw attention to the need for immigration reform, such as the so-called AgJobs bill currently held up in Congress. The bill would grant temporary legal status to immigrants, which would become permanent if they continue to work on farms for a specific period of time.
[In other words, "Amnesty now!"]
"If [members of Congress] can't do their job in passing the bill, then they should come work in the fields," he said.
[From the air-conditioned comfort of his union office no doubt...]
Illegal workers are rich fodder for anti-immigration leaders such as Gov. Janice Brewer, R-Ariz., who told reporters in June that the "majority" of immigrants crossing the border from Mexico are smuggling drugs for cartels. The governor also signed into law requirements for state police to "determine the immigration status" of anyone under "reasonable suspicion" of being an illegal alien.
The Justice Department on Tuesday sued the state of Arizona to overturn its new immigration law.
The proponents for migrant farm workers insist that they help, not hinder, the U.S.
[If "helping the U.S." means taking money out of it, sending it back to foreign countries never to return, then demanding thousands of dollars a head for child education, healthcare, etc. then I'd hate to see what their idea of "hindering the U.S." is...]
Williams said that if people who oppose immigration "got their wish and all the unauthorized people went home tomorrow, we would have a crisis. We wouldn't have anyone to pick the crops, milk the cows, or take care of the Christmas trees."
[Wrong. We'd have a labor market that would re-align its price for labor at the resulting supply/demand intersection for American workers and the sale price of the goods produced via that labor would rise a corresponding amount. The total net cost (factoring in all the money that gets funneled to illegals through government social and entitlement programs) would still undoubtedly end up showing a net benefit to doing this. What's the problem with paying more for groceries if it's more than offset by paying less in taxes?]
He added, "It may be the least desirable job, but it's the most important job for all of us, because we all eat."