I think hell froze over - or we need more Mexicans.
 

It has been no big secret that our area of Northern CA has been running a little low on illegals. OK it may be a secret at the national level or if you do not live near here. Comes down to this. Up here we grow and produce a whole lot of agriculture. Olives and rice are two very big ones.

Typically during the season of those crops shit goes on like normal, just more Mexicans move into small towns like Orland for a few months. Off season they move elsewhere as there is less work but still enough to keep a bunch around.

There also has been a bunch of hoopla and random checks at farms last year. Well today a olive farm has started like a massive TV advertising campaign to announce a job fair in the olive business. Looking for sorters, general labor, fork lift operators, etc. They say pay is up to 600.00 a week (please note the up to.)

Never that I can recall has the farm business needed to use TV ads and so many of them (like several per hour) to find labor. I want to see this as a good thing. Yet so much tells me it is not. Many farmers are sort of in panic mode right now.

A job fair to find olive sorters - :helpme

Wow! Where do I sign up? Do I need to know how to speak Spanish?

Nope apparently you just need to show up and be able to tell the difference between a stick, a rotten olive, and a green one.

Ability to move arms fast, bend over often, and work 10 hours a day on commission is a plus.

I guess ICE is finally doing its job. It sucks for the farmers, but it is about time they started cracking on on illegals. What we need is more Americans willing to do these jobs. :2 cents:

:1orglaugh:1orglaugh

Sounds just like those "Make EZ Money at Home!" offers... you could make UP TO $5,000* a week!

* results not typical, especially if your a lazy slob.

Want to show up and work 10 hours a day on commission to earn "up to" 600.00 a week with no benefits? You do get a day off, and a non paid lunch break.

BTW farmers feed us. So I sort of like the price to remain as low as possible. I particularly am not a fan of cheap processed foods so it does worry me. Specially since such foods = fat ass Americans with poor health.

Now how are we supposed to make more Americans who will work for what they can pay?
Keep in mind if they are at the top of their game that's 2400.00 per month (before taxes).
No benefits (no health, dental, pension, etc).
6 days of work, 10 hour days.
PS it is fucking hot and not air conditioned.

:1orglaugh:1orglaugh

Soooooooo.... here's hoping the economy gets so absolutely shitty that americans are not only willing, but want to sort olives for minimum wage?????? :error

So your solution is to let the illegals so these jobs? The illegals do not have benefits. When they get sick, we pay their hospital bills. We have a man here that is an illegal alien. His hospital bills are up to almost a million dollars. The hospital wants to send him to a hospital in Mexico. He is fighting that. Who do you think is going to pay that hospital bill? The tax payers. Sure we may get cheap labor, but we damn well pay for it in other ways.

Plenty of Americans are already working for minimum wage. :2 cents:

I have never been insulting to you yet. Did you really think this one out in your brain? Like seriously given that thought?

May I ask who will pay for the American doing that job since it has no benefits and pays up to 600.00 a week, and is seasonal? When that American worker gets sick who picks up the tab? Your in the same situation no matter how you look at it.

It is not Minimum wage, people honestly have a hard time living off of minimum wage assuming it was. Not to mention minimum wage = medical and medicare coverage (not always medicare). Often also food stamps, HUD housing, and every other social program one can think of.

However this is not minimum wage. It also is much more than pushing fucking buttons on a cash register for a shift with paid breaks and all that shit.

Not doing anything nearly as hard as farm work. Picking vegetables in 105 degree weather for 10 hours a day/7 days a week isn't the same as flipping burgers or bagging groceries. :2 cents:

I never said it was easy.

Your wrong, actually it gets to about 110-120 up here during some parts of the seasons.
Which also means one must be smart enough to wear long sleave shirts and more than one layer. Not sure if many Americans could wrap their login around why one would want to do that or should do that.

I never said you did, but you did imply that americans would be willing to do that type of work for that type of pay, and I disagree. Of course if we get McCain in office we can definitely count on americans wanting to do those jobs! 4 more years of trickle down economics - what can go wrong? :thumbsup

Well Americans bitch they are tired of all the illegal aliens in the country. If they want them gone, then they need to step up and do the jobs that the illegals were doing. If not, then they need to shut the hell up and let the illegals do the work they do not want to do. You can't have it both ways. The Republicans are not the only reason this country has issues.

sounds perfect for the homeless and change bumming vagrants...they are used to shitty outdoor conditions, tend to migrate seasonally...and even without benefits and all that shit they would still be able to change their lives considerably...too bad they cant afford tv's and won't see the ad's

You've got me mixed up with someone else. I don't bitch at all about illegals. I don't know for sure but I'd bet about half of the swarm that do my lawn care, and the 2 that clean my pool each week are illegal. I don't how they couldn't be with how little the service costs. Plus I like cheap fruit and vegetables. I can't imagine how much they'd cost if americans did that work.

I was not referring to you, I meant in general. I like cheap fruit and vegetables too. Just not sure it is worth all the trouble. Illegals are a huge drain on the economy here in AZ. They also commit a lot of crimes.

I just want affordable food from farms. I do not care if it is a Mexican that picked it or not. Though it looks like these farmers are freaking out and can not find people to work. It is also pretty well known that it is a low profit margin crop. If you want oil you may get a gallon out of one tree. Which btw is what season is about to start, pressing time.

Our crime rates are not high, specially with illegals or legal Mexicans. Well the round ups last year sort of skewed those numbers since they were illegals. Though Butte county has a laughable crime rate. So I really think the grouping of "they commit a lot of crimes" is off. Perhaps those that do not want to work commit a lot of crimes.

Up here we have issues with meth users, pot growers, meth labs, um did I mention meth users (not of minorities, talking whites), and then your occasional big crime like a molestation or murder.

Its about time they address this issue. So many immigration busts in the news now.

If they cannot find legal employees, legislation will be created to fix the situation.

What happened to the program they were talking about like three years ago getting legal immigrants to sign up and come here to work those jobs? They can fix it.

Here in the deep south, the minimum wage goes by the Federal (because Louisiana doesn't do much on their own), and its $6.55.

There are sooooo many people down here working at that rate! The local grocery store here has employees that you would think are chained and whipped they way they act, absolutely miserable. But they work for minumum wage, and are too lazy to do anything else.

at $6.55 an hour, x 40 hours, you have $262.00 a week, BEFORE taxes.

Jobs paying $600 a week would be filled like crazy down here. I doubt the local trash men even make that much in South Louisiana.

btw- we are planning our move back to California right now, Hurricane Gustav told me to GET OUT! :1orglaugh

times are tough all over.
you are just to have to drink your martini without an olive.

This thread needs this. Pay attention, kids.

http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k..._comic_062.jpg

Dont worry ASM.

We will get rid of those immigrants that pose such a threat to National Security and cost the tax payers so much. That way we can pay 14$ for a 1oz jar of olives and wait till you try and by another watermelon. 35$ each...

There are some differences.... the primary one being that those Americans would not be sending the vast majority of their wages to a different country. They would be spending it here in the US and contributing to the economy that way, both on the local, as well as on the national level. Also, since they would not be living under a false/stolen ID, they would be contributing to tax base more correctly.:2 cents:

.

yea I forgot the economic stimulus from Americans making jack shit is going to be huge</sarcasm>

Where do you think the farmers hiring the illegals are spending their ill gotten gains? yeah.. America mostly

Its a global economy now, even agriculture, so you have to stop trying to apply economic policies from the Victorian ages to todays issues. We need that cheap labor and if we don't get it it won't end up getting more americans jobs... it'll end up resulting in us importing more food from places where that labor is cheap and legal.

Paying a worker to pick lettuce $15 an hour would only raise the price of lettuce 10cents. :thumbsup

Ice banned all Mexicans?

Whenever there's a labor shortage for thankless crappy jobs like this you'd think there'd be more support for getting prisoner chain gangs going.

Please show how you came up with that.

I personally know that crops that can not be picked mechanically are almost always done on commission. Or technically its per pound, per bushel, per ton, etc. They can only pay for performance and not pay everyone the same. It is harsh but that is how it is.

Ill look for the how they came up with the numbers. I heard it on cnbc and I know lou dobbs has said it before.

If you are right they could be talking about raising the commission to be on par with $15 an hour.

all the lazy people doing nothing and depending on us Mexicans to feed em.

On that note I gotta clock in as a cook @ The Sports Bar lol be back after din din.

Illegals are moving home.