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  1. #1
    Senior Member Sam-I-am's Avatar
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    Refuting the ag-business myth that cheap labor is required

    I got this from API (alt.politics.immigration, an anything goes newsgroup dedicated to the discussion of illegal immigration). Fred (f.barnes) did an analysis on how increased wages paid to agricultural workers might not greatly increase the cost of produce.


    > Here's a little analysis I did. It may not be precisely accurate, but
    > it's somewhere in the ballpark.
    >
    > Right now lettuce is selling for $1.00/head, and about 10 cents (or
    > less) of that is from the cost of labor. Lettuce pickers are earning
    > about $8.00/hour. That implies that each worker on the field crew
    > must be credited with $8/$.10 = 80 heads/hour. (That seems a rather
    > low number, but not all members of the labor crew actually pick, some
    > load trucks, some distribute boxes, etc.)
    >
    > So if we raise wages to $25.00 per hour, an increase of $17.00 per
    > hour, that would mean that $17/80 = 21 cents is added to each head of
    > lettuce by the increased labor cost. That is, the price of lettuce
    > would go from $1.00 per head to $1.21 per head from increased labor
    > costs alone.
    >
    > And if increased wages are to bring the cost of lettuce to $50.00 per
    > head, increased wages must add $49.00 to each head of lettuce. So,
    > the the increase would have to be $x/80 = $49.00. That is, each
    > laborer's wages would have to be increased by $x = $3,920.00 per hour.
    >
    > Those pro-illegal people know all this, they just lie about 50 dollars
    > per head of lettuce trying to frighten people.
    por las chupacabras todo, fuero de las chupacabras nada

  2. #2
    Senior Member BearFlagRepublic's Avatar
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    Spot on......That is the little secret that they are hiding from us. Corporate america always blows out of proportion labor costs and their effect on price. Agricultural economist Phillip Martin did a similar study; if we increased the wages by 40% we would pay an extra $10.00 for ALL of the produce consumed by an ENTIRE family for an ENTIRE year.

    I remember reading a thread on a different site where some idiot claimed that we would pay $40.00 for a head of lettuce if we didn't have illegals......NOBODY even challenged him on this nonsense, and this site had many self-proclaimed economists......But they must have gotten all of their info from the treasonous Wall Street journal. This "40 dollars a head" argument is ridiculous, and falls flat on the most rudimentary inspection....What do these idiots think, that labor costs account for 100% of price, and Americans would demand 40 times what illegals get? After all, these types tend to think that Wal-Mart is the embodiment of a quality corporation
    Serve Bush with his letter of resignation.

    See you at the signing!!

  3. #3
    Senior Member Captainron's Avatar
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    American agriculture was dealt a setback by a 1970's lawsuit of the United Farmworkers Union against UC at Davis, CA. This had a dramatic effect on reducing mechanization of farm labor, paving the way for millions more to come into this country as farmworkers and then disperse into other jobs.

    Some conservatives don't want to see any federal funds for research into harvesting automation. I say" Why not?" especially if it saves local communities, and US taxpayers, from having to clean up a lot of collateral damage. I do believe that the agriculture industry has turned a new corner and realized that if it doesn't mechanize it will not compete aginst third world agribusiness.
    "Men of low degree are vanity, Men of high degree are a lie. " David
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    In Colorado, the State uses non-violent, low risk prisoners to do the farm work. They make over 9.00 an hour. The state takes some for housing them, which is fair since the taxpayer pays for incarceration. I was floored when they said the prisoner makes about $4.00 a week. They interviewed a few women working the field. They both liked working instead of sitting. When asked about the take home pay, one said "It may not sound like alot to you, but to us it is". I wish California would start such a program.

  5. #5
    Senior Member redpony353's Avatar
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    THE COST OF LABOR RUNS ABOUT 10% OF THE COST OF THE PRODUCT. BUSINESS IS LYING. THE COST WILL NOT GO UP THAT MUCH.

    AND THE COST MAY NOT GO UP AT ALL. BUSINESS CHARGES WHATEVER THE MARKET WILL BEAR, REGARDLESS OF PAYROLL. IF THEIR PAYROLL IS LOW, THE SAVINGS IS NOT PASSED ON TO THE CONSUMER.

    SINCE THEY ARE ALREADY CHARGING WHAT THE MARKET WILL BEAR, IT IS POSSIBLE THE COST WONT GO UP AT ALL. BUSINESS OWNERS WILL JUST HAVE TO BUY ONE LESS MANSION
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  6. #6
    Senior Member Captainron's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by redpony353
    THE COST OF LABOR RUNS ABOUT 10% OF THE COST OF THE PRODUCT. BUSINESS IS LYING. THE COST WILL NOT GO UP THAT MUCH.
    I expect price gouging anyway.
    "Men of low degree are vanity, Men of high degree are a lie. " David
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  7. #7
    Senior Member redpony353's Avatar
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    I expect price gouging anyway.

    OH MAKE NO MISTAKE ABOUT IT....THEY WILL GET EVERY PENNY THEY CAN. BUT FOOD IS NOT LIKE GASOLINE. THERE ARE MANY CHOICES IN FOOD. AND ITS NOT LIKE YOU HAVE TO EAT FRESH VEGGIES EVERYDAY.

    SOME WILL PASS THEM UP IF THEY ARE TOO EXPENSIVE. AND THEY ARE PERISHABLE. THEY ARE ALREADY CHARGING EVERY POSSIBLE PENNY BECAUSE THATS THE WAY THEY ARE. IF THEY CAN GOUGE THEY CERTAINLY WILL.

    AND DONT FORGET THAT PEOPLE CAN ALWAYS GROW THEIR OWN.
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  8. #8
    cousinsal's Avatar
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    Geez, why don't they cut their profits so that they can pay better salaries to American workers, and also have the products remain relatively inexpensive?

    It's just because they refuse to cut their profits - that's what it's all about. What ever happened to the great "trickle down" theory - if we provide tax breaks for businesses, we'll grow more business, thus more jobs, and more income for the workers?

    What a crock that was, in the face of American greed.

  9. #9
    Senior Member BorderLegionnaire's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by cousinsal
    Geez, why don't they cut their profits so that they can pay better salaries to American workers, and also have the products remain relatively inexpensive?

    It's just because they refuse to cut their profits - that's what it's all about. What ever happened to the great "trickle down" theory - if we provide tax breaks for businesses, we'll grow more business, thus more jobs, and more income for the workers?

    What a crock that was, in the face of American greed.
    Well in the hands of big business running our economy for years, there greed has become outrageous! They see that they can't have slaves anymore so whats the next most cheapest form is illegal off the books employment where the only winners are business owners and never the people, even on the retail side we still are losing because the business is trying to max everything!
    Our country's founders cherished liberty, not democracy.
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  10. #10
    Senior Member kniggit's Avatar
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    I thought we were importing all of our food from China.............
    Immigration reform should reflect a commitment to enforcement, not reward those who blatantly break the rules. - Rep Dan Boren D-Ok

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