I saw this post yesterday and was wondering where it was headed.
Just from my experience........ Flashback 30 years, most of the roofing crews were Anglos here in the mid-west. I had my roof replaced in the summer of 2000 and the crew was entirely Hispanic. The owner of the company, who was a friend of mine, said he can't find guys to work for him. The Hispanics were the only one that would roof and going rate was $10-12.50 an hour that they set. He trained and showed them how to properly shingle a roof.... Certainly not rocket science, but done correctly is brutal, backbreaking work. They NEVER missed a day and worked fast.
Later that year, the wife and I took a trip to California where everywhere we looked, we saw Hispanics working landscaping, building and roofing homes. Every lawn service's crew was entirely made up of Hispanic workers. Just out of curiosity we stopped at a model home that was was listed at three times a mid-west house would cost. When I asked about "Why all the Hispanic workers", the sales agent looked at me like I was crazy. "Do you know how much this house would cost if we hired Union people? This is the was California rolls", was his response.
Now, when everybody started complaining about Hispanics taking jobs back in 2000, I doubt if ANYONE would want a roofing job for $15.00 an hour, let alone $10-12.50! The jobs these people took were jobs that basically went "begging" with us "citizens". The jobs that Hispanics took are jobs that none of us would have worked.
When people complain about unions, WalMart, illegals, and the myriad of other current rants, remember that unions set a wage and working conditions, WalMart gave us cheap priced goods, but killed MADE IN AMERICA, and illegals... Well, they make us keep building and roofing homes, keeping our lawns manicured and yes, eating cheap chicken.
As Pogo said in the '50's... "We have met the enemy, and he is us!"
