Thread: Supply of California farm labor shrinking

www.sciencedaily.com

Supply of California farm labor shrinking
FRESNO, Calif., Aug. 14 (UPI) -- California's farm laborers are in increasingly dwindling supply, causing a shortage of product in the normally busy summer harvest season.

Farmers blame an increase in border patrol efforts and competition from the construction industry. Most farm workers are normally undocumented, mainly Mexican, immigrants, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Fred Garza, an agricultural labor contractor, has about 1,000 fewer workers this summer than his usual 2,500. He said that was an indication of a widespread problem for farmers -- Garza considers his business one of the largest around.

Workers rights advocates say the problem is at least partially due to the low wages offered.

"Worker surveys have ... showed that more people would be attracted at a suitable level of pay," said Ron Strochlic, interim executive director of the California Institute for Rural Studies in Davis.

But farmer David Jackson says workers who make around $6.75 per hour cost him $9.50 in benefits.

"Eighty percent of my expenses is labor," he said.

While the U.S. Department of Labor estimates 53 percent of the workers are undocumented, farmers in California's Central Valley region put that number at closer to 90 percent.

Brian, check out my post here:

http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-8200.html

Many of the illegals now feel that farm work is beneath them and would rather take construction jobs from Americans. Where will it stop? I thought they were just here to do jobs Americans won't do? I know about a zillion out of work construction guys, that WANT hteir jobs back!

That's a good article.

Did you read the one I posted about the wages for construction jobs falling. We have a bunch of idiots that think the solution is to keep letting millions of illegals in hoping enough will take agriculture jobs. Instead they are going for better jobs that pay more, but are also driving wages down because of an over supply of labor. American workers in the mean time get forced out. You can see the big crash coming if the madness doesn't stop.


https://www.alipac.us/ftopict-8229.html