Thread: It’s immigrants, or the nonexistent

It’s immigrants, or the nonexistent

By Tracy Warner
Editorial Page Editor
Thursday, November 3, 2011

On any given day in October, weather permitting, about 45,000 workers are needed to harvest Washington’s tree fruit. If all goes well, before the snow falls they will have picked about $1.5 billion worth of food. That’s for apples alone, and perhaps an underestimate. This is a big, important business.

Put that demand for labor in perspective. The 45,000 workers — 90,000 hands pulling apples from trees — equals the entire population of Olympia, or Richland. It is 20 times the population of Leavenworth. Of course, only a relatively small percentage of the population has the desire or physical capability to work the fruit harvest. So, there are 489,000 males between the ages of 20 and 29 residing in Washington, according to census data. It would take more than 9 percent of them to staff the apple harvest.

As they say in the human resources world, this is not going to happen. Washington must import harvest labor, a lot of it, and this year it has not been easy. The summer was cool, the harvest late and winter early. The peak of harvest is compressed and, if they can get the fruit off the tree, the crop may be a record-setter. The demand for workers has exceeded supply to a degree that has surprised the fruit industry and prompted Gov. Chris Gregoire to declare a crisis.

The reaction to this news among the urban populace has been colored by trendy resentment of illegal aliens and suspicion of moneyed interests. This letter to The Seattle Times I fear may be typical: “Manufacturers have either had to adapt by modernizing, moving production to lower-cost markets, changing their business models, or potentially going out of business. Perhaps the same adjustments are necessary in our agriculture. Adapt, move on, or move out.â€

Very inaccurate!! There are multiple programs that would allow the fruit growers to import labor on a legal basis. They're simply too lazy or too cheap to do things the right way. The article also fails to mention the cost of illegal labor to the local governments, to include medical (what? no health insurance?), education of their children, and welfare benefits to the anchor babies.

This boo hoo article gets no sympathy from me.

A couple of mechanically-assisted apple harvesters:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=B2JYRmDpBpE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=i-oPvybZr04

A combination of devices (shaker, sweeper, loader) for juicing apples:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yfdWr6c ... re=related

If ya can't stand the heat,........


If these employers depend on foreign labor so badly, then they can sponsor them and pay ALL costs associated with them. Let the employer bear the burden of paying for their cheap labor, not the taxpayers!

If the employers have to pay to support the multitude of anchor babies that illegal aliens keep having, plus all the medical, housing, etc., they will change their tune pretty quickly.