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December 6, 2007
Puerto Rican Workers to Fill the Void?
NPR did another nice story year following up on raids about a year ago when immigration agents arrested more than 1,200 illegal workers at Swift meat-packing plants in six states. Republican presidential candidate U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter said last summer that the day after the raids, Americans were lined up to get their $18-an-hour jobs back. In reality, the meat-packing plants pay an average of $11-12 — and no one is lining up to work there. Many plants, even those that were not raided, must still recruit heavily for legal workers. Where are they looking? Puerto Rico, an island filled with U.S. citizens.
KJ
December 6, 2007 | Permalink
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Comments
Isn't this great professor, even though they aren't in your preferred category of people, immigrants? Maybe you can pick one out and put his/her picture and biography in your blog as non-immigrant of the day. I'm sure that I am not alone in applauding the fact that private industry is actually complying with the law and going the extra mile to employ Hispanic-Americans.
Posted by: Publius | Dec 6, 2007 2:06:22 PM
STILL PROBLEMATIC. Instead of trying to attract legal workers in the area by RAISING wages and IMPROVING working conditions, these companies are looking for cheap labor wherever they can get it. The result is stagnant wages.
Of course, there's a high cost to cheap labor, and that cost is being passed on to the taxpayer.
And don't think that $12 and hour is good. If the wages in these industries kept up with inflation (i.e. were not depressed by mass, cheap, illegal labor), the people working in these jobs would be making a heck of a lot more. And they'd be less of an economic burden on society.
Cheap produce is costing us billions in the long run.
Posted by: J.D. | Dec 6, 2007 10:30:10 PM
Hello All,
I need some information on Puerto Rico please. My best friend recently got a job offer to work for Ericsson in Puerto Rico with descent salary (40k-50k). He is an US immigrant living is California and none of us are sure what the implications are if he takes the job. We are not sure how this affects his becoming US citizen down the road. Does his stay in Puerto Rico counts toward the time he needs to stay and work in US before applying for naturalization?
Thanks in advance
Noor Khan
Posted by: Noor Khan | Jan 8, 2008 10:03:31 AM
Noor Khan,
You need to do more research. Puerto Rico is a US Territory which means your friend will still be an US immigrant. If he is has a working visa he should not have any issues working in Puerto Rico.
Be advised, Puerto Rico has different labor laws quite differrent than any other state.
Posted by: C arlos | Jan 14, 2008 7:19:33 PM
I LIKE MORE INFORMATION ABOUT HIRING WORKERS RON PUERTO RICO TO WORK ON THE ROOFING INDUSTRY HERE INPITTSBURGH,PA
Posted by: jesus hernandez | Apr 5, 2008 6:04:14 PM
Hi,
I am trying to hire Housekeepers from Puerto Rico to work at my resort in the USA - can you recommend a good staffing agency? Please email me at tina.hester@nemacolin.com
Posted by: Tina Hester | Mar 27, 2012 1:38:27 PM
