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So I'm running 4 schools in a local school district-----furniture, asbestos abatement, demo existing floors, some subfloor repairs, some underlayment, LVT and rubber tile + base and then painting.
It's been between 20 and 50 guys-----less as the painting and abatement crews move out. With my bum knee I still can't kneel but I'm OK to help with whatever needs doing. I work for a general contractor so I only help our flooring guys who are "in house". Everything is prevailing wage. Uncle Joe is thrusting those $$trillions$$ our way. I don't think we've even spent all the Obamabucks and the Trumpbucks yet. There's no end in sight to the flurry of government spending.........to create jobs.........and Build Back Better..........or something like that. It's steady work.
 
So I'm running 4 schools in a local school district-----furniture, asbestos abatement, demo existing floors, some subfloor repairs, some underlayment, LVT and rubber tile + base and then painting.
It's been between 20 and 50 guys-----less as the painting and abatement crews move out. With my bum knee I still can't kneel but I'm OK to help with whatever needs doing. I work for a general contractor so I only help our flooring guys who are "in house". Everything is prevailing wage. Uncle Joe is thrusting those $$trillions$$ our way. I don't think we've even spent all the Obamabucks and the Trumpbucks yet. There's no end in sight to the flurry of government spending.........to create jobs.........and Build Back Better..........or something like that. It's steady work.
Some of the crews building the border wall got paid in advance. Now that Biden cancelled the wall, it is free money. The workers didn't break the contract, so they don't have to pay it back. But it isn't real money, it is tax money.
 
So I'm running 4 schools in a local school district-----furniture, asbestos abatement, demo existing floors, some subfloor repairs, some underlayment, LVT and rubber tile + base and then painting.
It's been between 20 and 50 guys-----less as the painting and abatement crews move out. With my bum knee I still can't kneel but I'm OK to help with whatever needs doing. I work for a general contractor so I only help our flooring guys who are "in house". Everything is prevailing wage. Uncle Joe is thrusting those $$trillions$$ our way. I don't think we've even spent all the Obamabucks and the Trumpbucks yet. There's no end in sight to the flurry of government spending.........to create jobs.........and Build Back Better..........or something like that. It's steady work.
Some of the crews building the border wall got paid in advance. Now that Biden cancelled the wall, it is free money. The workers didn't break the contract, so they don't have to pay it back. But it isn't real money, it is tax money.
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I'm just under two hours to the border so just about every trade/company/industry has to adapt to that perverse competition from Desperados who will work any time, any place, under any conditions for essentially anything you want to pay them.

Try organizing unions or running a totally LEGIT operation given those circumstances--------in ANY aspect of business.

It's only different by degrees and types of perversions as you move north from our border with the Third World to the rest of the country where Eastern Europeans, Asians and ANYONE ELSE who really wants to work comes here for what's left of the American Dream.
 
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I'm just under two hours to the border so just about every trade/company/industry has to adapt to that perverse competition from Desperados who will work any time, any place, under any conditions for essentially anything you want to pay them.

Try organizing unions or running a totally LEGIT operation given those circumstances--------in ANY aspect of business.

It's only different by degrees and types of perversions as you move north from our border with the Third World to the rest of the country where Eastern Europeans, Asians and ANYONE ELSE who really wants to work comes here for what's left of the American Dream.
Most of the roofers in my area are Hispanic. No flooring guys YET here. Springfield , Mo. is full of them.
 
Some of the crews building the border wall got paid in advance. Now that Biden cancelled the wall, it is free money. The workers didn't break the contract, so they don't have to pay it back. But it isn't real money, it is tax money.
You wonder how many people pulled up stakes and moved to the border because of a guaranteed job building that wall.
....and then to be told sorry, you're fired. Biden canceled your employment.
Somebody owes the workers for the disruption of their life. I'd hope the big contracting companies were compensated for the materials they purchased and the machinery they purchased to build this wall. I can see cranes costing a couple hundred thousand dollars or more. Imagine being a company that purchase half a dozen of those and dozers and other equipment knowing you had a guaranteed long-lasting job.
....and then Biden abruptly canceled the contract.
 
Most of the roofers in my area are Hispanic. No flooring guys YET here. Springfield , Mo. is full of them.
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I'd guess 80-95% of our union and even higher percent of the nonunion flooring contractors are either from South of the Border or their family came from there to America just the same way my Serbian ancestors came primarily for decent paying work.
 

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I'd guess 80-95% of our union and even higher percent of the nonunion flooring contractors are either from South of the Border or their family came from there to America just the same way my Serbian ancestors came primarily for decent paying work.
I don't mind them if they won't work for nothing. About 10 years ago we were getting $4.00 a yard and they were charging $1.25 yard there.
 
I don't mind them if they won't work for nothing. About 10 years ago we were getting $4.00 a yard and they were charging $1.25 yard there.
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There's a reason they're ALLOWED to swarm across all our borders, settle here and work. Its because they increase DEMAND for all consumer goods and increase the SUPPLY of labor.

Wages are kept in check and cost of living.........aside from labor goes up. Labor is a huge component of the official government measure of INFLATION. So while health care, college, food, energy and housing prices go up you can hire an immigrant to paint or carpet your whole house for less than an American was charging in 1980.

It's really simple math and sleazy politics.
 
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There's a reason they're ALLOWED to swarm across all our borders, settle here and work. Its because they increase DEMAND for all consumer goods and increase the SUPPLY of labor.

Wages are kept in check and cost of living.........aside from labor goes up. Labor is a huge component of the official government measure of INFLATION. So while health care, college, food, energy and housing prices go up you can hire an immigrant to paint or carpet your whole house for less than an American was charging in 1980.

It's really simple math and sleazy politics.
Slavery never died man, it just evolved.
 
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There's a reason they're ALLOWED to swarm across all our borders, settle here and work. Its because they increase DEMAND for all consumer goods and increase the SUPPLY of labor.

Wages are kept in check and cost of living.........aside from labor goes up. Labor is a huge component of the official government measure of INFLATION. So while health care, college, food, energy and housing prices go up you can hire an immigrant to paint or carpet your whole house for less than an American was charging in 1980.

It's really simple math and sleazy politics.
I don't mind immigrants moving here as long as they do it legally.
Once they do it legally, they need to realize what they're doing when they accept substandard pay.
What might look like a $200,000 income to them, looks like a $25,000 income for the rest of us.
I understand employers liking employees that will accept low wages. I just wish they had some morals somewhere deep in their soul.
 
I don't mind immigrants moving here as long as they do it legally.
Once they do it legally, they need to realize what they're doing when they accept substandard pay.
What might look like a $200,000 income to them, looks like a $25,000 income for the rest of us.
I understand employers liking employees that will accept low wages. I just wish they had some morals somewhere deep in their soul.

You ain’t gonna like this but here goes:

Are you American Indian? If not then your ancestors came here from somewhere else once upon a time and they no doubt went through the exact same shit as we’re talking about right now. The term Honkey came from Hunky. People were talkin shit because they were pissed off at the Hungarian’s, Hunkies/ Honkies, coming here and working for cheap just like the ‘Mexicans’ are doing right now. You think the Hungarian’s gave 2 flyin shots bout you being pissed off? Nope. They came here for opportunity, which they found. The Irish, Italians, Germans and pretty much every group that ever emigrated here went through the same shit but they still came here. You gonna say that they had no morals? Or maybe they were living in such shit conditions back in their home country and coming here, being shit upon by the locals, is still better than what they had going for them back home. I’m sure someone in your family went through the exact same shit, you just weren’t around then so you don’t know.

Secondly, do you know just how hard it is to become a legal American citizen? Look into it. Uncle Sam just ain’t handing out the ol ‘Murica card that easily. In fact I’ll place money that if you were to try and take the citizenship test right now that you would fail. A lot of these ‘Mexicans’ WANT to become citizens. It ain’t that easy.

What you or I view as peanuts is a days or weeks wages to these people. I just bought a $200 saw blade. That’s a months wages in El Salvador and that’s if you’re lucky. I don’t like cheap labor driving the going rate down any more than you do but the reality in the big picture is that these people are humans looking for a better way of life. I moved across country, in my OWN country, and I got called a foreigner. I didn’t even haggle on the price of my house. Paid cash. Yeah, I’m ruining the local economy too. You think I care? Nope. Because it’s better than where I came from.

Installers used to talk. We would sip our coffee while waiting to be loaded up in the morning and shoot the shit. Do you talk to the ‘Mexicans’? Do you even acknowledge them as human beings. I do. Not very well because I don’t speak Spanish but I try. I like the vatos. I say welcome them in and talk to them. You just might inspire them to raise their rates as well as make your own community, and country, a better place. The fact of the matter is that they are here to stay so you might as well help your self by helping them. Or at least stop shitting on them. Or you can stay bitter and be part of the problem.

Now the Russian’s, they’re rude, they can go fuck themselves.
 
You ain’t gonna like this but here goes:

Are you American Indian? If not then your ancestors came here from somewhere else once upon a time and they no doubt went through the exact same shit as we’re talking about right now. The term Honkey came from Hunky. People were talkin shit because they were pissed off at the Hungarian’s, Hunkies/ Honkies, coming here and working for cheap just like the ‘Mexicans’ are doing right now. You think the Hungarian’s gave 2 flyin shots bout you being pissed off? Nope. They came here for opportunity, which they found. The Irish, Italians, Germans and pretty much every group that ever emigrated here went through the same shit but they still came here. You gonna say that they had no morals? Or maybe they were living in such shit conditions back in their home country and coming here, being shit upon by the locals, is still better than what they had going for them back home. I’m sure someone in your family went through the exact same shit, you just weren’t around then so you don’t know.

Secondly, do you know just how hard it is to become a legal American citizen? Look into it. Uncle Sam just ain’t handing out the ol ‘Murica card that easily. In fact I’ll place money that if you were to try and take the citizenship test right now that you would fail. A lot of these ‘Mexicans’ WANT to become citizens. It ain’t that easy.

What you or I view as peanuts is a days or weeks wages to these people. I just bought a $200 saw blade. That’s a months wages in El Salvador and that’s if you’re lucky. I don’t like cheap labor driving the going rate down any more than you do but the reality in the big picture is that these people are humans looking for a better way of life. I moved across country, in my OWN country, and I got called a foreigner. I didn’t even haggle on the price of my house. Paid cash. Yeah, I’m ruining the local economy too. You think I care? Nope. Because it’s better than where I came from.

Installers used to talk. We would sip our coffee while waiting to be loaded up in the morning and shoot the shit. Do you talk to the ‘Mexicans’? Do you even acknowledge them as human beings. I do. Not very well because I don’t speak Spanish but I try. I like the vatos. I say welcome them in and talk to them. You just might inspire them to raise their rates as well as make your own community, and country, a better place. The fact of the matter is that they are here to stay so you might as well help your self by helping them. Or at least stop shitting on them. Or you can stay bitter and be part of the problem.

Now the Russian’s, they’re rude, they can go fuck themselves.
Actually my ancestors were NA and Irish. The English hated both and took both their countries.
 
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