Construction employer on WJ CSPAN just now complaining because

[Skidmore]

his Mexican day labors don't speak English and that makes it difficult for him to supervise his crews. Then in the next breath he's complaining because he can't get American workers to work these diffucult jobs for minimum wage.


Can we say clueless?

[Gman]

1. That about describes the problem

then throw in how they handled the minimum wage increase.

[Pharaoh]

2. my word would be moran!

[DemoTex]

3. Could he take the inititive and learn Spanish?

Nevermind.

[midnight]

9. Now that's a thought.

A very good one.

[elehhhhna]

16. That what hubs did. He knows every swear now plus lots of useful

phrases etc!

PS the head of damn near every crew DOES speak English. They play "dumb" when being insulted by idiot Construction managers.

[thepurpose]

4. What sadden's me is how many people really just don't understand history.

They don't understand the history of the very country they are professing to protect. He wanted to talk about infrastructure being built with people that don't understand english? Send that man a history book non-english speaking immigrants both legal, illegal as well as those bought here against their will built a lot of this country.

[no_hypocrisy]

8. Good point. Somehow the railroads got built with Chinese laborers

in the 19th century.

[iconoclastic cat]

11. Well, they were pretty much abused, too, if I recall......nt

[Cassandra]

5. I didn't get the impression he was the employer...

but rather the crew boss. It didn't sound like he made the hiring decisions.

[Skidmore]

6. The impression I got was that he was concerned about the costs

of running a crew and had something to do with acquiring labor for projects.

[Cassandra]

7. He may not set the wage, though.

According to Bush, construction is one of those jobs Americans won't do. :eyes:

[havocmom]

17. Didn't used to be a problem getting jobs filled

when they paid living wages.

[bluerum]

10. Did he ask how we can get college educated murcans to beg

and fight eachother for non-living wage jobs?

Government is not doing enough to help secure a "stable workforce" for employers.

:sarcasm: :sarcasm:

[RobertSeattle]

12. I remember driving by a construction site

And see this guy paying day laborers with cash at the end of the day. I wondered if the same guy then gets in his truck and listens to Michael Savage rant against Mexicans.

[TheCowsCameHome]

13. I've seen the same. Excellent point.

They love $6 an hour cheap labor but God forbid an illegal should found anywhere near where they live.

[havocmom]

18. And no payroll taxes

or enforcement of any labor laws, observance of safety requirements.

Not just saving on payroll, also avoiding taxes employers are supposed to pay. Wanna help Social Security? Make employers pay what they are supposed to into the system. Want workers comp to preform it's task? Bust the chops of employers who avoid their obligations to pay into the system.

Seriously doubt there is any payment into unemployment comp accounts when they pay day laborers cash off the books.

It isn't just their own workers who are being exploited. ALL workers are being abused because of the taxes the bad employers avoid paying. With corporations paying less and less, guess who makes up the difference?

Services to ALL of us are cut because fat cats are stiffing workers and taxpayers. Revenue funds don't keep up with needs when only the working class and the dwindling middle class are putting cash in the accounts.

[WildClarySage]

20. They also avoid paying attention to safety regulations.

[havocmom]

21. Yep, got that

It is always toward the top of my list of their offenses.

They cut corners on all things relating to workers, not just wages.

When workers get hurt more often and the workers were 'off the books' (no workers comp either), who ultimately picks up the tab? The few remaining taxpayers.

[timtom]

14. I must confess...

that, on the surface, sounds like a real whiney attitude. If I were a contractor, or if I wanted to succeed in my business, I would either learn enough Spanish (or any other language) to communicate somewhat effectively and find me some bilingual lead men. All problems are there to be solved.

Edited to add:

I see, upon reading the other responses, that several people already posited this solution.

[mcscajun]

15. Difficult jobs demand more than minimum wage.

The minimum wage should be replaced with a Living Wage. Another option for this employer: More educated, higher paid people working with primarily Spanish speakers have the option to learn Spanish. Consider it job-essential retraining. Why should he be exempt from something most workers have had to do the last twenty years?

As far as paying American workers more, we'd all like to see that, but unfortunately, what's likely is that if he paid American workers more, his costs would be just high enough, that to make his living out of it, he'd be priced out of jobs, and the contract would go to someone not paying those living wages.

Small businesses, middle class IT workers, low-income day laborers, we're all getting fucked by those at the top, who want everything at the lowest possible price all the time, without looking at the consequences for the overall economy, and by investor/speculators, who want returns, returns, returns, all the time, ever higher, also without looking at the long view on any company or industry. It's the short-term investment view, the "what-have-you-done-for-me-lately" mindset, and the short-sighted globalization push. The whole thing is so twisted, none of us are getting out in one piece.

[napi21]

19. You're right, its not only const. But the problem, as I see it, is

ALL the owners or Sr. Officers of businesses in todays America believe they HAVE to stuggle for the "lowest" pay workers or their competition will put them out of business.

The ONLY solution I see to this is Federal Gov't regulations so EVERYONE is on the same base playing field. It's ceretainly not going to happen under THIS admin! Not with Elaine Chow heading the labor dept.

Maybe a multi-tiered minimum wage with a base of $7.50-$8.00, a mandatory increase to a higher rate after a specific period of time and experience level, and several levels after that, but in all cases, the system would be tied to inflation.

No Co. leader is going to voluntarily do pay more if there is cheap labor to be found. They're going to have to be forced!

[mcscajun]

22. Not so much that the employer has to be forced, but that the market

overall, purchasers of labor as well as providers, has to be convinced, yes, even by regulation, that this IS what labor costs.

That must be backed up with punitive measures against providers and purchasers who cheat labor.