Wages and employment increased for legal workers after raids on six Swift & Co. meat-packing plants in several U.S. states in 2006.
Noting that the plants raided were back in production within five months, Jerry Kammer of the Center for Immigration Studies said there was “good evidence” that the number of U.S.-born workers increased, concluding that the plants “could operate without the presence of illegal workers,” The Hill reported.
The non-partisan center examined what happened after raids on Swift & Co. facilities in Colorado, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Texas and Utah, in which 1,300 undocumented workers were arrested. Another 400 workers without authorization to work in the United States were found through company screening.
“At the four facilities for which we were able to obtain information, wages and bonuses rose on average 8 percent with the departure of illegal immigrants,” Kammer said.
Over the last decade of employers in meat-packing bringing in illegals as scabs, average wages dropped at least 40%. Folks still have a way to go.
If we really enforced our labor laws, including those for workplace safety and proper facility operation, all these shady operations would be revealed.
No shit.
Even the Republican middle class knows Bush was wrong on his stance about illegal aliens. Now we have Pelosi and Obama championing illegals. When do we get someone in office that really gives a damn about U.S. citizens?
Thanks Eideard, good post.
The era of needing masses of illiterate, peasant labor ended in this country when we ceased being primarily low tech, agrarian nation.
There is no such as bad work in my mind. There is work that is poorly done or underpaid.
the fact that unemployment is soaring has nothing to do with citizens taking up lower paying and dirtier jobs or anything…
Now that there are fewer jobs in the USA there will be fewer people illegally coming here and the problem will largely take care of itself. Let the market regulate itself, right?
#2, not going to happen. I am sorry, but this is in many ways what is wrong with a two party system.
Both parties are addicted to illegal aliens. The democrats for the future voting blog, and the republicans for the cheap labor. So whats a person to do?
Vote 3rd party? With the system like it is, its a wasted vote.
How many great civilizations have we seen fall in part because it rulers stopped listening to the people?
and the price of food is STILL going up.
It dont matter who is doing the work.
It is still SOP that those at the top get paid MORE for LESS.
#5 has it right. We see news stories weekly here in So. Calif. about people going back to Mexico and further south because they can’t work and send money home anymore.
Markets ARE self regulating. Often painfully, but they are, and the forces that move them are unstoppable. Invisible hand my foot. More like an invisible avalanche.
These sleeze bags over at Swift would pay people a buck an hour if they could get away with it. The Swift CEO should have a cell right beside B Madoff.
I have to go with #9, Lou on this one. AND a strong #1 with Smartalix.
I think most of the above comments have more to do with their sour grapes at losing the election. Still.
One of my favorite themes: Why the best/better jobs in the world pay more, while the worst jobs in the world pay less. I’m not talking about the money either.
I’d rather earn less and be the boss of a packing plant, than get paid more and be on the production line.
Most jobs are like that. The incentives are all backwards–especially true when the job consumes your body/sacrifices your health==like coal mining or being a linebacker.
Its why the rich and poor deserve a restructuring of our society. Somehow the incentives are upside down.
# 11 bobbo said, “Its why the rich and poor deserve a restructuring of our society. Somehow the incentives are upside down.”
Cool, get a bunch of like minded people together and start a company. Structure it the way you see fit and see if it works better. If it does, others will emulate what you’ve done…
#12–Paddy==don’t pimp me. DON’T YOU EVER PIMP ME!!!!!! I hate being pimped.
but to your clever point, I agree, it will never happen without draconian political interference in the natural relationship between capital and labor.
As too little evidenced, my idea is not a request for adherence to a new model, but rather a request for certain touchstones to be kept in mind.
I agree I wasn’t real clear on that, but you didn’t have to PIMP ME!!! I DIDN’T DESERVE TO BE PIMPED LIKE THAT.
How do you take it Paddy?
# 13 bobbo said, “but to your clever point, I agree, it will never happen without draconian political interference in the natural relationship between capital and labor.”
You have a confusion as to what “labor & capital” are.
If you start a business, you are labor…
#8, self regulating, but with the illegal pool, that just lowers the wages.
I’d rather earn less and be the boss of a packing plant, than get paid more and be on the production line.
Its why the rich and poor deserve a restructuring of our society. Somehow the incentives are upside down.
And just what is the incentive for getting paid less to be responsible for the plant’s output vs. getting paid more to only be responsible for yourself?
I forget though that in Fantasy Land ™, manual labor input is the chief determinant of value. If you don’t know what Exploitation Theory is, a quick scan at Wikipedia should make a smart guy like you an expert in the subject after a couple of minutes. I bet you’ll feel right at home.
Fortunately for the rest of us, most serious people regard it as being mostly nonsense.
#16–SL==I’m not talking about theory==just what I personally would prefer. Nice indoor desk job, radio in the back ground, coffee on the credenza, the challenge and joy of determining/planning the short and long term development of a company. Much better than getting repetitive strain injuries from doing one small mindless task all day long.
Now, I’m not a LIE-LIEBERTARIAN so I don’t think I’m any better or any different than anyone else.
In our universe, jobs get paid based on baboon pyramidical structures. In other universes, some strange universes, payment for boredom can be imagined.
You have imagination, appreciation, honesty don’t you? Or are you republican through and through?
… and now meat is going to get more expensive…
#18 – You think a couple $ an hour is going to have much effect? Wait ’till hyper inflation kicks in from printing trillions dollars…
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7952319.stm
Nancy Pelosi says workplace raids are ‘un-American’. Illegal immigrants are patriotic, and frankly with blog posts like this one, this site is un-patriotic and un-American.
Maybe she’ll tax this site at 90% just like those AIG bonuses.
Even companies with no illegal workers can be shady. Stating otherwise is pure stereotype if not worse.
Paddy,
Long ago there was a person that was HIRED by corps to help them cut corners and make things better.
First thing he did was Cut positions that were REPEATS of other jobs. Then he used systems analysis and stream lined the job setups..
THEN he went to the top and started cutting wages, FROM the top down. MOST corps earned greater profits of 20%+ after he was finished.
The problem we have NOW, is the value of a job. And those on TOP thinking they can do the WORK, without those on the bottom.
Used to be, you worked from the bottom of a company and moved UP, and you knew everything about a company and how it worked, SO YOU COULD FIX IT, EVEN the boss knew how MOST of it ran,
NOW they hire DIRECT off the street the BOSS, that will run the sections and the corp, and they dont know THE WHOLE structure..
Massive unemployment and a pay raise is all it takes to get Americans to work in plants like this and for some reason most Amercans want to pay less for meat not more.
Same thing with cars. If your price isn’t right the average Joe is going to buy none Union and the advantage of Union is the worker makes more money and gets more percs which jacks up the price.
The real high end is where the crunch really is. I don’t care how scared and desperate you are unless you are a genius you aren’t going to be able to do some jobs well and if you kick those people out of the country the job goes to where they are.
The average Joe is not going to become a medical DR. either even if the pay is good. If you think I’m wrong sign up for MD. School and see how far you get and how easy it is.
Obama to present amnesty proposal this year.
# 22 ECA said, “Paddy, Long ago there was a person that was HIRED by corps to help them cut corners and make things better…”
Solution: Start your own company and see if YOU can make it work better. IF you can, you’ll be a huge success and take over that sector. I’ll wait to see how YOU do.
Let us all know. Okay?
23,
I suggest you go to Detroit and look at the cost of living, BECAUSE those workers got GREAT wages..