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'Jobs Americans "won't" do' WTF are they????

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spanone Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Dec-20-04 08:39 PM
Original message
'Jobs Americans "won't" do' WTF are they????
Just what are the jobs Americans won't do? Bush* keeps refering to these jobs and I wonder what they are? Is there a master list somewhere? Are there jobs that Americans just refuse to take? Help!!!!!
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Trajan Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Dec-20-04 08:43 PM
Response to Original message
1. Id like to check out that list ....
Since I've been seeking steady work for over 6 months now ...

I suppose 'elephant shit shoveler' is on that list ...

I would 'dig post holes' ... if such a job were active ...

Sweeping the Coke Belt and shovelling and swabbing crude oil into wheelbarrows ? ... Done that (Oil Refinery) ...

Gas Station attendant ? .. Done that ...

Space Vehicle Technician E/E ? .. Electronic Systems Test Technician ? ....

What's that echo I hear ? ...
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Sterling Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Dec-20-04 08:43 PM
Response to Original message
2. It means jobs Americans won't do for next to nothing.
That's all. I have seen times I would have taken any job as long as it paid a living wage. Usually the hardest jobs don't pay a living wage and that is why employers exploit immigrants to fill those positions without cutting into the profits.
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spanone Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Dec-20-04 08:45 PM
Response to Reply #2
3. So bush* wants to exploit immigrants so they can work below the poverty
level. That's compassionate.
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Trajan Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Dec-20-04 08:47 PM
Response to Reply #3
5. Thats been the RW agenda ...
Edited on Mon Dec-20-04 08:55 PM by Trajan
for at least TWO decades now ...

The old "Buy American" cliche died during Bush I ...

Walmart stopped that shit years ago ...

And: Bringing in low wage workers drives the prevailing wage downward ....

Kinda like the WalMart thingy: the RWers praise low paid workers as a boon to price savers ... Yet: there is no evidence that prices have been moderated due to 'low wages' ... profits are the focus, and the market dictates the price ....
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Sal Minella Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Dec-20-04 09:30 PM
Response to Reply #5
14. Many Wal-Mart workers qualify for food stamps
and the people who work at Wal-Mart can't afford to shop there.
Heard on NPR this morning than 1/4th the workforce makes less than $10 an hour, and they're supposed to put aside "Private retirement savings accounts" and pay a Wall-Street slickoid to manage it for them?
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Sterling Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Dec-20-04 08:51 PM
Response to Reply #3
7. Not just Bush, it's the American way.
It will be going on long after Bush is gone.
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shugah Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Dec-20-04 11:51 PM
Response to Reply #2
34. and a living wage needs to cover many expenses!
a middle class family with one spouse in the IT field may have that techie spouse unemployed lo! these many months (actually, i think even years applies at this point) who can't afford to take a minimum wage job.

why? because they are lazy ass 'murcans and don't wanna work?

nah! because to take a minimum wage job means:

a) childcare costs
b) really need a second reliable vehicle
c) additional "income" can shake up the tax burden
d) no longer "at home" parent lacks time for $ saving pursuits
e) no recognition for effort - scenario: unemployed IT spouse "i'm working! i got the $%^&* job at #$%^&* for minimum wage!!" employed spouse - "but you're not making any money! you're always at work, strangers are raising our kids, and you are always too tired for sex!"
f) above e) leads to strain on the family which could result in divorce, which statistics (and reality) show - leads to more single mothers, and more kids in poverty

sheesh! what a grand plan they have! what exactly is their plan? :shrug:
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illflem Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Dec-20-04 08:47 PM
Response to Original message
4. Mostly agriculture
I've been a farmer for forty years and except for a brief period in the early '70s when hippies were willing to do the work it's been impossible to get anyone besides Hispanics. The few whites I have hired usually only do half the work as a Mexican and aren't happy while doing it. I've always paid $1-2 per hour over minimum so that's not the problem. Face it, it's boring work and takes a mindset that most Americans don't have.
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Trajan Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Dec-20-04 08:48 PM
Response to Reply #4
6. Jots down ....
Farm workers ...

Ok: thats one .... another ?
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notadmblnd Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Dec-20-04 11:42 PM
Response to Reply #6
33. landscaping
and hotel room cleaners
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Sterling Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Dec-20-04 08:54 PM
Response to Reply #4
10. Wow I dont know where to start.
For starters congrats on still being able to be a farmer. Most families I know that farmed have been squeezed out by the corpo farms. maybe that is where you start when you consider why less "whites" if that is what being an American is are no longer in the agro biz.
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noamnety Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Dec-20-04 08:56 PM
Response to Reply #4
11. Is that with benefits?
(I'm not wanting the job or anything, just asking)
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Digit Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Dec-20-04 10:50 PM
Response to Reply #4
24. What else BESIDES agriculture eom
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Red State Rebel Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Dec-20-04 11:11 PM
Response to Reply #24
27. Landscaping
I had two guys I was paying $10.00 each to help do some landscaping work at my home - they worked part of one day and didn't come back.

Our business (heating & air conditioning) has trouble finding good help also and after some experience you can earn over $20.00/hr, plus benefits.

Physical labor is just more than a lot of people want to do anymore.
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justinsb Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Dec-20-04 08:52 PM
Response to Original message
8. They are generally
Edited on Mon Dec-20-04 08:53 PM by justinsb
Jobs that pay about 1/3 of the minimum wage with no benefeits or job security and questionable health and safety practices. Oh and if things go on much longer it may include the US military.
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RoeBear Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Dec-20-04 08:53 PM
Response to Original message
9. Around here migrant workers
pull weeds from farmers fields.

Local people won't touch it.
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HEyHEY Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Dec-20-04 08:59 PM
Response to Original message
12. Wipe the ass of the elderly
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Lefty48197 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Dec-20-04 09:02 PM
Response to Original message
13. Has DumbSh*t Bush ever once considered the possibility
that Americans won't work certain jobs because they don't pay enough? With all Bush's stupid-assed friends in the Chamber of Commerce, the NRA, and the rest of the Republican party working full-time to beat down wages to unlivable levels, is there any fuck*ng wonder that Americans won't do certain jobs?
Here's a little newsflash to President DipSh*t:

If you pay them enough, they will come.

It's called the law of supply and demand, and if your rich corporate buddies weren't colluding to hold down wages, then you might see the effect that the free market actually has.
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indigobusiness Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Dec-20-04 09:30 PM
Response to Original message
15. He meant:"America refuses to pay fair wages so Americans will do these
jobs."
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Starlight Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Dec-20-04 09:46 PM
Response to Reply #15
16. Of course that's what he means.
Most Americans won't work 90 hours a week under the table for $3 an hour & no overtime or benefits.
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indigobusiness Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Dec-20-04 09:55 PM
Response to Reply #16
18. Or in the fields so America can have cheap produce.
etc, etc.
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DireStrike Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Dec-20-04 09:48 PM
Response to Original message
17. I know a job I wouldn't do.
US Military. Or national guard. Or any job that places me under the control of this administration.
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Disturbed Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Dec-20-04 10:09 PM
Response to Reply #17
19. If the laws that are already on the books...
were strictly enforced the immigration situation would be a whole lot less of a burden on the states. No govt. Rethug or Dem will make it possible to enforce the laws already present because of the pressure from business not to enforce those laws. Cheap labor is in demand and will expand as Anmerika sinks into the 3rd World model of a Fascist Police State.
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Starlight Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Dec-20-04 10:22 PM
Response to Reply #19
20. Corporate America doesn't *want* immigration or labor laws enforced. n/t
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jellybelly Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Dec-20-04 10:35 PM
Response to Original message
21. Stupid, lying Bush!
If Americans can run after their dogs and clean up their smelly poop then they could do any job.
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Mabeline Donating Member (210 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Dec-20-04 10:43 PM
Response to Original message
22. Well, in the area of the country I was raised, the tobacco farmers used to
hire highschool kids during the summer to help crop tobacco. As the years went by the teens didn't want to do it so farmers began to hire illegals. Not that I agree or support that decision.

Where we live now we have a meat packing plant and more and more they are hiring them when they can because the locals don't wanna work in the plants.
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Lydia Leftcoast Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Dec-20-04 11:15 PM
Response to Reply #22
30. It's no mystery why people don't want to work in meat plants
It's the fastest way there is to get repetitive stress injuries.

I'd have to ask whether the meat plants offer benefits, good working conditions, and good pay, or whether working conditions have worsened, as happens when unions are busted and wages and benefits are cut or don't keep up with the rest of the economy.
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SOteric Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Dec-20-04 10:46 PM
Response to Original message
23. Bush is an ass, but I've known for decades
that there are some jobs immigrants will do which average Americans will not. No American grows up hoping to be a dishwasher in a small unimportant bistro, and if they take the job, it's likely because they're unemployable elsewhere for any number of reasons.

Few Americans are interested in being janitors, in doing manual labour, in ditch-digging and refuse collection, in any number of tasks that are typically filled with immigrants who are willing to work hard at jobs that command very little social respect.

Pay isn't always an issue. Even jobs where the pay is adequate if not handsome, such as sewer-workers and refuse collection, - these are often snubbed by the American worker in favour of careers with more social clout.

In general, those of us raised in the U.S. seem to be focused on the white collar careers we've seen on our favourite television shows while growing up. Someone has to wash the dishes when Molto Mario cooks, pure and simple.
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Nikia Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Dec-20-04 11:04 PM
Response to Original message
25. Slaughterhouses
One of the employers that contacted me when I put my resume on a general employment site was a large meat processing plant where they actually killed the cattle. It was a quality assurance position. He mentioned that 85% of the plant was Hispanic and many didn't speak English. I looked up more info on the company and saw what their other jobs paid. The jobs started at $9-$12/hour. Even though employment isn't as good as it has been, I don't think that many Americans would like to kill lots of cattle (in that plant thousands per day)for a rate at or not much more than other jobs in the area.
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QC Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Dec-20-04 11:20 PM
Response to Reply #25
32. Those used to be union jobs with good pay and bennies,
as recently as the 80's. Then the meat oligopoly broke the unions with imported cheap labor and cut wages and benefits to their present miserable level. Of course, meat hasn't gotten any cheaper, but profits are way up, and that's what really counts, you know.
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Nikia Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Dec-20-04 11:07 PM
Response to Original message
26. Maybe seasonal postions
There are food processing plants around here that do most of their work during or after certain harvests, which is fall. All the high school and college staudents are back in school. These plants might need a couple hundred people for only a month or two full time. It's not that they wouldn't get some Americans, but probably not enough Americans for these temporary jobs.
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BiggJawn Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Dec-20-04 11:13 PM
Response to Original message
28. Shovel guts, pick crops, swab toilets, change beds, wash dishes...
Edited on Mon Dec-20-04 11:14 PM by BiggJawn
Flip burgers, work the back of a packer truck, work in a rendering plant, push a broom, hang sheet rock for 6 cents a foot, lay brick for a likewise shitty price...

good start here.
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bpilgrim Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Dec-20-04 11:14 PM
Response to Original message
29. Kerik's Nanny?
Edited on Tue Dec-21-04 12:01 AM by bpilgrim
jobs below MINIMUM WAGE, eFUCKINGtc...

:shrug:

peace
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Razorback_Democrat Donating Member (756 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Dec-20-04 11:18 PM
Response to Original message
31. Apparently quite a few, here's some
working in poultry processing plants
lawn services
fast food (some)
Cleaning services
lots of different manual labor jobs

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bpilgrim Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Dec-20-04 11:54 PM
Response to Reply #31
35. all at or below minimum wage
and all my family works in all the above jobs and are white... i know, i know, i'm in the 'MINORITY'

:crazy:

peace
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proudbluestater Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Dec-20-04 11:59 PM
Response to Original message
36. I think they are talking about people to work as servants for them.
Edited on Tue Dec-21-04 12:03 AM by proudbluestater
Of course, they don't call them servants. Gardeners, nannies, household help. Folks that hire for these positions are NOT interested in paying minimum wage.
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