http://www.topix.net/forum/city/ontario-ca/TSK13E1N0DJNJCUJR
""This makes me laugh my butt off..They are now demanding and getting more per hour than the Americans ha!ha!ha! you bleeding hearts eat your hearts out!!!!Your cheap labor just went up because now they have the leverage to kick your....
The woman had offered to pay $10 an hour, not realizing what she had stumbled into: the only day labor site in the nation that has set a $15-an-hour minimum wage.
At a few dozen other sites across the country, day laborers have set minimums, usually $8 or $10. But only at this corner in Agoura Hills, a well-to-do town 40 miles northwest of Los Angeles, experts say, have they been bold enough to insist on $15, nearly three times the federal minimum wage. Some laborers who are particularly skilled at plumbing or hanging drywall get $18 or more.“There are always employers who look for cheap workers,” said Virgilio Vicente, 47, a Guatemala immigrant who spent the week framing walls for a small contractor.“But we have an agreement, and no one is going to go for less. We don’t feel bad when someone drives away because we know other clients will always come.”
Their move is a risky experiment, reminiscent of crude unionization efforts of a century ago. It is uncertain if laborers at other sites will join the move to a $15 minimum or even whether the workers at this corner, the intersection of Kanan and Agoura Roads, can make it stick. When they raised their rates last month, the demand for their services went down as some homeowners and contractors began seeking workers at another corner five miles away.
Luis Cap, 32, a stocky Guatemalan immigrant who has been a mainstay of the corner for 14 years, is not worried.“The employers complain, but we explain that it is very expensive to live in this city,” Mr. Cap said.“We tell them:‘Gas is expensive. Rent is expensive. Insurance is expensive. Everything is expensive.’”
The increase may have slowed business somewhat, but many workers are still hired for four or five days each week. Others find work only two or three days, but that is still lucrative enough to persuade some to make the 80-minute bus trip from Los Angeles.""
""This makes me laugh my butt off..They are now demanding and getting more per hour than the Americans ha!ha!ha! you bleeding hearts eat your hearts out!!!!Your cheap labor just went up because now they have the leverage to kick your....
The woman had offered to pay $10 an hour, not realizing what she had stumbled into: the only day labor site in the nation that has set a $15-an-hour minimum wage.
At a few dozen other sites across the country, day laborers have set minimums, usually $8 or $10. But only at this corner in Agoura Hills, a well-to-do town 40 miles northwest of Los Angeles, experts say, have they been bold enough to insist on $15, nearly three times the federal minimum wage. Some laborers who are particularly skilled at plumbing or hanging drywall get $18 or more.“There are always employers who look for cheap workers,” said Virgilio Vicente, 47, a Guatemala immigrant who spent the week framing walls for a small contractor.“But we have an agreement, and no one is going to go for less. We don’t feel bad when someone drives away because we know other clients will always come.”
Their move is a risky experiment, reminiscent of crude unionization efforts of a century ago. It is uncertain if laborers at other sites will join the move to a $15 minimum or even whether the workers at this corner, the intersection of Kanan and Agoura Roads, can make it stick. When they raised their rates last month, the demand for their services went down as some homeowners and contractors began seeking workers at another corner five miles away.
Luis Cap, 32, a stocky Guatemalan immigrant who has been a mainstay of the corner for 14 years, is not worried.“The employers complain, but we explain that it is very expensive to live in this city,” Mr. Cap said.“We tell them:‘Gas is expensive. Rent is expensive. Insurance is expensive. Everything is expensive.’”
The increase may have slowed business somewhat, but many workers are still hired for four or five days each week. Others find work only two or three days, but that is still lucrative enough to persuade some to make the 80-minute bus trip from Los Angeles.""
