Proposal for an American
Temporary Worker Program
Certain categories of employers in the United States have, over the past three decades, become dependent on illegal aliens. Chief among these are agriculture, construction, and services, but there are others. They allowed themselves to be seduced by the allure of an endless supply of undemanding labor, made cheap by its sheer quantity. For nearly two generations now, they have had only to snap their fingers and unskilled and semiskilled labor came running from around the world. It has reached the point that they cannot imagine life without that supply of cheap sweat available to them, so they claim disaster will flow if that supply is cut off or diminished. They call for a Guest Worker Program, with foreign workers being brought to this country to take American jobs. For reasons one can only speculate about, the current administration professes to believe there will be a labor shortage without a Guest Worker Program, or worse still, an amnesty by some other name. We will not undertake here to refute that claim of a labor shortage—we have addressed it elsewhere, both as to the substance of the claims and the deleterious effects of trying to indulge them. You can read our thoughts on the matter here. Despite what they say, there is more than ample evidence to indicate that the American employer and the administration have either talked themselves into a delusion, or are, in some cases, outright lying in the face of the obvious. The basic, underlying fact is this: while the generally reported unemployment rate is quite low, under five percent as this is written in March, 2008, the true unemployment rate (although that’s not what the report calls it) is nearly double that at 9% (see first sidebar comment). The government publishes the latter figure, too, but it is seldom cited, probably because it paints a bleaker picture than an administration would like to tout. In fact, the 9% figure reflects that nearly fourteen million American workers are looking for jobs -- and things do not look good for the future at this writing. The U.S. does not have a labor shortage—in fact, there are clear indications of a labor surplus in this country.
Updated May 20, 2010. The nation is recovering from an economic crisis but unemployment remains high, and the administration presents us with the thought that it may be the new "normal" state of affairs.
Figures for May, 2010, are these:
The unemployment rate is 9.9%, or 15,260,00 workers.
The percentage of underutilized workers is 17.1%, or 26,844,000 workers looking for a job.
See the the sidebar for an explanation of the difference. The links there connect to current reports and explanations from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
We also recommend that you read our editorial,
Our Leaders Betray Us - Immigration and Jobs |
To be sure, there are places in the United States where there are not ample workers for particular jobs at any given, transient time. Agricultural jobs in some areas during harvest season is an example, or unskilled construction during a building boom—but even then, what constitutes a “shortage” is disputed. However, assuming for the sake of argument that there are genuine, localized labor shortages, NAFBPO says that a foreign guest worker program is both unnecessary and undesirable for any number of demonstrable reasons. The point is this: there are enough American workers to fill the jobs, but they are often in the wrong places. So, we call upon our federal and state governments, American employers, unions, and the American worker to develop a national program we will for the moment call American Jobs for American Workers (AJAW). (Before we go further, let us stress that here, and in every instance where we refer to an American worker we include those legal immigrants who are legitimate guests in our country.) Our proposal is this: create a domestic temporary worker program. Instead of recruiting foreign workers who come and compete with American job seekers and drive down wages, recruit American workers from across the country to fill jobs where labor shortages exist. Offer to our own workers the same benefits that any formal guest worker program must offer to foreigners, that is, transportation to the temporary work area, training for the job, decent housing or an allowance, basic medical care, guaranteed wages and working conditions, and finally, transportation back home when the job is over.
| NOTE: We have found some misperceptions on the part of readers about what we propose here. For clarity's sake, let us expand a bit. We do not propose anything similar to an existing farm worker registry program or one that is easy to finesse or cheat, as is common with the existing programs. Instead, we suggest in the broadest terms that employers of any type who believe they need foreign help first be required to contact employment security departments (ESDs by whatever name) in various states. Which states can be defined as the process is developed by the participants. Each state should maintain a registry of people able to travel to obtain work under the circumstances we describe, that is, the same as what is offered to foreign guest workers except as to wages, which will be higher. There must be statutes providing that unemployment benefits will be reduced for workers who decline to participate for unacceptable reasons. We also believe that some form of tax credits for employers who participate would be appropriate. |
Such a program must be accompanied by concurrent action to diminish some of the disincentives to work that exist now, particularly welfare benefits. In short, if a recipient of public benefits is offered a job through AJAW and declines it, there will be an impact on his or her benefits, an impact that increases with repeated refusals to participate. There will be loud cries from advocates for those on the public dole that it is unfair to expect them to relocate, even temporarily, to obtain work. NAFBPO is unsympathetic to that argument. A very substantial percentage of employed Americans relocate, often at their own expense, for the sake of a job, to obtain it or to improve it. To allow someone to remain indolent simply because he or she does not feel like going somewhere else is not reasonable if the taxpayer is bound to support that irresponsible decision. Now, to state the obvious in order to forestall an expected argument from the opposition, we do not propose that those unable to work (as opposed to unwilling) or unable to relocate (as opposed to unwilling) be dragged into the AJAW program. There will certainly be sympathetic cases where a move would wreak genuine hardship. We do not propose Draconian measures in such cases. This is not the place to propose or discuss details. Here, we propose nothing more than a concept. It is this: Bring the American worker out of the shadows by making it possible for him to connect with American employers who need him, and do it in a fashion that will create a stable, reliable workforce for the American employer. We owe each other no less. 
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"Unemployed" versus "Underutilized"
The basic unemployment report issued monthly by the Bureau of Labor Statistics can be found here. Additional data may be found in Table A, here. How they define the "labor force" is far from clear, but they make no claim that it represents all the workers in the country - because it does not. For instance, it does not count anyone who has not sought a job for more than four weeks, or anyone who has only a part-time job. In fact, this report does little more than report the more stable employment trends in the country, not the actual number of unemployed. But if you are the administration, it sure is a nice figure to brag on. However, they also issue another report titled Table A-15 Alternative measures of labor underutilization, (This report number changed in early 2010 from A-12.) which can be found here. When you dig into that report and figure out what they're talking about you discover that they are counting a much larger group that includes nearly all the Americans who could and would be working if they could find jobs. For instance, it counts the person working part-time who'd like full-time work, and "discouraged workers," those who'd like a job but have given up on finding one. Work out the calculations and you find that this report shows that 27,400,00 are looking for work. That's 17.5% of the total U.S. workforce. Over 27 and a half million people is a good labor pool to draw on for the domestic temporary worker program we propose here. It is outrageous that an employer would seek workers abroad. It is even worse that a state, such as Washington, would seek to become the agency that goes abroad to recruit workers for domestic employers. |
Wages and Economic Impact
No one at NAFBPO is an economist, nor does anyone pretend to be. However, some results of our proposal for a domestic temporary worker program are easily predictable. - Wages will have to increase to attract American workers. They will go up in every field where illegal aliens have depressed them - that is primarily agriculture, construction and the trades, and hotel and restaurant services. That would not hurt the employer because he can raise his prices to cover the wage increase. The consumer would not suffer in any noticeable fashion unless employers used increased wages as an excuse to gouge consumers. For some specific figures on the impact of wage increases, click here . In today's world wages are not the major portion of the total cost of production.
- A wage increase for American workers would be a good thing for the worker and for the economy. Hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of the working poor would be raised above the poverty level. All worker would have more income to put back into circulation and that money would stay in the United States. As it is, nearly 100 billion dollars a year is sent abroad by alien workers in this country, 24 billion to Mexico alone in 2007.
- The dirty little secret of illegal alien labor in this country is that the people it hurts the most are Latinos and African-Americans. They are often at the lower end of the wage scale, and it is they who have been impacted worst by falling wages brought about by the surplus of labor that exists in this country, and they are beginning to wake up to that fact. We can fix that if we safeguard American jobs for American workers.
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Timing and Gradualism
NAFBPO does not suggest that illegal aliens suddenly be removed from the U.S. and the AJAW program put in place -- it can't be done and no one we know proposes any such thing. The process must, for several reasons, take place over time. The "enforcement through attrition" strategy, (read about it here) whereby illegal aliens leave on their own as opportunities for them dry up, will take time - perhaps five to seven years. During this time the AJAW program can be designed and implemented. Americans will replace the departing illegal aliens in the workforce and employers can use the AJAW program to recruit them. |
The Underemployed Worker
Consider that the individual who has been replaced by an illegal alien is probably at the lower end of the employment/economic spectrum. He is almost certainly undereducated. Very likely, he has had no experience in the world outside his home area. To someone like that the thought of taking off to look for a job in some strange place is daunting, so it is more psychologically comfortable to stay home with family and draw whatever benefits he can. That he does so doesn't mean he doesn't want to work; it means he's afraid to jump into the unknown alone -- most people are. But if some of the unknowns are removed from his mental equation his outlook changes. Offer him a job and a ride with others from his area, and give him the knowledge he can get home when it's done and his world becomes a different place. NAFBPO believes there are millions of workers who want to keep shoes on their kids' feet and food on the table but just don't know how to find a job. American employers, working together, can tap into that resource. |
Bureaucracy and Oversight
A foreign Guest Worker Program requires that the employer work his way through bureaucracy in the United States and Mexico to get his help. It's not an easy process and it has a terrible lead time. The process adds significantly to the actual cost of labor. Now, though, there are a couple new factors to contend with, ones that have not been widely recognized yet by employers. - Briefly, in January, 2008 the D.C. Court of Appeals (which hears all National Labor Relations Board cases) held that an employer could not refuse to bargain with a union just because the members were illegal aliens. While it appears that the NLRB excludes agricultural workers from the definition of "employee", it also appears that workers in places like packing houses are defined as employees. This means that unions can organize those workers and represent them in labor matters. The case is titled United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, No. 06-1329, AGRI PROCESSOR CO., INC., PETITIONER v. NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD. It can be read here.
- At last report the Mexican government had forty-seven consular offices in the U.S., more than any other nation has here. The most recent opened in Little Rock, Arkansas in April, 2007.
President Felipe Calderon has instructed his diplomatic corps to be aggressive in protecting the rights of Mexicans in this country. His predecessor, Vicente Fox, said publicly that "Where a Mexican stands, there is Mexico." Calderon demonstrably subscribes to that concept. Employers can anticipate increasing contact with Mexican consular staff over employee rights. Or the American employer can avoid the whole international issue by hiring his fellow Americans and doing for them what he is willing to do for a foreign guest worker. | |