About a Border Wall

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Jan 10, 2019 | 03:43 PM

#31

Tedster9

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Joined: Apr 2002

Posts: 19,311

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From: Waterloo, Iowa

Quote:

Originally Posted by wpnaes

Makes me think about managers I've had in the past, Ted. Likely we've all had good ones and bad ones. The good ones made you feel good about your contribution and valued to the organization. When push came to shove during a busy period, you'd put in the extra effort and felt proud of the teamwork and success. It wasn't about only about pay; it was also about the spirit of the group and their ability to rise to a challenge. With a bad manager on the other had, just pay me more so I can go home and not think about the next days work...

A good manager of people doesn't have to pay top dollar; they motivate and develop a team of workers to do their best. The workers feel fulfilled at work.

I don't understand how one can live without gainful employment (retirees, disabled, etc. excluded) and simply live off the teat of others. A percentage of those folks will always be with us, but let's not encourage it by gov't giveaways.

I agree, but my point is there's more going on than simply the pay. They were very insistent that the pay scale is not the only factor. It is crucial especially in things like construction, when there is a hard timeline, that everybody who is supposed to be there is there on time. For example maybe the contractor has to rent a big piece of equipment for next thursday or whatever. They pays the money, they have the equipment for that day. Then let's say they don't have enough people show up that day. So the expensive rental equipment sits idle, and the money is wasted right down the drain. Agricultural work is similar in that, the harvest isn't going to wait. It can't be put off, it has to get done in a certain time window. Farmers can't call in sick, or take a holiday off. Cattle don't know what time or day it is, or that we should be celebrating the Maple Syrup Rebellion, stuff has to get done regardless.

Jan 10, 2019 | 04:27 PM

#32

wpnaes

FTE Chapter Leader

Joined: Nov 2010

Posts: 30,595

Likes: 1,236

From: N. IL

You're preaching to the Choir here Ted.

I used to hire 13-18 yr olds to work in the corn for a month or so in the summer; lots of manual labor in the dew, heat, bugs, humidity.. etc. 'Then one year, the Mexicans came to town', and as fast as I could, I got away from the teens the next year. I always lost 1 or 2 because of a bad SSN, but the rest worked 2x as efficiently as the 1990's teenager did. We worked everyday 7:30-4:30 or so for about 5 weeks. Those that showed up everyday got a 25c per hour bonus across those 5 weeks. Very few teens were able to collect, while all the migrants did.

If times got tough, I do believe our computer addicted youth would rise to the occasion and pull their weight. But why should they when we have an endless supply of labor to the south? Does the average teen still get a summer job?

Back to that wall, looks like budding artists do a decent job of decorating them with a can of spray paint.