Let’s Do It!
(Go directly to our step-by-step Jobs Back Plan)
Our politicians, both the Republicans and Democrats, have
abandoned the American workers.
Having no alternative, we will directly reach out to the tens of
millions of Americans who care about the future of our country.
We will provide a way for the American people to speak in a single
voice. With a unified voice, we will shout so loudly that our
politicians will hear us.
But, there is still some doubt about whether our politicians will act
any differently, even if they do hear us.
Presently, our politicians ignore the pain and suffering of the millions
of unemployed workers.
If they continue to ignore us, we will simply elect a new slate of
leaders who will comply with the will of the American people and
bring all our well-paying jobs back to this country.
We will not compromise, nor “water down” legislation needed to
achieve our goal of bringing all jobs back to America from third-world
countries.
Also, we will prevent immigrant workers from taking jobs from
American workers, and driving down the wages of the jobs that
remain in this country.
We absolutely have the “political will” that is needed to bring our
well-paying jobs back to this country. We will not back down. With
your support, these goals can be achieved.
If you would like to help us bring our jobs back to America, we have
provided a step-by-step guide for our supporters.
I would like to thank you for your contribution. I read your posts every day on the NY Times website (I guess that makes me a troll) … but you write very clear, concise, and intelligent responses. Thank you for keeping things smart and rationale, Frank. All the best to you.
Doug Gallup
There is a problem with some of your data. For example, your answer to your question about do illegal immigrants do the jobs Americans don’t want. Actually, yes they do. Witness recent farm labor crises in Alabama, Georgia, Kansas. Farmers paying as high as $15-20/hr couldn’t even get parolees to do the work, much less your regular American unemployed.
http://www.policymic.com/articles/8272/alabama-illegal-immigrant-crackdown-destroys-farm-business
http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/politics/2012/01/30/kansas-seeks-waiver-for-undocumented-workers-to-solve-farm-crisis/
etc. A better solution would be to allow migrant workers to be migrants, giving them an easy way to get a stamp for legal work in the fields and the ability to move back across the border when the work is done for the season. Give them decent wages, have them pay taxes, and you won’t see them moving whole extended families over b/c of fear of crossing the border.
Thanks for visiting our site! I checked the source material for the first article that you linked to in your comment. (I clicked on “wages” which appears just before “of $15-$20”) Here is also a direct link to the same source material that I refer to:
http://www.npr.org/2012/04/30/151700266/how-new-immigration-laws-are-changing-states
After reading the source material, it appears to me that most likely none of the American workers earned the $15-20 per hour mentioned in your first article. Even if they did reach it for a few hours, I doubt if they could earn it for the entire day. The farmer avoided saying what the American workers actually earned per hour while working for him. The reporter should have clarified this more for us in the article.
The workers were paid by something called the “piece rate,” which means that they are paid for each item that they pick, whether it is watermelons, peaches, oranges, etc.
The farmer interviewed in the source material said that the immigrant pickers were very skilled and trained in harvesting normally a single item. That is, a watermelon picker might not be as skilled picking peaches, etc.
The farmer stated that to earn the $15-$20 quoted in the article, you have to be “really proficient ” at your job.
It is extremely unlikely that newly-hired American workers could pick nearly as fast as an experienced immigrant worker who has been doing the same job for a number of years.
So, it is highly unlikely that the newly-hired American workers were being paid anything near the $15-20 per hour quoted in the article. We can’t tell from the article, but it is quite possible that the Americans may have been earning much less, maybe only $7-10 or even less.
Also, the farmer said that the work was very demanding, with “100-degree days for 10 hours, and, you know, very physically demanding work, stooping down, running, lifting. You’ve got to be, sort of, trained, almost like an athlete.”
Can the average American worker do this type of physical work, day-after-day, all summer long? Very few American workers could do this. Perhaps a few highly-trained athletes, such as football players, could do this.
It appears that the immigrant farm workers are being forced to work very hard in extremely harsh conditions for their pay.
And it appears that the jobs may have been only for the summer, when the crops needed harvesting. After that, it may have been necessary to move on to the next harvest, like the migrant farm workers who follow the crops.
It looks like the farmers are getting very cheap labor by setting the standards so very high for the workers to earn a decent wage.
(If I were an employer and doubled the amount of production work required for a job, it would be the same as paying 50 percent less to the worker.)
And for many, if not most workers, it would be nearly impossible to become “really proficient” enough in a short period of time to earn the wages quoted in the article.
If Americans require $20-$30 per hour, or more, to harvest crops, then that is what they should be paid. And they should not be required to be an athlete and run on the job in order to meet their production goals.
(For example, farm workers are paid about one cent per pound to pick oranges. Even if we tripled the amount paid to those farm workers, we would only add two cents per pound to the cost of producing the oranges. Of course, the cost per pound for labor to harvest the smaller items, like blueberries is higher.)
How much should an employee be paid for a summer job that requires hard work in 100 degree heat? I think that the farmer would have to pay much more than some retail store would have to pay for someone to work in a mall selling clothing.
The reporters in America need to educate the public about what is really happening. Food is important, and the people who harvest it, often in very harsh conditions, should be paid well.
And if the wages needed to attract American workers are triple those wages being paid to illegals, then so be it. We will just have to pay a little more per pound for our fruits and vegetables.
Farmers are not entitled to bring in illegal immigrant workers just because the farmers have created a system that pays very little to newly-hired workers who must work in very harsh conditions.
And if the farmer says that he offers Americans $15-$20 per hour, then he needs to set production goals that are reasonable and easily obtainable for the average American job-seeker. Workers should not be exploited and treated like slaves.
Americans were probaly discourage or told they need to speak spanish. Illegal invaders don’t want to work with anyone that’s legal. The invaders are some of the most racist people.
Hello All Just coming on board so please excuse all the questions. As a small
business owner this problem directly reduces the number of customers calling me requesting work. This decline actually effected our workload couple yrs.
before the 2008 election but not quite as bad as it is now. Im seeing more products that we use in our work being made overseas. I agree with the tens of millions of voices and there is no law that says we can’t call the companies and corporations directly and demand we want to buy American made products.
Just look at all the people walking around with a cell phone in their ear or
doing texting. Lets place those calls . Where can a person do resarch on the number of American companies that are overseas and what is the best way to approach this? I was also wondering how many people are signed up on this site. Also what can I do to help? Scott Mckee
I’m very confused how our politicians allowed such a ‘program’ to take place-with people being skilled and able to project into the future-how it wasn’t foreseen that moving our jobs overseas was going to hurt America? How did this happen and why? I’ve read and hear what they told/tell us-but that’s bull sh*t! The men & women who were responsible for allowing this to happen to our Country should live in shame! There should be websites that name them so that we can see who is responsible. But that isn’t going to solve the problem, I know that.
I am very depressed and heart broken over our Country breaking down. In my own personal life I have struggled and still do struggle with not only what is going but with my own bad choices. I’m a recovering addict and with the exception of the last few years have lived in an alcoholic bliss for 20 years.. And I’m a nobody. In fact, I’m worse then a nobody-I’ve broken laws-many of them, and am an ex con two time’s over. I’m an ex addict with no education who lived life selfishly and today, today I regret my choices and I think I will forever be in shame over my stupidity.
I have been realizing that I can’t live in the past anymore. I have beat myself up over my past long enough and it’s time for me to stop-for that in itself has become an excuse to not move forward. It’s nice to think that I can have a nice quiet life but, that’s probably not going to happen. So instead, I want to redeem myself, I want to fight..fight the good fight, and not for my own selfish causes. God, when I think how loyal I was for so long-for the ‘wrong team,’ how I would do anything-had I taken that same determination and used it for good, where would I be now? Well, that’s how I’ve been spending the last few years on the wagon. Feeling sorry for myself and feeling doomed. And maybe I am but that doesn’t mean I have to sit around waiting for it. But I would do anything to clear my name and that would make a difference. Anything & at any cost. Even death, if it meant to clear my name.
I need to know what I can do to help. I know I’m just one person-one person with a very messed up past but, I want to help and be part of a solution. I don’t even know at the moment if this website and it’s information is the way to go but I needed to get this off my chest and start somewhere. I’ve had it with feeling powerless. Even though my past created this very powerless world I live within, I know there’s got to be something I can do. Perhaps I was what I was to be what I’m to become? Because I know the dark side-I’ll know the light when I see it. I just want to do something good and continue to do it so that I can contribute to this Country and no longer be a burden to it.
I need to know what I can do. I feel like today is the beginning of my new life. I have no idea where I’m going or what I’m going to do. Maybe that’s why I’m just venting here-to find cause & hope, ideas and inspiration. I can’t be a waste, I just can’t be..