Thread: Something Else to Worry About..More Grist for the Mill

Did anyone catch the Al Rantel program last nite? Very, very interesting!!!

Al had some callers who were in the construction business and openly admitted that they hired illegals BUT they had some very harsh and eye-opening comments as to why illegals are NOT what they are cracked up to be! Contrary to popular opinion, they are NOT that hard working and they are NOT that reliable.

Some of the comments:

They only like to work 2-3 days/week and they don't like to work full days...they want to quit around 2:00 in the afternoon. They are completely unreliable and do not want to work on a permanent basis for any employer. They are extremely hard working and cooperative for the first day or two but they often turn on their employers and demand more money on day three!

The day laborers usually live in deplorable conditions and drinking beer is their escape or more appropriately...their excuse! They don't want to work all day because they want to start the drinking and partying with their fellow illegals. And of course they start their beer drinking as soon as they get in their trucks!

Every single one of the callers said the illegals were more trouble than they were worth! One of the callers even got out of the construction business because he couldn't rely on the illegals to show up and he couldn't hire Americans because he was constantly being under-bid.

This is very revealing and something that needs to be investigated. It doesn't sound like these are Bush's "HARD WORKING" people who are just doing jobs Americans won't do! Our streets are littered with millions of illiterate, itinerant, transient third worlders who think nothing about killing our citizens on our highways, raping our women, and destroying our culture and our American way of life.

If they get amnesty they will be able to travel back and forth to Mexico with impugnity. They conceivably could work a few days a month here, take our money and live like kings in Mexico, build a nice little house in Mexico, come back, make some more money, collect SS, welfare, food stamps, pay no taxes, keep their anchor babies in our schools, go home ....etc. etc. And when they have all their ducks in order, they can retire on the Social Security they will receive ...in the homeland they love so much, Mexico...and the US will be bankrupt - wondering how this could have happened!

I imagined as much. The whole thing is disgusting. Obviously, it is not just "jobs Americans won't do" anymore (if it ever was) - it's good jobs that have experienced depressed wages because of illegals. I read that years ago, construction workers were making $18/hour (a long time ago), and NOW, they'll make half of that.

What I don't get is how the illegals can get Social Security based on their illegal work when they must have been using someone else's SS#! That is just absurd. They can't pay taxes unless they're using someone else's SS# or a fake one!!

I have heard the same thing, AmericanMe. My husband is a roofer and he sees all kinds of things on the construction site when he has worked out of state. There will be five guys doing one job for one wage. Then they split the money between them and never show up again. My husband works in his brother's roofing company and they at least do not hire illegals.

I have some first hand knowledge of construction, I worked in Denver, CO from 1978 to 1982 as a residential framer. My work was inspected and any problems had to be fixed or I was back charged to have someone else fix my problems. Needless to say you had to build it right the first time or you would not make any money.
Moved to Italy for three years
1986 moved to Las Vegas, NV bought a new home under construction, so I was able to watch the home being built.
1. First thing I noticed was the construction crews did not speak English.
2. I still had one of my old check sheets from when I use to frame homes and used it on my home. There were so many problems the construction foreman hated to see me coming.
3. Some corrections were made to home, not all.
4. I really could not find one straight plumb wall in the whole house.
5. The attention to any detail was missing and it was very evident the workers building this home took absolutely no pride in their work.
1996 Moved to San Diego, CA
1. Walked around some construction sites, same no English spoken and it was apparent no pride in building practices.
2. Next door neighbor was plumber and he informed me that some new San Diego homes were being built with Mexican Copper tubing which is inferior to American Copper tubing. By the way this was being done Illegally! Him and some other plumbers joked it would just be more business for them on down the road. Ha Ha
3. The price paid for these California homes and the craftsmanship put into them is so offset it boggles the mind.

They don't call it cheap labor for nothing.

Every single one of the callers said the illegals were more trouble than they were worth! One of the callers even got out of the construction business because he couldn't rely on the illegals to show up and he couldn't hire Americans because he was constantly being under-bid.

SD, it's interesting that you mention that. I have a friend who is a local electrical inspector, and he has told me case after case after case in which the "electricians" hired by the large housing corps were not even certified. He found so many NEC and OSHA violations on at least 50% of the homes he inspects. This is outrageous!

I have two friends who are contractors and also have their own businesses. They also refuse to hire illegals, or even legal residents due to the problems you described. Many times, my one friend who is a painter, has had to go back in and redo jobs many times because the workers do not even know how to put primer on newly installed drywall. There are many other infractions, but it's a joke.
When I was 12 to 15, I worked construction with my dad and his friend's business. When the job was finished, I remember the inspector would rarely ever find anything that wasn't up to code.
It seems to me that Americans took more pride in their work than illegals do.
And since when did construction become a job that Americans won't do? My guess is probably since the wages have been supressed because of the illegal labor.

Originally Posted by sd_hog

The price paid for these California homes and the craftsmanship put into them is so offset it boggles the mind.

If builders were honest, their home prices would have decreased with the influx of cheap illegal labor. But no. The developers grow richer and lobby for amnesty.

I've seen a lot of homes being built by illegals. There have been times where illegals were trained on-the-spot by other illegals. This includes operating large and potentially dangerous machinery--just set an untrained giggling illegal in the driver's seat and let him have his fun as he learns by trial and error. No American worker would be allowed to be trained on the job in this fashion.

Duh

My son works in the construction field in NC. He is trying to find a job right now. One owner of a company said if he couldn't speak spanish he couldn't hire him. As all of his workers were Mexican. Another commented that he would hire him if he was willing to work under the table like the Mexicans as insurance is so high for on the books workers. My son has 8 years experience and excellent refernces and still can't find a job in the construction field. His old boss had him come to do a clean up after illegals sprayed siding sealer on all the windows and doors in a multimillion dollar condo project. Of course I had to go help him. One unit took us 12 hours on one unit. What a mess! We sat there and watched them clean out all the copper and wire of a project across the street. They were climbing threw a window. We called and reported it, My son new the owner and he said What he paid them he could afford to loose some copper and wire! Don't worry about it. And who pays the buyers!!

My husband and I have a friend who does painting and carpentry work. He specializes in restoring old Victorian style homes and is very knowledgeable about all aspects of this so his business is secure. He also works on other homes and we recently had him here to do some work for us. I asked him about the quality of workmanship on new (illegal aliens built) homes and he just rolled his eyes. He said within a year many of these homes begin to develop problems from shoddy construction work. When he is called in to fix something like a window that isn't right, he said he has learned to bring all his carpentry supplies and tools with him because he will invariably find half a dozen other things wrong that need to be corrected before the window can be fixed. He has seen homes where nails were just randomly hammered everywhere. The person doing the hammering clearly did not understand that the purpose of the nails was to secure one board to another. I'd live in a tepee before I would have a home built today. Just look at the homes in Mexico- you think these people know how to build a house?

Originally Posted by tinybobidaho

I have heard the same thing, AmericanMe. My husband is a roofer and he sees all kinds of things on the construction site when he has worked out of state. There will be five guys doing one job for one wage. Then they split the money between them and never show up again. My husband works in his brother's roofing company and they at least do not hire illegals.

Now that's another new twist, Tinybobidaho...splitting the wages 5 ways! Why not? They split the rent 20 ways! They are nothing more than fly-by-nights who make enough pesos to cover expenses by picking up odd jobs here and there. Hard working....my left foot! They are making fools of us!