More Hispanics in Mid-Valley pick a new field: Construction

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More Hispanics in Mid-Valley pick a new field: Construction

Employment numbers reflect shift from agricultural work

THELMA GUERRERO
Statesman Journal


August 5, 2006

Pedro Torres came to this country skilled in construction and eager to work.

"I've worked in the fields, I've worked in the vineyards, but that type of work is labor-intensive and it's seasonal," Torres, 30, a legal resident, said in his native Spanish. "Construction is not seasonal, it's more continuous, it's more gratifying and it pays better."

Torres, a native of Mexico, is among a growing number of Hispanic immigrants who have made the jump from agriculture to construction.

In Oregon, the number of Hispanics working in construction jobs was 26,460 in 2002, according to the most recent data available from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, part of the U.S. Department of Labor.

But that figure likely has changed, as the number of Hispanics who have entered the state's work force in the past four years has increased.

State and local construction companies say Hispanic workers such as Torres are an integral part of the industry.

"We could use many more," said Larry Sharp, the vice president of Salem-based Sharp Cor, a homebuilder.

"They're the most consistent workers," he continued. "They show up for work every day, work long hours, show a desire to learn, a desire to be productive, and they stay on the job."

Don Druliner, the president of Don Druliner Construction, a structural firm in Salem, agreed.

"These guys want to work," said Druliner, whose company specializes in foundations and framing. "They're dependable, too."

Sharp and Druliner echo the sentiments of many builders who say that without the Hispanic immigrants' contribution to the local, state and national building force, the rate for completing projects would be reduced to a crawl.

In 2005, the average wage earned by construction workers in Marion County was $17.70 per hour, the Oregon Employment Department said.

In Polk County, the average hourly pay for such workers was $16.03, the agency said.

The average wage in 2005 for agriculture workers in Marion, Polk and Yamhill counties is $8.78 per hour, the Employment Department said.

Statewide, the average pay for construction employees is $16.11 per hour, compared with $9.07 per hour for agricultural workers.

The move by Hispanics into the construction industry flies in the face of notions about the traditional occupations for the ethnic group.

Although many Hispanics typically have been employed in the agricultural and services industries, changes have come down the pike in the past decade.

Between 1990 and 2002, the number of Hispanics employed in the state's agricultural industry dropped from 23 percent to 19 percent, according to the Workforce & Economic Research Division of Oregon Employment Department.

Similarly, the number of Hispanics employed in the service industry dipped from 22 percent to 19 percent during the same time period.

"The trend is unmistakable," said Pamela Ferrara, an analyst with the Employment Department. "It was away from a concentration in agriculture and toward an increase in almost all job and industry categories."

One reason for the trend could be the increased number of legalizations that took place under the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, said Erlinda Gonzales-Berry, the chairwoman of the Department of Ethnic Studies at Oregon State University.

"More immigrants have received legal status so they're able to move into industries that verify their eligibility to work," Gonzales-Berry said. "In Oregon, as more immigrants moved out of agriculture, building contractors gradually discovered them and their dedication and skills."

The National Association of Home Builders said the number of foreign-born Hispanics in the construction industry has more than doubled in the past two decades.

Nationwide, an estimated 2.4 million Hispanics work in the construction industry, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said.

However, the bureau does not differentiate between Hispanic construction workers who are U.S.-born and those who are foreign-born.

Neither does the state of Oregon. However, of the state's total Hispanic population -- 8 percent, according to the 2000 Census -- an estimated 78 percent reported that they were of Mexican descent.

Experts say the rise of these workers in the construction industry has galvanized Hispanics into an economic workforce.

But, they say, a tight labor market has created a shortage of construction workers.

So chronic is the shortage that the National Association of Home Builders has lobbied Congress to enact an immigration-reform law that would include a guest-worker program to help meet the need for more of these workers.

In 2002, Hispanics made up nearly 13 percent of the state's total construction work force, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said. But that figure also has likely gone up in the past four years as more Hispanics have entered Oregon's work force.

For Torres, the adjustment into construction was an easy one.

"My brothers-in-law and me worked building houses back in Mexico," Torres said. "For me, it's very gratifying to know that what I build with my hands from the ground up will end up becoming a family's home."

tguerrero@StatesmanJournal.com or (503) 399-6815