How this garlic farm went from a labor shortage to over 150 people on its applicant waitlist

[Clintonista]

bear513

You should have read your own article: Throwing money at the problem hasn’t solved anything yet, because it isn’t drawing in workers from other industries.

“The one constant is that no matter how much we pay, domestic workers are not applying for these jobs,” Resnick said. “Raising wages only serves to cannibalize from the existing workforce; it does nothing to add new laborers to the pool.”



Americans are not flocking to the farms. Sorry!

 

[JBond]

Here is the reason Americans don't do the farm jobs: They have to move around a lot.

How real is the
 farm labor shortage?

When Jesus Lamas Sr. arrived early one morning to start his workers on some late June apple thinning, only half of his 30-person crew was there to greet him.

The rest didn’t show, probably because they switched to a neighboring orchard to harvest cherries and make more money.

“If employers are just stealing workers from each other, then that’s a pretty good definition of a labor shortage,” said Mike Gempler, executive director of the Washington Growers League, a Yakima firm that represents growers on labor issues.

I live in Bakersfield, the workers move with the Crop. Each crop has it's own time table.

Which is why Americans won't do those jobs.

They would if we stopped paying them not to.

 

[Ray From Cleveland]

What we claimed is that it would reduce labor, and we are correct. McDonald's and Wendy's are both investing in automation now. When you buy machines to replace humans, it does cost jobs.

Actually every industry- regardless of minimum wage- is trying to replace humans with machines.
At most- at the very most- increased minimum wage may have accelerated McDonald and Wendy's trend towards automation.

Automation will be happening with- or without minimum wage increases.

That may be true, but why kill jobs even faster?

Nobody will invest in automation unless the initial cost for those machines will produce lower overhead in the coming years..

Every business is moving that direction. How often do you do business with a bank teller? Think ATM's were caused by minimum wage?

Its not 'minimum wage'- it is wages. The cost of automation is plummeting. Your solution is to pay shovelers less because you think that they will be competitive with steam shovels.

But this article is not really about minimum wage- its about the current agricultural labor shortage- farmers are already automating as fast as they can- but so far automation can't do something on farms.

This one large farmer was able to afford boosting wages and get more workers- not surprise there. The implication in the OP though was that this would resolve the labor shortage- but it doesn't. It isn't creating new agricultural workers- it is just taking them from one business to another.

Still not enough labor for demand.

The point in all this is that there are reactions to actions. For instance if we got rid of every illegal and didn't grant work visas in this country, not all the farms are going to go under. They will increase wages to attract American workers and we consumers will most likely pay the price for that.

The point is that if we got rid of every illegal tons of farms would go under. Absolutely.

Farms in the Mid-west generally will do okay- the grains and potatoes and such lend themselves to large scale mechanization- which is why 1 farmer can do what it took 100 farmers years ago to do.

But orchards, and wineries, and vegetable farms and all of the others that require lots of labor- they are already struggling to keep from going under. I know one rancher who is thinking of getting out because he can't reliably get seasonal labor anymore.

So lets say that farms do increase wages- and increase wages- do you think that means Americans are willing to pay enough for produce to support such wages?

Nope- we will just import more from Mexico. And China(Chinese garlic is already hyper competitive with American garlic). And Latin America.

That could also happen, but I think freight charges would not allow it.

As a blue collar worker myself, I'm against automation. I don't use self-serve checkouts at my stores, and unless the fast food restaurants automate together in my area, I'll choose to go to one that doesn't have automation.

I was the same way when this country started to go to self-serve gasoline pumps. I didn't use them until I had to because I knew that by using those pumps, it would put people out of work.

The Cleveland Clinic sent me a reminder of my upcoming doctors appointment, they made sure to remind me of the new kiosks they have that replaced the girls behind the counter that checked you in when you entered the place.

I don't know what's to become of this country in thirty or forty years from now, but I'll be glad I'm off this planet by then because I don't want to see the country of misery we are creating for ourselves.

 

[Doc1]

Here is the reason Americans don't do the farm jobs: They have to move around a lot.

How real is the
 farm labor shortage?

When Jesus Lamas Sr. arrived early one morning to start his workers on some late June apple thinning, only half of his 30-person crew was there to greet him.

The rest didn’t show, probably because they switched to a neighboring orchard to harvest cherries and make more money.

“If employers are just stealing workers from each other, then that’s a pretty good definition of a labor shortage,” said Mike Gempler, executive director of the Washington Growers League, a Yakima firm that represents growers on labor issues.

I live in Bakersfield, the workers move with the Crop. Each crop has it's own time table.

Which is why Americans won't do those jobs.

They would if we stopped paying them not to.

No, they'd just riot and burn shit up.

 

[Brain357]

I will never get why the left always says there is jobs Americans refuse to do....they are retarded if you pay a high enough wage......




How this garlic farm went from a labor shortage to over 150 people on its applicant waitlist


Christopher Ranch, which grows garlic on 5,000 acres in Gilroy, Calif., announced recently that it would hike pay for farmworkers from $11 an hour to $13 hour this year, or 18%, and then to $15 in 2018. That’s four years earlier than what’s required by California’s schedule for minimum wage increases.

Ken Christopher, vice president at Christopher Ranch, said the effect of the move was immediately obvious. At the end of last year, the farm was short 50 workers needed to help peel, package and roast garlic. Within two weeks of upping wages in January, applications flooded in. Now the company has a wait-list 150 people long.


.

$15? Nobody can afford to pay that!

Some businesses models can, others can't. That is why the government needs to stay out wages. Supply and demand works if you don't import a bunch of non citizens that will work for dirt.

A global economy makes it far more complicated than that.

I agree that a global economy is a complicated thing. I also know bringing in no-skill workers will to work the minimum lowers wages.

For what jobs though?

 

[JBond]

bear513

You should have read your own article: “The one constant is that no matter how much we pay, domestic workers are not applying for these jobs,” Resnick said. “Raising wages only serves to cannibalize from the existing workforce; it does nothing to add new laborers to the pool.”

Americans are not flocking to the farms. Sorry!

So a $15 per hour minimum wage is a foolish endeavor, correct?

 

[JBond]

I will never get why the left always says there is jobs Americans refuse to do....they are retarded if you pay a high enough wage......




How this garlic farm went from a labor shortage to over 150 people on its applicant waitlist


Christopher Ranch, which grows garlic on 5,000 acres in Gilroy, Calif., announced recently that it would hike pay for farmworkers from $11 an hour to $13 hour this year, or 18%, and then to $15 in 2018. That’s four years earlier than what’s required by California’s schedule for minimum wage increases.

Ken Christopher, vice president at Christopher Ranch, said the effect of the move was immediately obvious. At the end of last year, the farm was short 50 workers needed to help peel, package and roast garlic. Within two weeks of upping wages in January, applications flooded in. Now the company has a wait-list 150 people long.


.

$15? Nobody can afford to pay that!

Some businesses models can, others can't. That is why the government needs to stay out wages. Supply and demand works if you don't import a bunch of non citizens that will work for dirt.

A global economy makes it far more complicated than that.

I agree that a global economy is a complicated thing. I also know bringing in no-skill workers will to work the minimum lowers wages.

For what jobs though?

The unskilled ones.

 

[Clintonista]

Here is the reason Americans don't do the farm jobs: They have to move around a lot.

How real is the
 farm labor shortage?

When Jesus Lamas Sr. arrived early one morning to start his workers on some late June apple thinning, only half of his 30-person crew was there to greet him.

The rest didn’t show, probably because they switched to a neighboring orchard to harvest cherries and make more money.

“If employers are just stealing workers from each other, then that’s a pretty good definition of a labor shortage,” said Mike Gempler, executive director of the Washington Growers League, a Yakima firm that represents growers on labor issues.

I live in Bakersfield, the workers move with the Crop. Each crop has it's own time table.

Which is why Americans won't do those jobs.

They would if we stopped paying them not to.

Here is a better idea. Let's train Americans to do highly skilled, highly paid jobs and let Third Worlders do Third World work.

The American economy is not suffering because of some Mexicans picking garlic. It is suffering because we have severely shortchanged our own people's future.

 

[TemplarKormac]

O wow man, dramatically raising wages brings in more workers. Who knew that would happen.

American workers, Pogo. You missed the point of the thread entirely. And this garlic farmer could afford to pay that kind of wage in the first place. Imagine other businesses who can't afford such a wage hike?

What are you going to do, force them to pay $15/hr?

Looks like no one read the entire article. It is just as I said:

“The one constant is that no matter how much we pay, domestic workers are not applying for these jobs,” Resnick said. “Raising wages only serves to cannibalize from the existing workforce; it does nothing to add new laborers to the pool.”

The opening post goes down in flames.

Listen to yourself. The whole idea is to draw upon the existing workforce. What kind of logic is that?

Cannibalize? What are you talking about? Drawing upon the existing workforce is not cannibalization. Just like with any new development (like this one) in jobs market, the potential is always there for the creation of new jobs as well as utilization of existing laborers in the workforce.

Cannibalize? Bwa-ha! The spin is absolutely unbearable.

 

[JBond]

Here is the reason Americans don't do the farm jobs: They have to move around a lot.

How real is the
 farm labor shortage?

When Jesus Lamas Sr. arrived early one morning to start his workers on some late June apple thinning, only half of his 30-person crew was there to greet him.

The rest didn’t show, probably because they switched to a neighboring orchard to harvest cherries and make more money.

“If employers are just stealing workers from each other, then that’s a pretty good definition of a labor shortage,” said Mike Gempler, executive director of the Washington Growers League, a Yakima firm that represents growers on labor issues.

I live in Bakersfield, the workers move with the Crop. Each crop has it's own time table.

Which is why Americans won't do those jobs.

They would if we stopped paying them not to.

No, they'd just riot and burn shit up.

Lock them up. Simple. Personally I think many would work if they had no other alternative.

 

[Doc1]

Here is the reason Americans don't do the farm jobs: They have to move around a lot.

How real is the
 farm labor shortage?

When Jesus Lamas Sr. arrived early one morning to start his workers on some late June apple thinning, only half of his 30-person crew was there to greet him.

The rest didn’t show, probably because they switched to a neighboring orchard to harvest cherries and make more money.

“If employers are just stealing workers from each other, then that’s a pretty good definition of a labor shortage,” said Mike Gempler, executive director of the Washington Growers League, a Yakima firm that represents growers on labor issues.

I live in Bakersfield, the workers move with the Crop. Each crop has it's own time table.

Which is why Americans won't do those jobs.

They would if we stopped paying them not to.

Here is a better idea. Let's train Americans to do highly skilled, highly paid jobs and let Third Worlders do Third World work.

The Silicon Valley is over run with Indian and Chinese engineers.

 

[Clintonista]

bear513

You should have read your own article: “The one constant is that no matter how much we pay, domestic workers are not applying for these jobs,” Resnick said. “Raising wages only serves to cannibalize from the existing workforce; it does nothing to add new laborers to the pool.”

Americans are not flocking to the farms. Sorry!

So a $15 per hour minimum wage is a foolish endeavor, correct?

I don't feel either way about minimum wage. But you cannot argue in favor of paying $15 to garlic pickers and then argue against a $15 wage without sounding like a complete idiot.

 

[Clintonista]

Here is the reason Americans don't do the farm jobs: They have to move around a lot.

How real is the
 farm labor shortage?

I live in Bakersfield, the workers move with the Crop. Each crop has it's own time table.

Which is why Americans won't do those jobs.

They would if we stopped paying them not to.

Here is a better idea. Let's train Americans to do highly skilled, highly paid jobs and let Third Worlders do Third World work.

The Silicon Valley is over run with Indian and Chinese engineers.

Precisely.

 

[Clintonista]

Here is the reason Americans don't do the farm jobs: They have to move around a lot.

How real is the
 farm labor shortage?

I live in Bakersfield, the workers move with the Crop. Each crop has it's own time table.

Which is why Americans won't do those jobs.

They would if we stopped paying them not to.

No, they'd just riot and burn shit up.

Lock them up. Simple. Personally I think many would work if they had no other alternative.

I see. Cheat Americans out of a decent future, then jail them when they complain and won't get to picking cotton.

 

[JBond]

Here is the reason Americans don't do the farm jobs: They have to move around a lot.

How real is the
 farm labor shortage?

When Jesus Lamas Sr. arrived early one morning to start his workers on some late June apple thinning, only half of his 30-person crew was there to greet him.

The rest didn’t show, probably because they switched to a neighboring orchard to harvest cherries and make more money.

“If employers are just stealing workers from each other, then that’s a pretty good definition of a labor shortage,” said Mike Gempler, executive director of the Washington Growers League, a Yakima firm that represents growers on labor issues.

I live in Bakersfield, the workers move with the Crop. Each crop has it's own time table.

Which is why Americans won't do those jobs.

They would if we stopped paying them not to.

Here is a better idea. Let's train Americans to do highly skilled, highly paid jobs and let Third Worlders do Third World work.

The American economy is not suffering because of some Mexicans picking garlic. It is suffering because we have severely shortchanged our own people's future.

I expect an elitist view from you. Not all Americans are capable of highly skilled work. The very thought makes no sense. FYI.... we provide a free public education at tax payers expense. What each individual chooses to do with it, is up to them.

 

[Ray From Cleveland]

Here is the reason Americans don't do the farm jobs: They have to move around a lot.

How real is the
 farm labor shortage?

When Jesus Lamas Sr. arrived early one morning to start his workers on some late June apple thinning, only half of his 30-person crew was there to greet him.

The rest didn’t show, probably because they switched to a neighboring orchard to harvest cherries and make more money.

“If employers are just stealing workers from each other, then that’s a pretty good definition of a labor shortage,” said Mike Gempler, executive director of the Washington Growers League, a Yakima firm that represents growers on labor issues.

I live in Bakersfield, the workers move with the Crop. Each crop has it's own time table.

California Farmers Backed Trump, but Now Fear Losing Field Workers

“If you only have legal labor, certain parts of this industry and this region will not exist,” said Harold McClarty, a fourth-generation farmer in Kingsburg whose operation grows, packs and ships peaches, plums and grapes throughout the country. “If we sent all these people back, it would be a total disaster.”

What would you expect him to say, that getting rid of his cheap labor would be a great thing for the country?

 

[Doc1]

Here is the reason Americans don't do the farm jobs: They have to move around a lot.

How real is the
 farm labor shortage?

I live in Bakersfield, the workers move with the Crop. Each crop has it's own time table.

Which is why Americans won't do those jobs.

They would if we stopped paying them not to.

Here is a better idea. Let's train Americans to do highly skilled, highly paid jobs and let Third Worlders do Third World work.

The American economy is not suffering because of some Mexicans picking garlic. It is suffering because we have severely shortchanged our own people's future.

I expect an elitist view from you. Not all Americans are capable of highly skilled work. The very thought makes no sense. FYI.... we provide a free public education at tax payers expense. What each individual chooses to do with it, is up to them.

Not much one can do with the shit education they are getting.

 

[Clintonista]

I expect an elitist view from you. Not all Americans are capable of highly skilled work.

Especially when they are cheated out of a decent education.

 

[Clintonista]

Anyway, the OP should have read his own article. The people flocking to the garlic farm are coming from other farms. There is no net gain in employment.

The waste of this whole topic could have been prevented if the topic starter had read his own link.

 

[JBond]

I expect an elitist view from you. Not all Americans are capable of highly skilled work.

Especially when they are cheated out of a decent education.

Why are you cheating them out of a decent education? Shame on you.

Also, there is nothing wrong with locking up violent criminals.