Where are the Americans to fill these high paying labor jobs?
The immigration problem is a hot button issue that will take better minds than mine to solve so that is not the intent of this letter, however, I read an article in the Record Bee recently that does raise some questions in my mind. It was regarding the shortage of workers to fill the needs of the pear growers.
I am in sympathy with the growers, but what shocked me was the statement that these workers earn up to “$16 to $20.00 per hour or $150 to $300.00 per day.” I was under the impression that the point of hiring foreign workers was that they would work for less than minimum wage and that they would do work that” Americans won”t do”!
Excuse me, but these wages are as high as or higher than those of many skilled, educated and degreed citizens are able to earn. Americans will do many of these tasks if they are motivated enough ie my husband, as a young man, followed a plow hitched to a work horse in the fields all day for $1.00 a day. While I realize those days are gone forever, I am still of the strong belief that Americans, if properly motivated, can and will step up to the plate and do whatever needs to be done to keep this country afloat.
Why are we not educating our young people in the importance of these jobs and the honor of them and now the monetary value of them instead of constantly supporting the false image that such jobs are beneath them?
Maybe two problems could be solved, providing the farmers with skilled workers and get the overweight, tattooed, pot smoking, leaching beach potatoes, off the streets and into honest employment and give them some goals and self worth.
There is no better therapy, that I can think of, than for a person to feel that their lives have meaning and importance to society and maybe it”s time for we, Americans, to wake up and reclaim our image of hard working, proud and generous people that make this country great.
Pat Courtney
Lakeport
