[junta]

Japanese are leading the charge in robotics while the USA is stuck with loudmouth OBL types who champion feudal work conditions and call it "cheap labor."

[cyborg]

This is other side of the story. If people don't want to work then what are these guys supposed to do?

[cripplecreek]

The laws of supply and demand work just as well for those seeking employees.

[CharlesWayneCT]

There is so much in this article to discuss. One of the most interesting assertions is that, because of the "crackdown" at the border, migrant workers have chosen to stay in America rather than take the chance of getting caught.

Of course, if you don't believe what is being said, most of this is article is a joke.

I kind of believe that they couldn't get welfare recipients to come out for $8.50 an hour and work all day.

[JohnnyZ]

Why don't they just close down schools and let the local students work the harvest? That's what they do in potato country.

[Wolfie]

Hey, there's a drought of BMWs in my garage, can I break the law to remedy that?

[edchambers]

What's wrong with convict labor? CA has thousands of inmates that could pick lettuce for 8 cents an hour.

[SouthernFreebird]

Wow, I can imagine how far 8.50 an hour would go in California. They would rather loose a ton of food and not fill orders than pay more per hour for a worker?

[conservativecorner]

So pay someone more to do the work. It's what the majority of businesses do when they can't find labor. These growers need to understand that it is a new day on border policy.

[NC28203]

Higher wages may not attract much local labor because the term of employment is short. Most of the migrant laborers will spend short periods of time in a location moving up and down the coast harvesting different crops. People that are settled in an area are not likely to take up the migrant lifestyle despite the higher wage. Sounds like it is time for mechanization.

[theBuckwheat]

Libs try to have it both ways. This is a formula for failure.

They seem to want almost unrestricted immigration of Mexicans, "doing jobs that American's don't want".

Yet, they complain about the low wages at Wal-Mart, or the "lack of jobs" that pay a "living wage".

What is ignored is the connection between a flood of low-skilled labor willing to take any job and how this depresses the wages employers are willing to pay.

If the US could control its borders and allow only a measured number of workers into the country, the simple law of supply and demand would cause wages to rise until people were attracted to the job. Otherwise the employer would find other ways to get the job done, such as through the use of capital and equipment.

Yes, some prices would rise. But our security is more important than having inexpensive lettuce on every burger. A side benefit of this would be more Americans with low skills would find jobs that paid enough to entice them out of the underground economy.

[taxed2death]

"I lost $250,000 because of this problem last year"


Obviously you are not offering to pay what the market will support. If your business model relies on hiring illegals and breaking the law, you shouldn't be in business.

[rolling_stone]

mechanization
http://are.berkeley.edu/APMP/pubs/lmd/html/wintspring_99/LMD.8.1.transition.html

cost of labor for lettuce
about 7% of retail price 35% of production cost

[BurbankKarl]

And this morning the county issues a "WASH ALL LETTUCE" warning because people all over are getting hepatitis A

[gubamyster]

ping

[Mamzelle]

Maybe the "guest workers" have learned they can do better with illegal construction jobs.

[jackbenimble]

We heard most of this whinging, whining and gnashing of teeth from the farmers back in 1965 when we ended the Bracero Program. They warned us about $5 tomatoes. What actually happened was that the tomato harvest was automated, productivity and production soared, the prices of tomatoes dropped and the American standard of living rose. Scarcity is the mother of invention and a high standard of living is very closely associated with high labor productivity. We don't need cheap labor; we need productive labor. Americans used to understand that. Now the only thing our business leaders seem to understand is pseudo-slave labor. I think if we catch these people with illegals in their workforce we should seize their assets and turn them over at auction to somebody with a business model that includes obeying the law.

[dennisw]

We have 20 million illegal aliens. They've gotten so comfortable here they have moved from agriculture to construction, hotels, restaurants etc. To easier, higher paying jobs. We do need a guest worker program for about 1,5 million in agriculture, food production and meatpacking. Otherwise our farmers and food processors go out of business, jack up prices and we will be importing more of that awful Mexican and 3rd world produce.

Non agriculture illegals need to get the boot via:

• Verifiable SS# database that all employees must be verified with.
• Employer sanctions against those who hire illegal aliens. They will self deport when they stop getting paid
• Building an Israeli style fence at the Mexico border
• 10,000 highly mobile troops on that border

 

[hgro]

Its the fault of Cesar Chavez.

[tillacum]

Someone will come up with a machine to do this, just as they have come up with farming equipment that was once done by horse and man. Robotics...?