How this garlic farm went from a labor shortage to over 150 people on its applicant w

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Originally Posted by jtdc

The goofyness is you citing the $2 raise, when it was in addition to the other $3. This is a total of $5. The previous $3 had no effect.

And also goofy is the claim that those raises are insignificant to the price of the product. My "goofy" point was, if it is so insignificant, why not be generous and pay a lot more. There should be no opposition to raising all minimum wages to at least $15. But as has been shown in places like Washington State and businesses like Starbuck's, the dream doesn't work in the real world. That is why so many business have been using illegal aliens, because it helps them keep the price of the products down so they can remain competitive.

I cheer Christopher Ranch for its effort. But it is a gamble, that if competitors don't follow suit, could put them out of business. Either all the available worker will flock to their ranch, leaving competitors raising their own wages to attract workers back to their farms, or Christopher Farms will go broke because of too high operating costs. The big difficulty is if it doesn't work, it is almost impossible to take the wages back down.

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Your point is a goofy point. You raise wages to get the result you seek which is a good labor supply comprised of American Workers with a strong waiting list of qualified people. They achieved that with the $2 raise in 2017 with the prospect of another $3 in 2018. Maybe they raised it to $3, now but at the time of the article and the 150 on the waiting list, a simple raise from $11 to $13, a $2 raise produced the result they sought, all the workers they needed with a strong waiting list to back it up and supply any workers they needed for growth, so why would they offer $25?!

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Originally Posted by Judy

so why would they offer $25?!

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Obviously, it's too complicated for you to understand. The $25 was and attention grabber that I threw out there. I am not for $25 per hour, nor a minimum wage set at $15 per hour. The farmers can offer better working conditions than their competitors, other benefits, or higher hourly wages to attract more workers. Mandating a minimum wages can take away part of their competitive options.

I have explained my reasoning, and it is over your head! https://www.alipac.us/images/icons/icon13.png

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Originally Posted by jtdc

Obviously, it's too complicated for you to understand. The $25 was and attention grabber that I threw out there. I am not for $25 per hour, nor a minimum wage set at $15 per hour. The farmers can offer better working conditions than their competitors, other benefits, or higher hourly wages to attract more workers. Mandating a minimum wages can take away part of their competitive options.

I have explained my reasoning, and it is over your head! https://www.alipac.us/images/icons/icon13.png

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It's not over my head. You made a goofy point and got called on it. The proper reaction is to applaud the higher wages that proved what many of us have been saying all along:

There is no job an American won't do at a fair wage. It's not about minimum wages or phony wages, it's about a fair wage, that's all Americans have ever asked for or wanted to do any work anyone wants done. Fair wages will vary with the job, so employers have to re-learn how to do this simple thing: offer more money until the Americans show up, then you'll know you're paying a fair wage for the job and have qualified American Workers lined up in droves.

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Originally Posted by jtdc

The bottom line is can they maintain profit? Something has to pay for that increase. If competitive garlic producers are getting that same labor for $3 to $5 less per hour, they can sell the same product for less. If all garlic producers raise wages the same, the price must go up. If all get on board this will be a win for American jobs, although inflation for Americans. Time will tell what gives.

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Not necessarily. Considering we don't know the company's previous profit margin, we can't really know that. If they had a large profit margin before, perhaps they're just accepting a smaller one. Just something to think about.

2/9/17

California’s Largest Garlic Grower Will Soon Pay Workers $15 an Hour

Gilroy, California, "Garlic Capitol of the World," has hosted 2 million at the annual Gilroy Garlic Festival.

California ranks as the top food production state for a number of crops

California becomes first state to pledge overtime pay to farmworkers ...
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/.../california-becomes-first-state-pledge-overtime-pay-farm...
Sep 13, 2016 - California will become the first U.S. state to require farmers to pay overtime to field workers and fruit pickers under a bill signed on Monday by Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown.

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Originally Posted by Judy

You made a goofy point and got called on it.

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No, a legitimate fact!

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Originally Posted by MW

Not necessarily. Considering we don't know the company's previous profit margin, we can't really know that. If they had a large profit margin before, perhaps their just accepting a smaller one.

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And you highlight: "Something has to pay for that increase." CORRECT! THAT'S WHAT I KEEP SAYING!

I see this argument when employees are boycotting companies like McDonald's claiming they make millions in profit so they should giver the employees all that money. You look at these big companies that have major breakdowns, like oil refineries. If they paid out all their profit, they would be out of business with the smallest breakdown. Businesses need reserves.

And there are many variables to consider. I ran three big rigs. In the early 80's another trucker bought three new rigs. My drivers asked why I didn't get new rigs. With the work slowdown after Carter, the repo guys came past us one day, while we were waiting for work and those three rigs were gone, along with the driver's jobs. One of my drivers kissed his truck because he still had a job.

Another driver quit to work for another trucker who offered him more money. He came to me complaining that that other truck was so hard to operate that his back hurt. He wanted me to fix the other guys truck so it would be as easy to operate as mine. Long before, when my dad was running trucks, paying drivers 22% of the truck's gross, a driver went to another trucker for 26%. He ended up coming back after a couple of months because that truck broke down more often than my father's trucks and he ended up making less.

Like I said, pay is just one consideration.

Everyone knows pay is just one consideration. Why do you think people here don't know that?