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Originally Posted by Mr. Kotter
Sure you are allowed; I just wanted to root out some others too... 
I think most will concede some inflation; I just think, in the long term, it wouldn't be as bad as some (you?) expect....
I realize Americans are cheap, but the bottom-line for me is....if the current system fosters illegal hiring by businesses, that needs to change--or the law needs to change, IMO.
Saying the law is one thing, and then winking and looking the other way when businesses circumvent the law is not something we should encourage or be proud of, IMO.
So either legalize it, or change the law.  |
I'm in an interesting position on the topic. I've actually seen the progression of illegal labor in an industry. When I first got into roofing, there were literally no Mexicans doing it around Des Moines. I remember the first company that started hiring them, and the way we scoffed at it as sacrificing quality for price. When I started my business, I had no hispanic employees or subcontractors. Then one day while working, a Mexican guy climbed on the roof and asked if he could have a job. I was skeptical, but desperate for help, so I told him I'd give him a chance. He worked long hard hours, and was a fast learner in spite of pretty limited english. He also provided documentation. Soon his brother and a friend were working for me too,
all earning the same wage I start anyone at. Eventually, he recognized that I paid some crews as sub contractors instead of employees, and wanted to do that. While it cuts into my profit, it also cuts my overhead, so I let him become a subcontractor. We became very close friends, and eventually he confided in me that he was illegal. He was hands down the best crew I had working for me, and a friend, so I allowed him to continue to do work for me. He's since moved back to Mexico to care for his ailing parents.
During that same span, I started losing a lot of the young American guys that were the backbone of the start of my business. They just wanted to move on to easier jobs. And I was having a hell of a time replacing them. The few times I'd find someone willing to roof, it would either be a loser job-hopper, or a subcontractor that wanted almost as much as I was charging my customers. The one place I could continually find workers was in Mexicans. I never paid them less than the Americans I employed, and required documentation of them. But they would routinely put in longer hours, and do better work. They were simply better workers.
Now when I go to high schools looking for kids to work summers, I find no one. I can still find mexican help, but most only want to subcontract, and it's hard to control who they bring to a jobsite on a given day. I know there are times when the money I'm paying out ends up in the hands of illegals. Every non-union residential roofing company in Des Moines is experiencing the same thing. Even the family owned businesses that have been around for 3+ generations. No one is going to pay more for my product if I tell them I strictly use legal workers. When it comes to saving $500 on a new roof, people don't give a shit who's doing the nailing. You can't just take the moral high ground by offering more money to only employ legals.
It's not something that happens overnight, where you decide to just start using illegal labor practices. I'd much rather be building a company of legit employees that can grow and become something. I held out for a long time in regards to being strict on my hiring practices, and lost numerous customers due to inability to come up with the labor or meet price demands. Now I mostly just roof by myself. There aren't a bunch of unemployed Americans that need or want these jobs. Jobs that can pay 30k+ per year if you put in the work.
There's a lot of guys out there just like me. They aren't getting rich exploiting illegals. They are trying to keep their business afloat with whoever they can find to work for them. If I had it my way, I'd still be paying the kids coming out of high school. Those kids don't want the job I'm offering.