"Good Help" Could Be Hard To Find On Cape Cod This Summer

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.laborradio.org/node/8259

The State of Massachusetts is facing a worker shortage as vacation season prepares to kick into high gear on the state’s islands. The Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce is projecting a worker shortage of 5000 to 7000 workers this summer due to the limit on H2B visas. In response, the state and the chamber are hosting job fairs in areas of the state currently experiencing high unemployment in order to fill the void.

[Forkboy]

1. Last time there was a shortage wages jumped big time.

The Cape tend to pay well to start with, but the last time they had a shortage some warehouse type jobs were starting at $20 an hour. McDonald's alone starts at $8 -$9 an hour already.

I think that was created by there just being a need, not due to a shortage of workers though. There was just more jobs to fill at the time (mid to late 90's). The Cape depends a lot on summer jobs so this is big.

[enid602]

2. returning workers.

There was a report on NPR yesterday that large numbers of undocumented Brazilian workers in the Boston area are returning to Brazil, given the current atmosphere here with re: to immigration, recession in the US and a booming Brazilian economy.

[Warpy]

3. H2B visas have nothing to do with it.

Check out the rents on the worst accommodations and you'll find out why college kids aren't clamoring for those minimum wage and worse jobs.

[TheCowsCameHome]

4. Cape businesses want cheap, disposable labor.

The cost of housing and living there eat up anything they would earn anyway.

[tblue]

5. Where are those illegal aliens when you need 'em?

[Joesunionreview]

8. Big Corp and the Republicans are welcoming them into Kansas and penalizing unions as a bonus

They are all running to Kansas, where a union can be fined 2,000-10,000 if one were to be a member, but nothing can ever happen to the employer.

KS: State passes bill that will encourage more illegal immigration and punishes unions who try to help the workers
Link: http://anti-union.blogspot.com/2008/04/ks-state-passes-bill-that-will.html

[DFW]

6. I usually take my vacations at the outer end of the Cape

Pain in the ass thought it is to get there from the German Rheinland.
We just love the place, and anyway, I'm paid in dollars, and taking
vacations here in Euroland would be a drain on the old piggy bank these days.

In recent years, there have usually been a huge influx of summer workers from
Eastern Europe (European parts of the former Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact, mostly),
with a smattering of western Europeans (I blew the minds of some guys from Barcelona
by speaking to them in Catalan at a Provincetown gas station LOL).

These people are usually between the ages of 18 and 30, work extremely long hours,
and probably get housed in sardine can-like slave quarters. Somehow, they manage to
remain friendly, and work their butts off. I can usually speak somewhere from a little
to a lot of their languages, and get great service, even if it's a supermarket check-
out counter. I'm sure these jobs pay absolute shit wages (by US standards) and that
their American employers take advantage of the fact that these kids are thrilled to
get a chance to go to a place like the Cape and be doing anything at all. Aside from
the hours and wages, these people usually tell us they are treated well, and many
try to come back. I'm sure that plenty of American kids would find the wages and hours
to be not to their liking, although there are plenty of locals that we see year after
year at the same summer jobs, so there are at least some positions that don't get
filled by college students from Bratislava, Burgas or Minsk.

Despite this, I know some Cape business owners who are struggling to make ends meet,
and are considering throwing in the towel and moving inland. I love the place, and hope
it retains its character. If it goes downhill, either due to overdevelopment or pricing
itself out of existence, it would be a crime.

As an aside, although Massachusetts has had a large Brazilian contingent for decades now,
the outer Cape never saw them in large numbers. I was told by some locals that they tended
to gravitate, when not in the big cities, to the Fall River-Falmouth area, and not to the Cape.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

7. Labor can come from other states as well

I know a lot of folks around here who head East during the season to work, and come back to Arkansas for the winter. Some pick cranberries in Maine, others work the Renaissance Fairs-I wouldn't be surprised if some would try out the Cape for jobs, especially if they can find a place for their campers. $8 an hour is considered great wages around here.