Today while I was talking to my boss a man came in and wanted to hire my company to transport Mexicans to job sites so that they could work constructions sites laying block for new houses built mostly by Ryan Homes. This new construction company brought ten Mexicans in to lay block and more are to follow.
The man that is bringing these Mexicans in says they will be staying in Tarrentum. I guess things are going so good in the Pittsburgh area that we need to bring in foreign laborers to do work that Pittsburgh Americans won't do.
I don't mean the Mexican-Americans who grew up here, but the guys who learn how to do it "down home" ~ we had a Mexican company bid on the sidewalk work around here (with VDOT). They did fantastic work ~ their degree of finish on sidewalks equals the best of any kind of interior work I've ever seen. I've observed the same thing in California on visits there to see inlaws.
So, what do we do? Well, the guys in India are even better! But they have to run a gauntlet at the airports to get here ~ the Mexicans have only to walk across the border to beat them out.
Seems to me we need a large wall on the border, with tight restrictions on who gets in the queue to do this kind of work, and vigorous enforcement of what employers do so they don't hire queue jumpers first.
As far as what bricklayers in Pittsburgh are doing.....? Maybe they should start practicing.