Posted on 09/28/2006 1:33:44 PM PDT by SJackson
In the headline, home builders say they follow rules
Backing up that assertation, statements from home builders.
workers, many of whom are illegal immigrants and some of whom are underage.
Most migrant workers who contact Bauer have wage-related complaints, she said. Too often, workers are simply not paid, and when they pressure employers, they are blackmailed: "If you insist, I'll call the authorities"
"Big builders are relying on a system of multiple-layer contractors to allow for the hiring of illegal immigrants,"
labor brokers are providing legal cover
Primary contractors rely on subcontractors for specific parts of the construction job, and those subcontractors (who sometimes depend on other subcontractors) are the ones responsible for hiring workers,
When documents are presented - a fake Social Security card, for example - no questions are asked.
The main contractor is typically liable no matter what, but legal challenges are limited because of fear of deportation.
many employers are honest…that exploitation is a serious issue
U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division, receives many complaints about failure to pay wages. He also gets calls about illegal child labor practices.
native-born workers are in short supply… it's the migrant workers who tend to get the less-skilled jobs as framers, painters and landscapers
If the government limited the supply of migrant workers, a labor shortage would certainly result, Costs would go up, though. "You'd have to pay a lot more to get somebody to come out and do your jobs,
"It reminds you of the days before the child labor laws
Gibson is working on more than 100 workers' compensation cases. More than half involve employers who pay in cash and fail to declare their labor costs to the government, thereby avoiding taxes and other financial obligations
Once he worked on a case where a contractor got Hispanic laborers to sign complicated forms in English that effectively designated them as subcontractors responsible for paying the premiums of their own workers' compensation policies.
Sounds like a troubled industry to me. Troubled by abuse of workers and illegality, not labor shortages.
They are always free to go back to May-Hee-Koh!
Sure, the homebuilders follow the rules. The thing is, the rules don't apply to illegals.
Maybe Mr. Parker can convince the "immigrant" workers to avoid exploitation by going home.
I have so much to say regarding this post. But I will wait awhile to see if much of it is said before I do. Plus I can't speed type and eat all at the same time.
Racism on the left, plain and simple. The question is this:
Are illegal immigrants "noble savages" who are so inferior that they are not able to function in society?
Do illegal immigrants "need" a bunch of white liberal elitists to "take care of" the illegals and do for them what they cannot do for themselves?
My 45+ year involvement with illegals says NO ! ! !
The illegals are quite capable of taking care of themselves. Turning them into a group dependent on the white liberals is not the solution.
The illegals are buying middle class suburban houses without the help of white liberals. They are finding work quite well.
I personally know more IT workers who have been stiffed by IT employers, than I do illegal laborers who have been stiffed. I personally have been stiffed by IT employers. Relatively speaking the construction industry is more honest than the IT industry.
Josue Daniel Martinez Castillo fell to his death May 11, one day shy of his 17th birthday.
And a 32-year-old man from Colombia died April 25 when he fell two floors onto concrete at a Summerville construction site.
They don't have gravity in Mexico?
/s
Boo-hoo !
In our (the construction company where I work, and others I know of) experience, this is an all-too-frequent construction practice, not limited to illegal immigrant workers.
One must be savvy to avoid it; and even then, sometimes you get stiffed. It's part of the industry.
And what employer wouldn't want employees who work arbitrarily long hours with no overtime, who will work under unpleasant and dangerous conditions and NOT COMPLAIN? And whose existence lowers the wages for everyone else..
What's not to like? Who cares about our culture, language and national security when there's a few more bucks to be made?
Precisely.
absolutely dead on and accurate
The most telling part of the entire article is buried in the next to the last paragraph. The economy would NOT collapse if all the illegals left.
"Hispanic construction workers are substantially more likely to be injured or killed on the job than other workers, said Mary Bauer, director of the Immigration Justice Project at the Southern Poverty Law Center...........language obstacles that prevent Hispanics from understanding necessary safety information "
the 3 death cases cited all were caused by not watching where they were walking/stepping. I guess a mind that thinks in spanish never had to comtemplate being careful of where they step, right?/s
Yeah but the difference is your an American citizen and Adam Parker of the Charleston Post could care less whether you get cheated or not. He's too busy worrying about when it happens to illegals who have no business being here in the first place !!!
I can see where the 16 year old could be a problem, he's a double illegal. Some years ago we had an employer in one of the Chicago suburbs, in the plating business if I recall, who consistantly violated workplace guidelines. After a workers death he was charged with manslaughter, based on workplace conditions, and convicted.
As far as I can tell, this article is just bureaucrats justifying their jobs. I do klnow that required Workman's comp is expensive and often very hard to make claims against.
The mexican criminals don't think our laws apply to them.......why then should our laws protect them?
I'm with you Bob....I say, if they're gonna come here ILLEGALLY, let them take their chances. Afterall, there are no LAWS against the pencil pushers of big businesses exploitating the illegals, just EMPLOYING them.
I can only imagine that in your 45 years 'involvement' with illegals, you already know that. Besides which, based on what you've written, it sounds to me like your real concern is not for their well-being, but that they'll be given both amnesty AND a union card?
"It reminds you of the days before the child labor laws," Gibson said."
Not even close you moron.
Legal immigrants are covered by ALL of our employment laws. Aliens who are here ILLEGALLY are not, and are subject to exploitation by the disgusting, criminal, employers who break our laws to employ them.
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