Wages rise on California farms. Americans still don’t want the job.

[jediuser598]

. In the summer it was so hot in there (I had quit by that time) that one worker complained about the conditions, so instead of fixing it they took the thermometer off the wall.

That knowledge, along with a company name, would give any OSHA agent who needed to generate revenue, a giant boner.

My sister called OSHA. They didn't answer, she left a voicemail. They didn't get back to her.

[DBTrek]

. In the summer it was so hot in there (I had quit by that time) that one worker complained about the conditions, so instead of fixing it they took the thermometer off the wall.

That knowledge, along with a company name, would give any OSHA agent who needed to generate revenue, a giant boner.

My sister called OSHA. They didn't answer, she left a voicemail. They didn't get back to her.

What?
Non-responsive Public Union employees?
Couldn’t be.

[jediuser598]

That knowledge, along with a company name, would give any OSHA agent who needed to generate revenue, a giant boner.

My sister called OSHA. They didn't answer, she left a voicemail. They didn't get back to her.

What?
Non-responsive Public Union employees?
Couldn’t be.

Called Washington State OSHA just to ask some questions. No waiting, she picked up, answered some questions, all fine and dandy.

Trust me when I say this people, don't move to Illinois.

[Speaker to Animals]

Furthermore, there is the cancer of industrialized farms. If your nation is poor in arable land, then you really need to go industrial farms. But America is wealthy in arable land.

We'd be better off returning to small farms that sell collectively in co-ops. Farmers can pick their own crops, or with minimal seasonal assistance.

I am seeing this happen where I live. Lots of millennials got the hint that the mainstream economy and corporate world are dead ends, and they group up to farm. They produce cash crops like arugula and sweet potatoes around here.

The entire discussion about farming is predicated upon bad trends: urbanization and Big Agra. Lots of urbanites fear leaving city life behind, and the corporate world along with it. Government policies facilitated the growth of giant corporate farms that maximize profit through illegal labor and then bribe corrupt legislators to provide them subsidies and guaranteed government purchases.

Get out of the cities.

Incentives for small farms.

No more subsidies.

[Kath]

My sister called OSHA. They didn't answer, she left a voicemail. They didn't get back to her.

What?
Non-responsive Public Union employees?
Couldn’t be.

Called Washington State OSHA just to ask some questions. No waiting, she picked up, answered some questions, all fine and dandy.

Trust me when I say this people, don't move to Illinois.

Interesting. When I was in charge of an OSHA program in Illinois, I had two surprise inspections within two years of each other, based on anonymous tips.

[doc_loliday]

There's some truth to what they say. Californians don't want those jobs. I bet if I told 10 unemployed unskilled Californians about 20 dollar an hour farm jobs, they'd blow me off. It's really outside the realm of something they'd consider. The schools have been telling kids for generations that that farm labor is something you need to get as far away from as possible. Retail and food jobs are always an option, and they don't pay that much less. And if that doesn't pan out, they can go for the welfare in between jobs. Also, I doubt the farmers even want these people, they'd be completely useless. I imagine if all that prime farm land was in a state where people labored for a living, they'd be snatched up in two shakes of a lambs tail. Of course, if there was anything like a free market at all, even Californians would be all over those jobs.

[Speaker to Animals]

Liz Whitehurst dabbled in several careers before she ended up here, crating fistfuls of fresh-cut arugula in the early-November chill.

The hours were better at her nonprofit jobs. So were the benefits. But two years ago, the 32-year-old Whitehurst — who graduated from a liberal arts college and grew up in the Chicago suburbs — abandoned Washington for this three-acre farm in Upper Marlboro, Md.

She joined a growing movement of highly educated, ex-urban, first-time farmers who are capitalizing on booming consumer demand for local and sustainable foods and who, experts say, could have a broad impact on the food system.

For only the second time in the last century, the number of farmers under 35 years old is increasing, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's latest Census of Agriculture. Sixty-nine percent of the surveyed young farmers had college degrees — significantly higher than the general population.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business ... 13aba184af

They aren't taking those jobs because they are becoming farmers.

Big Agra is a turd.

[jediuser598]

I don't really like the tone I'm getting from people who are crowing that Americans, in general, are lazy.

That’s because you know it’s bullshit. You know Americans don’t fear temperatures or hard labor. You know Democrats are just shining you on about how we “need” illegal labor to do jobs Americans won’t do. Let price point driven markets determine the value of agricultural goods and you’ll see how much an Apple is REALLY worth to the consumers. It may not be worth growing at all, once American labor prices are calculated. Meaning we’d either go apple-less, or import apples at a rate that makes them valuable to the American consumer.

But what we have now is a scam. The government will BUY numerous commodities from farmers at a fixed price, due to dust bowl era subsidies that never expire. So farmers don’t have to worry about what consumers will pay for a crop, they KNOW what the government will pay for it. They also know by exploiting illegal labor, they can make the government’s buying price highly profitable for themselves (much more so than using legal labor).

So here we are, a bullshit racket of farmers exploiting illegal labor to sell unneeded crops to the government, so our tax dollars can warehouse the excess food till it rots while locking our own working poor out of agricultural jobs.

Or as Democrats would say - illegals keep food prices low and they aren’t terrified by hard work like Americans. Lulz.

Had the privilege of being preached to by a (I suppose) a life-long government employee about how lazy American workers are. Was just shaking my head on the inside. I'd like to show her some of the hard working, god-fearing people I know. How much shit they put up with on a daily basis. 10 hour work days 6 days a week. And they're happy for it, they have lives to build.

Then get lectured to about privilege, from some rich white woman. Albeit, this rich white woman is teaching me a lot about what she's teaching, her only real bad mark so far, but these people (along with most others) really only see inside their own bubbles. So did the Christians where I came from. It's interesting in my life going from one sphere to another, and seeing how all these different people see the world, and their reasoning and intent.

That's why I'm amicable towards immigrants in general, I work with a few 5 days a week, and interact with them daily. We're all just folk. All just trying to make our lot in life better. If I were in a shitty country, that paid shitty wages, I'd move too, either legally or illegally, to try and make my life better. I could have stayed where I grew up, but they're just shit piled on top of shit, and even if I gave my entire life of work to fix it, it wouldn't make a dent. Too much entrenched interests, and maybe the people don't even want change? Better to just move on. I empathize with immigrants, even though their lives have been much harder than mine, I give them that.

[jediuser598]

What?
Non-responsive Public Union employees?
Couldn’t be.

Called Washington State OSHA just to ask some questions. No waiting, she picked up, answered some questions, all fine and dandy.

Trust me when I say this people, don't move to Illinois.

Interesting. When I was in charge of an OSHA program in Illinois, I had two surprise inspections within two years of each other, based on anonymous tips.

Feel free:
Innertech Nashville
That's the place.

I worked there for a day and when I finished that day, I had the worst headache I ever had in my life. I asked the gentlemen I was working alongside if this was normal, he said yeah. I quit, not worth the long term health problems. Then I hear from a friend I grew up with about the thermometer incident. Didn't witness it myself.

If you know OSHA in Illinois, perhaps you can get better results. Please don't list me though.

[Kath]

If you know OSHA in Illinois, perhaps you can get better results. Please don't list me though.

Sorry, bro - no can do. I left Illinois 18 years ago. My anecdotal experience aside, it does surprise me that they aren't jumping at the potential revenue.