From Peach Pundit (read the whole story)
Neither the Governor’s office nor the Agriculture Commissioner chose to speculate on whether the newly signed immigration reform bill was responsible for the sudden labor shortages, with the Governor’s office noting that it was already illegal to hire those in this country illegally before HB 87 was signed, and that a federal guest worker program exists so that farmers can legally hire foreign workers.
There are curious observations to note about the shortages with respect to basic laws of economics. Notably, a state with a 9.9% unemployment rate has crops rotting in the late spring sun for lack of available workers to pick them. Part of the problem is the location of the unemployed, as Dalton currently has the state’s highest unemployment rate, and the commute from Dalton to Baxley or Tifton wouldn’t exactly be cost effective at blueberry picking rates.
Yet, with the unemployment rate relatively high state wide, the reduction in supply of immigrant labor may be anecdotally proving that at least some labor supplied by undocumented workers is being done because the local supply of labor will not do the work at the prevailing wage.Ain't goin' too well for Alabama, either.
1 comment:
Reading the comments in the Alabama article is pretty depressing. Alabama can fall into a hole.
Post a Comment