Conservative MP

[Cuzzin E]

I recall back in my high school days going from farm to farm looking for work, everything from strawberry to apple picking. Farmers don't have the time or money to spend on traditional recruitment, it's more of a show up & see if there's work today kinda deal. That's the way its always been.

And if someone knocks on that door offering to deliver 20 hard working foreigners for a reasonable rate, the farmer will take them. Saves having to spend 000's in finding temp workers

Edited November 25, 2009 by Cuzzin E

[M.Dancer]

If they exist, show me.

BC

http://www.agri-labourpool.com/jobsearchseasonal.aspx

To the point, Nova Scotia

http://www.nsapples.com/harvest.htm

Tree Farm worker-Ontario

http://london.kijiji.ca/c-jobs-general-labour-Tree-Pruning-W0QQAdIdZ169993725

Fall Harvest

http://london.kijiji.ca/c-jobs-general-labour-help-wanted-W0QQAdIdZ158703691

[Moonbox]

He was referring to people who refuse to work, not anyone who finds themselves out of a job by no fault of their own. He even made specific reference to it being such a problem that farmers need to hire from out of country because the locals won't do the work. Sounds like that is a legitimate concern to me.

Bingo. Don't tell that to Topaz though. He doesn't like to know what he's talking about.

[Jerry J. Fortin]

An elected representative simply should not say things like that. Those fools need to be held to a higher standard.

[Moonbox]

An elected representative simply should not say things like that. Those fools need to be held to a higher standard.

An elected representative can say whatever he wants. It's the choice of his constituents to elect him. Criticizing chronically unemployed "wastes of humanity" (those are my words)who chose not to work is hardly an aweful thing to do. It's interesting how various companies/industries are almost always short of workers yet perfectly able people are lining up for their welfare cheques every month instead. They've clearly got better things to do right?

[Smallc]

It's interesting how various companies/industries are almost always short of workers yet perfectly able people are lining up for their welfare cheques every month instead.

It's interesting, and sadly quite true.

[Moonbox]

It's interesting, and sadly quite true.

It's disgusting. EI and welfare should be there for people who temporarily need help or legitametely can't find work. Those who chose not to as far as I'm concerned should be left to starve or herded in to work camps or something. It sickens me.

Maybe if the work paid worth a shit....

It would pay worth a shit if it was worth paying anything for. Don't expect to have a car and a luxurious lifestyle if the only work you've qualified yourself for is something a monkey could do.

Edited November 25, 2009 by Moonbox

[Keepitsimple]

The Christmas tree farm across the road also does major 'agritourism' stuff, and has a huge Christmas staff. Their entire staff is here from Stephenville area, NL. They didn't advertise locally.

When you get a moment, run across the road and ask them why. I'm curious.

Edited November 25, 2009 by Keepitsimple

[Molly]

I don't have to. Word of mouth... the same way we found our seasonal staff.

One guy gets the job (and an 'in') by pure chance... stumbling by at the right time, being a cousin, or meeting the family through sports or school... and passes the word around home to anyone who's looking for an adventure.

The folks who worked seasonally in my old area all came from the Ottawa Valley.

Mind you, if you are a seriously bad employer, that word gets around, too.

[DrGreenthumb]

Maybe if they weren't allowed to import workers they would be forced to pay a decent wage and people would want the work. If that means we have pay a little more for our produce, so be it. I live in a farming community and have spent many years working on livestock operations, everything from cows to sheep to Turkeys. As a kid I used to make money walking through the Alfalfa fields pulling weeds. These farm jobs pay little, have no benefits, and are often short term positions. While I was happy to do these jobs as a teenager, I sure wouldn't go back to doing that kind of work for the bullshit pay they offered if I had ANY other choice. Farmers complain all the time about how hard they have it, but for the most part they are full of shit. If these guys ever had to try and survive on a wage earners pay they would get a quick wake up call. There are are very few farmers around here who are not living high on the hog, with new vehicles and every toy imaginable for their kids. 20, 000 dollar racing snowmobiles, and top of the line racing quads do not fall under the "farm equipment" category in my opinion but every damn farmer around here seems to have plenty of money for expensive toys. Its no surprise to me that they mostly vote Conservative like the rest of the rich fatcats in this country.

[M.Dancer]

Maybe if they weren't allowed to import workers they would be forced to pay a decent wage and people would want the work.

And maybe the cost of food would rise so high that cheaper imports from latin america will be more common....thus providing work for latin americans in their own country...

Everyone wins....

[ToadBrother]

Maybe if they weren't allowed to import workers they would be forced to pay a decent wage and people would want the work. If that means we have pay a little more for our produce, so be it.

This has been hashed over a lot down in California. The fact of the matter is that these crops wouldn't jump in price a little bit, they'd jump in price a lot.

[Molly]

By the way, Dancer, did you look at your links? There were jobs offered there for exactly 2 people in Ontario, neither of which would be filled from offshore in any case; none at all in Nova Scotia.

The two in BC are what? Brokers? They have "We intend to actually get our staff overseas." written all over them.

[M.Dancer]

none at all in Nova Scotia.

http://www.nsapples.com/harvest.htm

That is NS.

I spent 2 minutes looking and came up with handful of jobs...you said there were none.

[Molly]

I don't believe wages are the issue at all. I'm still shaking my head over one of those BC ads, in particular... minimum wage, bad work/ working conditions, 54 hour weeks, one day off a week....

I wouldn't touch that job/ad with a 10 foot pole, and don't know anyone who would respond to it... but I know lots of people who'd willingly work long hours, doing a hard job under miserable conditions, for minimum wage... they just wouldn't go seeking so obvious an invitation to eat s***. The ad itself is dehumanizing, and it doesn't take much imagination to expect to be treated very, very badly.

[M.Dancer]

I don't believe wages are the issue at all. I'm still shaking my head over one of those BC ads, in particular... minimum wage, bad work/ working conditions, 54 hour weeks, one day off a week....

I wouldn't touch that job/ad with a 10 foot pole, and don't know anyone who would respond to it... but I know lots of people who'd willingly work long hours, doing a hard job under miserable conditions, for minimum wage... they just wouldn't go seeking so obvious an invitation to eat s***. The ad itself is dehumanizing, and it doesn't take much imagination to expect to be treated very, very badly.

That's the point...there are people to lazy to work. 9.09 an hour plus a roof over your head isn't enough motivation for someone who would rather sleep till noon, smoke dope and boink his girlfriend while on public assistance...

[Molly]

I said they don't advertise locally, and stand by it.

You found one in-house site in BC that carried anything worth noting, and it was squarely aimed at anyone but locals. IMO, you found NADA. If that's the effort expended to find staff, it's an utterly incompetent effort.

[blueblood]

Maybe if they weren't allowed to import workers they would be forced to pay a decent wage and people would want the work. If that means we have pay a little more for our produce, so be it. I live in a farming community and have spent many years working on livestock operations, everything from cows to sheep to Turkeys. As a kid I used to make money walking through the Alfalfa fields pulling weeds. These farm jobs pay little, have no benefits, and are often short term positions. While I was happy to do these jobs as a teenager, I sure wouldn't go back to doing that kind of work for the bullshit pay they offered if I had ANY other choice. Farmers complain all the time about how hard they have it, but for the most part they are full of shit. If these guys ever had to try and survive on a wage earners pay they would get a quick wake up call. There are are very few farmers around here who are not living high on the hog, with new vehicles and every toy imaginable for their kids. 20, 000 dollar racing snowmobiles, and top of the line racing quads do not fall under the "farm equipment" category in my opinion but every damn farmer around here seems to have plenty of money for expensive toys. Its no surprise to me that they mostly vote Conservative like the rest of the rich fatcats in this country.

It's posts like this that are beg beg begging to be ripped in half.

For the love of God sign up for some business classes and get yourself an education because you have no clue what you are talking about.

As for farm workers getting paid diddly squat that is a myth. No farm manager in his right mind would pay minimum wage, you see there is this thing called the oil patch and the city with these things called other jobs that pay better. If I want workers, I have to pay for them. I pay 25/hr for workers, but I only need them for 8 weeks out of the year, which gives retired people something to do. Others pay 15-25/hr, and its for monkey work, but a lot include food and board on top of their pay. Seems like adequate compensation for that type of work to me. My accountant on the other hand, gets paid a hell of a lot more at tax time because his services for that time period are far more valuable. Same goes for workers who bring their own equipment. You bring more to the table, your pay goes up.

As for farmers and wage earners trading places, in the long run the farmer surviving on a wage earners income would fare better than a wage earner managing a farm because a wage earner has no hot clue how to run a complicated operation like a farm and would very likely go broke very quickly.

As for farmers complaining about things like non-tariff trade barriers, why would anyone not complain if there is something complicating a person making money? Seems like the logical thing to do, hell car manufacturing workers do it all the time.

What you don't seem to realize is that farmers like other business people are taking huge risks that can result in big payouts or big losses, and usually involves throwing large amounts of money around. That farmer who has the racing sled and racing quad has been fairly compensated for his business decisions, marketing decisions, and proper management for that year. All a wage earner has to do is show up for work, put in his time, and go home. There is a reason CEO's make millions of dollars per year, their decisions and skills either make or lose their company a lot of money.

The left wing wanting to punish people for taking risks, performing well, and providing jobs where there was none before with high corporate taxes, high minimum wage, and wasteful spending is not only illogical it's EVIL.

[Molly]

No, you missed that point entirely.

9.09 is plenty to get people to work... but it isn't enough to get them to volunteer for abuse. That ad says plenty between the lines. It says that staff will be barely tolerated, and certainly not respected. It says 'We don't want anyone who would expect to make eye contact, take necessary bathroom breaks, or be called by name."

[M.Dancer]

No, you missed that point entirely.

9.09 is plenty to get people to work... but it isn't enough to get them to volunteer for abuse. That ad says plenty between the lines. It says that staff will be barely tolerated, and certainly not respected. It says 'We don't want anyone who would expect to make eye contact, take necessary bathroom breaks, or be called by name."

Wow...you read all that?

I'm obviously not as good at raeading what isn't written as you....could you decypher this for me...

Skills Needed:

•Must be in good physical shape capable of heavy lifting

•Past experience an asset

•English speaking would be an asset

Education Required:

•Employer wil provide orientation/training

Housing/Benefits:

•Accomodations available if required

•Responsible for your own food and cooking

Duties:

•Harvesting/picking vegetables

•Washing, grading and packaging vegetables

Other Job Information:

To Apply: Please fax resume directly to the employer 604-574-5773

[M.Dancer]

I said they don't advertise locally, and stand by it.

You found one in-house site in BC that carried anything worth noting, and it was squarely aimed at anyone but locals. IMO, you found NADA. If that's the effort expended to find staff, it's an utterly incompetent effort.

How do you know it wasn't aimed at locals? Besides psychic devination?

[Molly]

Well, Dancer, that ad is a lot more inviting than the one I was referring to. It actually acknowledges that employees might have some basic requirements too.

I know it wasn't aimed at locals because 1) it wasn't offered where locals likely to be available would see it, and 2) because it offered conditions tailor-made for 'a desperate herd from offshore, getting in as many hours as possible before being sent home', rather than conditions a local would be more likely to find inviting, or agree to. I wouldn't, for instance, agree to '54 hours, 6 day weeks', but 'opportunity for extended hours' wouldn't be a bad thing. You don't have to demand 54 hour/6 day weeks from 50 people to get 2700 hours of labour. 40 hour weeks from 68 who are flexible accomplishes the same end....

[noahbody]

9.09 is plenty to get people to work... but it isn't enough to get them to volunteer for abuse. That ad says plenty between the lines. It says that staff will be barely tolerated, and certainly not respected. It says 'We don't want anyone who would expect to make eye contact, take necessary bathroom breaks, or be called by name."

They're asking for hardworking responsible people who are able to work independently. They're trying to weed out people who think an apple tree is a water cooler, take unnecessary bathroom breaks and need supervision. That's called trying to attract the best candidates for the job. If you think that's abuse, you're the type they don't want.

[Molly]

You are just going to run right over to your fax machine and apply for that one then, since only the best people will work there?

Seriously, if you see this ad as expressing any interest in the quality of worker, then you speak a different language than I do.

http://www.agri-labourpool.com/showJob.aspx?id=10223

Edited November 25, 2009 by Molly

[M.Dancer]

Well, Dancer, that ad is a lot more inviting than the one I was referring to. It actually acknowledges that employees might have some basic requirements too.

I know it wasn't aimed at locals because 1) it wasn't offered where locals likely to be available would see it,

Locals don't have the internet?>

I wouldn't, for instance, agree to '54 hours, 6 day weeks', but 'opportunity for extended hours' wouldn't be a bad thing.

Like I said, there are some too lazy to work

You don't have to demand 54 hour/6 day weeks from 50 people to get 2700 hours of labour. 40 hour weeks from 68 who are flexible accomplishes the same end....

But then you would have to house 68 bodies instead of 50...

Edited November 25, 2009 by M.Dancer