Thread: ATTN: People in the CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY !

If you, or someone you know is a LEGAL citizen working in construction... you are in for a doozy.

Fact: For years, illegals have infiltrated the construction industry by the millions, lowering not only the wages for most skill sets, but the overall quality of work. Wages have stagnated. Good people, and more importantly citizens of the US, have been forced out because they cannot compete with the cheaters. And the Government won't do anything about it.

We knew that.

But now it gets interesting. The "home" industry is imploding. The economy is getting weird.

The last 8-or-so years of construction and home improvement have been paid for with money that is ALL OF A SUDDEN GONE! No more home equity loans to add that Florida room, or finally fix the roof. No more flippers. No more new home construction. IT'S DONE.

And it will be very very dry, for a very long time.

But now we have a) American citizens, and b) ILLEGAL aliens competing for SCRAPS in a depressed, battered market.

If the illegals are allowed to stay, who do YOU think a homeowner, already strapped for cash, would hire to do those sidewalk repairs?

WHO do you think the major home builders will hire to help them build that last gasp of McMansions in order to eek out whatever profit is left... or to cut their losses.

WAKE UP PEOPLE! Now, more than ever, we need jobs... ALL KINDS OF JOBS to be available for the people they're MEANT FOR: AMERICANS.

Jeesh.

After the fiasco with my parents.....they are American contractors or I do it myself if need be. (God forbid) People are tiring of the shoddy work and to then find the workers vanish back to Mexico. Personally speaking....alot of people are loosing more money in the long run than they ever thought they would save.

The other thing I find that ticks me off and there was a construction worker on the radio talking about it too.......the cheapness of the building materials. Screws, nails, etc......Everything seems to be so inferior than what it used to be with this "global" economy.

I enjoy putting things together......I have put together desks and kitchen island carts etc and when you're spending that kind of money...200.00 and over and you are then expected to build it yourself......could they please include screws that don't strip out with the slighest amount of effort? I shouldn't have to be a millionaire in order to have a desk. Not everyone can afford solid wood doors and granite bathtubs....but when you're living within your means even at the low end there used to be some quality standard. I mean there's inexpensive and then cheap. I shouldn't have to have a solid wood door in order for it to not cave in if you hit it with something. My parents didn't have solid wood doors and they could hit theirs and have it stand.....

I'm just sick of junk all the way around. Sick of replacing everything every 5 years.......

Lord knows these McMansions won't be standing in 100 years. But the shack my dad was raised in still is.

So very true, I just said that last night to my husband. I'm glad we live in an older home. Oh, and we will never ever hire anyone to work on our house that isn't here legally and knows what they heck they are doing. Every time I use my sink or take a shower upstairs, it serves as a harsh reminder at how naive we were by allowing to be suckered in by these contractors.

(As a side note, just bought my son a Fisher-Price "Little Peoples" Dump Truck and you should see the character that came with it, sigh. At least we make some good jokes about it, lol.)

I agree that everything is substandard now. And China is reaping in the rewards of the treaties. We are having a home built. Still working out the details. No illegals will be allowed because our builder never hires them. Thank the Lord. I would be concerned about having any illegal near my place. I dont' want them to know where I live or what I have. Who knows? Maybe they would keep a key to the place? We've also made the decision to have a security system installed. Never in my life did I ever consider that before. What on earth is our government doing to us? No China stuff in my home. I never buy China stuff. If it's American made I will not hesitate to pay more. Our home is going to cost more, but I figure it's worth it. I want to help Americans feed their families. Yes, we have to pay them more, but they have to live too! So smaller home, less special things, but that's okay.

I don't think here in Texas, you could find enough American made materials to build a house.

In North Carolina there is still alot of building going on. I never see an American building houses anywhere. I believe many of the illegals in this state are working in the construction industry. It sure wasn't like this when my house was built 11 years ago.

I actually don't know how much homebuilding is going on here - but what I do see, it is all illegal workers.

Originally Posted by crazybird

After the fiasco with my parents.....they are American contractors or I do it myself if need be. (God forbid) People are tiring of the shoddy work and to then find the workers vanish back to Mexico. Personally speaking....alot of people are loosing more money in the long run than they ever thought they would save.

The other thing I find that ticks me off and there was a construction worker on the radio talking about it too.......the cheapness of the building materials. Screws, nails, etc......Everything seems to be so inferior than what it used to be with this "global" economy.

I enjoy putting things together......I have put together desks and kitchen island carts etc and when you're spending that kind of money...200.00 and over and you are then expected to build it yourself......could they please include screws that don't strip out with the slighest amount of effort? I shouldn't have to be a millionaire in order to have a desk. Not everyone can afford solid wood doors and granite bathtubs....but when you're living within your means even at the low end there used to be some quality standard. I mean there's inexpensive and then cheap. I shouldn't have to have a solid wood door in order for it to not cave in if you hit it with something. My parents didn't have solid wood doors and they could hit theirs and have it stand.....

I'm just sick of junk all the way around. Sick of replacing everything every 5 years.......

Lord knows these McMansions won't be standing in 100 years. But the shack my dad was raised in still is.

As someone who is not especially good at assembling things, I would be happy if they would include a sheet of remotely decipherable directions along with the substandard wood and nails. Who writes this stuff? I invariably end up spending a good deal of time figuring out how to put it together myself. I agree, you shouldn't have to be a millionaire to own a decent desk.

I'm about ready to go down to our city hall and give them h--- for their plans to provide a hiring hall for illegal aliens. Construction is definitely a boom or bust type of business. You can even see on cable TV (as I learned from watching CNBC business reports) that the homebuilding market was dominated by Hispanic workers. In the boom cycle it's true a lot of jobs were created---a great many of them for illegal aliens, while the homebuilders waxed exceedingly wealthy.

Now with the bust portion of the cycle here the labor maket will be flooded with too many workers ----and American citizens will go begging for employment. Furthermore our entire US economy is being undermined by the low interest rates of the Federal Reserve bank and our government debt is becoming less attractive for other countries to hold. If the Fed had held rates at a reasonable level, and our government had enforced the immigration laws the boom and bust extremes could have been subdued---there would have been a steadier supply of jobs for Americans. People and businesses will build if loans are 7.5 or 8%--instead of 6.25---but they certainly will not build at 9 or 10 percent. This government has brewed up a perfect storm for the hardworking American tradesman.

According to Bratton we need federal money for a new program to combat the rise of violent crimes. Is this guy totally clueless?
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20320054/si ... /newsweek/