Hiring Locally for Farm Work Is No Cure-All

Colorado farmer hires Americans to pick crops at $10.50/hr. Most walk off within six hours.

"The work was too hard"


http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/05/us/fa ... .html?_r=1

I wonder how many of those who walked off...have a high school degree....and have been pounded with the message of the liberal public education system....get an education and you will not have to pick corn and dig up onions for $ 10.50 per hour?

Since you didn't bother to read the story, I guess you'll never know.

Conservative Voice wrote: Since you didn't bother to read the story, I guess you'll never know.

Hey, I wrote the story...I'm the Mainstream Liberal Media.









P.S. I did read the story...

I don't think the issue is the pay. I think it's that many US workers aren't prepared for the demands of that type of work. Another reason imigrants matter. Lazy Americans just don't cut it.

Plus Americans have a safety net if they don't want to work in the fields. 99 weeks of unemployment, food stamps, etc.

SS109 wrote: Plus Americans have a safety net if they don't want to work in the fields. 99 weeks of unemployment, food stamps, etc.

I think you nailed it on the head. The depression era people did whatever they had to in order to survive. Now, with the ability to collect unemployment for so long, "doing whatever it takes" is no longer a necessity.

I believe we do need temporary workers to do this type of work. The thing is, using illegals is not the answer. We should have registered guest workers thru the H2A & H2B programs.

This has been an ongoing problem for farmers. The issue is that many farms only need a large number of workers a couple of times a year, planting and harvest. There is a need for a managable controlled migrant worker program.

As someone who did a lot of field work growing up I can vouch for the work being damn hard.