Immigrant Labor

When we bought The Homestead two and a half years ago, the roof leaked. Because the rough estimate for replacing it was $10,000, we needed to live with it until we could afford a new one. I patched it a few times, and it was more or less functional for the time being. This spring, however, we finally had a pot of money and we saw some new leaks developing, so it was time to find a roofer.

We called some numbers in the yellow pages, asked for advice around town, and talked to some local contractors. One thing we noticed is that some of the local (American) contractors sniffed at some of the other companies because the other companies hired non-local labor. "Of course, if you hire them, you'll get a crew of Mexicans." OK? So, are they corrupt? Are they part of the drug mafia? What? Why does it matter to me who swings the hammer?

In any case, the company we hired showed up with a crew of Mexicans. Holy schmoly, do those boys get after it. They work hard, they work fast, they do a great job, and they do it with smile—no whining. No wonder the other contractors hate them . . . their attitude is so un-American. At Rural Ways we don't like to think of ourselves as lazy, but next to these guys we're a bunch of slobs.

An acquaintance of Valerie's who is in the property management business whispered to her that Mexicans will work for $12 per hour, but Americans won't. Ah, so now the comments from the American contractors become clear. How Ayn Randian. These contractors are the James Taggarts of Parowan: It isn't good for society when you hire people who are willing to work harder for less. No. That makes us uncompetitive, and that is bad for the railroad.