Where are the unemployed citizens?

Question

Immigration arrests scare poultry workers

Every day Sergio leaves for work at the House of Raeford Farms poultry plant on U.S. 378 in West Columbia, he wonders whether he will be arrested.

The 40-year-old undocumented poultry worker from Mexico says there’s a growing concern among workers that immigration agents will target the West Columbia plant, called Columbia Farms, once they finish investigating the company’s Greenville plant.

This summer’s arrests of 11 House of Raeford workers in Greenville shocked its S.C. work force. Dozens of workers have since left their jobs.

The company is hiring fewer, if any, Latinos and has turned to state prisons to fill its production lines in West Columbia and Greenville.

Still, production has fallen.

With eight Southeast processing plants and about 6,000 employees, the Raeford, N.C.-based company is one of the nation’s top chicken and turkey producers.

PLEADING TO STAY

The company has been reluctant to discuss the arrests and investigation with its Latino staff. Recently, some supervisors have pleaded with remaining Latino workers not to leave the plant.

The shortage of workers has curtailed production. One worker at the Greenville plant, who asked not to be named, said she was told managers will likely cut plant operations to half the usual capacity sometime in October. Others believe the plant may close.

http://www.thestate.com/business/story/515614.html?RSS=business

My question is, where are all of the unemployed citizens that are crying about immigrants stealing the jobs?? The plant may close because of no employees, yet nobody will step up and take an "unwanted" job.

Answer 1

Of course.. this is exactly what will happen if for some chance (which I doubt) all illegals are deported. Everyone says they steal jobs, but its proven that there are just some jobs that we do not prefer to do.

I highly doubt that with this company, on the verge of closing, will be picky as to which people they are hiring. Hmm, hire people for $2 hour more or close the entire multi-million dollar company?? (For the person who said that people don't apply because they don't work in the poultry field, I'm sure there is training available)

And if this happens times 1,000, oh man, we are going to have to pay triple for some imported cat-chickens from China. Yes, we might get an extra $2.00/hour if all the illegals are gone, but how much are the prices going to go up for everything? The less products available the higher the price. It's not worth it in the end.

Answer 2

How much do they pay

That is usually the problem Americans will work anywhere if they are paid properly

people need to take care of their families not buy penny candy they need actual money not a pittance...

Answer 3

Waiting for that plant to offer top wages for unskilled work with paid vacations and coffee breaks. So much for the "Americans will work any jobs", this proves they won't.

Answer 4

because not all the unemployed workers work in the poltry field, many have had a REAL job, not a yob which only requires the employee to breath and look at a dead chicken, and toos a bad one.

Answer 5

Why do people here concentrate on the wrong things in these immigration raid articles.   If anyone bother to read towards the end, they would realize that Americans do not want to have their hand chopped off because of unsafe work conditions.    If they read the article through, they would realize that the reason the companies target "Hispanics"  in their hiring, is because they are less likely to question work conditions.    

I found that people also do not seem to note the same thing on the Howards raid.  The illegal immigrants complain Americans are so lazy, and one of the alleged illegal immirant  interviewed ask who do people see working from 6am to 8 pm.    

so to answer your question, the unemployed is waiting for that factory to fix their hazardous conditions or for it to go belly up and be replaced by a factory that provide reasonable working conditions.

Answer 6

let this nasty business go under and replace it with a decent American factory, anyone who hires illegals are putting all their customers and workers in danger of catching some disease! you are not talking about immigrants, because immigrants have respect and cooth, something illegal invaders no nothing about!! No one wants to apply and work at all with any of these disease carrying, I.d. stealing @@@@bags!

Answer 7

Dang, does this mean the price of chicken will triple if they close? I love my chickens.. well, in my stomach I love them..

Answer 8

Their on food stamps ,welfare and collecting unemployment !  

Answer 9

Most American citizens have the intelligence to pursue jobs that offer a future; their ancestors did not fight and strike so that their offspring would settle for doing slave labor in dead end jobs. America should get rid of all of their sweatshops along with the illegals and return our country into a pleasant place with a bright future for all legal residents.

Answer 10

I have been asking the same question, as I have a friend who works in welfare & tells me that she has tons of clients who would love to have these jobs (we were discussing fast food jobs in our area). However, when I asked her what is the advantage then to a fast food company in hiring illegals (whom I happen to know are being taxed, and the company is also paying the employment taxes), she said that it is harder for her clients to work flexible hours because of daycare, and that the hispanics don't have that problem.

I don't find that to be completely true, but I will agree with the "flexible" part of her statement. Most of her US citizen clients do not want to work hours outside what they choose, they do want to have their own choice to work or not when the employer needs someone to come in right now. This I found out from asking a few people that I know who actually work(ed) in retail and fast food, and I asked them why they left those fields. Not because their jobs were stolen, because they did not want to have the employer demand that they work when they were needed. They also did not feel that working with the public was worth the pay (generally minimum wage), and that the employers did not treat them with the "respect" they deserved regarding things like needing to leave early or calling in sick. Go figure.

Answer 11

Employers are 100% in charge of who they decide are acceptable for hiring.  Discrimination can be very hard to prove.  Often these stories are after-the-fact types.

I remember back in the 80s, a new casino was opining on the Strip, and they advertised for all kinds of workers.  1200 positions were to be filled.  12,000 people showed up on hiring day, many of whom camped in their parking lot for days before the doors opened.  Americans want to work.  They also don't want to be treated like slaves.