Thread: Farm Labor Ruse

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pitt.../s_537410.html

Farm labor ruse
Monday, November 12, 2007


A new study about America's supposed farm labor shortages indicates Big Agribusiness has been feeding the public baloney.
Apologists claim that without illegal aliens on farms and fields, consumers could starve; few Americans supposedly would do the work.

But crops are not rotting in the fields for lack of workers, according to the Center for Immigration Studies. Fruit and vegetable production has been increasing -- including plantings of labor-intensive crops such as cherries and strawberries.

The study also found the average farm worker makes $9.06 an hour, compared to $16.75 for nonfarm production workers. It's a far cry from the bleak agricultural business highlighted in the 1960 iconic TV documentary "Harvest of Shame."


story continues below




Even if farm wages increased by 40 percent and the costs were passed to consumers, the average household would only pay about $8 more a year.
And the longer agriculture uses low-cost illegals, the longer labor-saving mechanization won't be cost-effective.

Instead of using a few select arguments to distort today's reality about illegals, Big Agribusiness should pay fair market wages and leave the cherry-picking to American workers.

Of course, these businesses won't mention the H-2A visa program which allows them to bring in an unlimited number of temporary workers. They publicly scream that the program involves too much paperwork, but privately they dread the thought of having to pay the higher wages mandated by the federal government.

Kudos to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review for telling it like it really is!

Not only that, they have to provide health care to their workers also as dictated by the Ag visa program.

Corporate farms are no better than the corporate prostitutes who claim they "need" cheap labor in order to survive.

What they weren't counting on is us (joe-public) becoming more educated on their dirty little tricks and lies! Soon they will realize it is not working anymore!!


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