http//www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/content/apr2006/sb20060431_061579.htm
Haven't been into work for a couple of days so I was surprised last night to see a notice from our staffing office. It requested if employees weren't planning on showing up to work on Monday, please let the staffing office know in advance so they can get on call or agency people in.
Apparently there is a national protest asking that people not go to work or school in support of immigrants rights.
There was a second notice saying we were all welcome to wear white in support and celebration of the immigrants that come to the USA.
I work with a lot of immigrants, some come from the Phillippines, Ghana, Mongolia, Bulgaria, Germany, Denmark, Uganda, Nepal etc as well as Mexico. Apparently these people don't really know what the fuss is about and will be going to work as usual.
I also don't think that if anyone does participate in this boycott that they will get much sympathy from any coworkers as we are in a healthcare setting, so it will mean other employees have to stay over their shift or work short.
The question I'm trying to put to you, is in a healthcare setting, bearing in mind everybody at my workplace is legally entitled to work in the US, do you see it as ethical to participate in a boycott?
I see it as an ethical issue. What about the patient care??? Would you enjoy working double shift, just because some illegal person is in this country is making a huge fuss, when they have no rights??? My answer would be no!
I am just getting sick and tired of all this! roll
I am loosing my symphathy for the illegal agenda, specially because they sang the Star Spangled Banner IN SPANISH. And if you know Spanish the lyrics are NOT exactly the same and they have included some words which has changed the meaning of the song.
I think it's a good idea for one day if they can get everyone out, it'll show then just how many Americans are unwilling to do the routine jobs that the illegals do.
I'm expecting this part of California to grind to a halt, however it probably won't, to live here you have to work.
I don't see how you can do much in the healthcare situation, as you say they're all gonna be legal.
Me, I'll be dancing round the Maypole. lol
I think it's a good idea for one day if they can get everyone out, it'll show then just how many Americans are unwilling to do the routine jobs that the illegals do.
I think that is a myth.
Certainly, the Americans would cost a bit more but a job is a job. Build a manufacturing plant in a depressed American city and then tell me that no one wants to work there.
And if you know Spanish the lyrics are NOT exactly the same and they have included some words which has changed the meaning of the song.
Too bad - serves them right for stealing an old British drinking song tune. Don't see why anyone else can't help themselves too.
lol
Yeah I guess you are right!
I agree with Pilgrim on this one.
I think it's a good idea for one day if they can get everyone out, it'll show then just how many Americans are unwilling to do the routine jobs that the illegals do.
I think that is a myth.
Certainly, the Americans would cost a bit more but a job is a job. Build a manufacturing plant in a depressed American city and then tell me that no one wants to work there.
Oh indeedy they would cost a bit more. Some right wing nut job was saying the other week that the youth of California were queueing up to work in the fields. They asked a few of the youth and they all basically asked which planet the guy was living on.
As long as you don't mind paying a small fortune for your vegies and taking out a mortgage on your fruit buys, it'll work. Americans will do the job, I don't think so.
When did you last meet an American chambermaid, cleaner, lower eschelon hotel staff, etc etc.
And when did you last meet an American who differentiates between a legal immigrant and an illegal one. Having been here fifteen years I'm frequently asked why I'm not a citizen, what the problem is, I answer it's the government, the immigration office in San Jose, reputedly the worst in the country, and the fact I might want to travel, an American passport is no long an assett , it's a bloody invitation to trouble, oh yea, and there's that Bush guy
:evil:
I think it's a good idea for one day if they can get everyone out, it'll show then just how many Americans are unwilling to do the routine jobs that the legals do.
Not like you see people queueing up to pimp burgers or man the counters at the 7-11, is it?
A few years ago my buddy in Delaware said over 300 people applied for a clerks job in the local liquor store.!!!
Must be a Californian thing.
I personally know students that have worked picking crops in the summer here in Oregon. They get reasonable pay and a nice sun-tan.
Like I say, a job is a job......
In this respect Americans are exactly the same as the Arabs in Saudi! They won't get of their assets and work either!
All this sabre rattling over illegals makes me laugh, there is no intention of locking down the borders at all. It would cripple this countries ecconomy.
Must be a Californian thing.
I personally know students that have worked picking crops in the summer here in Oregon. They get reasonable pay and a nice sun-tan.
Like I say, a job is a job......
Yep, here too. It is so expensive to live here that there are many people who will happily work two or three jobs just to make ends meet. And a friend, who is a born and bred American, cleans houses and makes a good amount of money doing so.
Yet, just 20 minutes away there is a huge problem with illegal immigrants. I understand one of the issues is the illegal immigrants keep the pay down of jobs which means people who are citizens struggle to work for the amount of money being offered due to financial aid etc. Also, employers are not allowed to ask for documentation, I understand, regarding work status, so when there is a group of men waiting around for the pick-up for contract work, there is no distinction made between those who can work legally and illegally. If a contractor takes 50 men and 10 of them are illegal, the 10 citizens left behind have lost out on a day's pay. And this happens time and time again.
On the anthem bit; did anyone here not sing
"God save our old tom cat
feed him on bread and fat
God save our cat." ?
If you did not, I apologize, if you did ............ mrgreen
On the jobs thing
If the jobs were done by Americans, at reasonable rates of pay, your vegetables and hotel rooms would cost more but the money would go back into the economy and benefit everyone.
Imagine a community and it's wages and prices; imagine another community where wages and prices were double what they were in the first community. There is no difference in standard of living in these communities, as long as they are insulated from each other. Globalisation of trade has removed the insulation that used to exist. Home grown fruit and vegetables compete with imported fruit and vegetables so the price must be kept low, but hotel rooms cannot be imported, so there is no force on hotels to pay their workers below minimum wage. Buildings must be constructed with locally based labour so there is no need for depressed wages there, either.
Whenever there is a push to increase the minimum wage, the business community rears up with dire forecasts of small businesses going out of business, and they point out that job growth comes from small business etc. etc. In fact, marginal businesses do go to the wall but the others do better; the additional money rotates through the community, They say that a rising tide raises all boats, more money in the economy means that the level of the economy rises.
If, say, an electrician is payed what is, or what should be the prevailing wage, rather than a substandard one, his wife can afford the nice candles that she loves, and the lady who sells her the candles can afford more vegetables, and the family that sells the vegetables can afford a new house, providing work for the electrician.
That's an oversimplification, I know, but it demonstrates the principle.
As to whether wages are depressed by the availability of this labour; of course it depresses wages, that's what competition does mrgreen
Traveled on BART today as usual, those of you not from the west Coast, its an excellent public transportation light rail system. Usually train was packed but today it was half empty. Then I remembered the protest thing. I wonder if my companies toilets will get cleaned today !!
I debated the immigration issue with my wife and we both pretty much agreed we would pretend to do something while doing nothing, just like countless other administrations have done.
It is not practical to deport 11 million people..who would mow your lawn, your own kids?? save the people on this board give me a break, the kids where I live would not get out of there mummy and daddy bought benzos for something as meaningless as an actual job.