5 ms·

"Misc. Agricultural Workers" is 92% white? So much for the theory that agricultural work is done by illegal migrant workers.

gph 13y ago
It looks like that data comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. I'm going to go ahead and guess that they don't include undocumented workers. A lot of those construction jobs are probably only looking at union work. The author says as much below. I don't know what it's like for electricians or carpenters, but the concrete business has a lot of undocumented workers, especially on non-government jobs. And even when they are somewhat legit they don't typically join the unions or get tagged as 'cement masons' (finishers) even though a lot of the time they do finishing work as well as the general labor.
randomdata 13y ago
Who holds that theory? As a farmer myself, I'm not really surprised at all and it was my immediate thought upon reading the headline. Most farm work is highly skilled, which: a) pushes for higher pay, allowing locals to compete. b) requires skills that will often not be easily obtained by those coming from poorer countries. The jobs that are easily handed to migrant workers are a relatively small segment of the industry, and I would expect a dwindling segment at that. I'll add that it is striking how non-diverse rural areas tend to be. I can probably count on one hand the number of non-white people living in my rural community. That doesn't help with the numbers when hiring from the local worker pool.
- theorique 13y ago
  I guess it's more of a stereotype. With the higher value / higher skill farming work, as compared to migrant fruit pickers, I am sure the demographics are quite different.
pogden 13y ago
if they're illegal, they pertinent aren't counted in the BLS statistics.
herge 13y ago
They may count hispanics as white.
- hudibras 13y ago
  Yes, this accounts for the disparity. The BLS report has miscellaneous agricultural workers at 92% white, with 48.9% of all workers having Hispanic or Latino ethnicity. Most Hispanics identify themselves as white, but 2-3% of Hispanic Americans identify as black.

gph 13y ago

It looks like that data comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. I'm going to go ahead and guess that they don't include undocumented workers. A lot of those construction jobs are probably only looking at union work. The author says as much below. I don't know what it's like for electricians or carpenters, but the concrete business has a lot of undocumented workers, especially on non-government jobs. And even when they are somewhat legit they don't typically join the unions or get tagged as 'cement masons' (finishers) even though a lot of the time they do finishing work as well as the general labor.

randomdata 13y ago

Who holds that theory? As a farmer myself, I'm not really surprised at all and it was my immediate thought upon reading the headline. Most farm work is highly skilled, which: a) pushes for higher pay, allowing locals to compete. b) requires skills that will often not be easily obtained by those coming from poorer countries. The jobs that are easily handed to migrant workers are a relatively small segment of the industry, and I would expect a dwindling segment at that. I'll add that it is striking how non-diverse rural areas tend to be. I can probably count on one hand the number of non-white people living in my rural community. That doesn't help with the numbers when hiring from the local worker pool.

theorique 13y ago
I guess it's more of a stereotype. With the higher value / higher skill farming work, as compared to migrant fruit pickers, I am sure the demographics are quite different.

pogden 13y ago

if they're illegal, they pertinent aren't counted in the BLS statistics.

herge 13y ago

They may count hispanics as white.

hudibras 13y ago
Yes, this accounts for the disparity. The BLS report has miscellaneous agricultural workers at 92% white, with 48.9% of all workers having Hispanic or Latino ethnicity. Most Hispanics identify themselves as white, but 2-3% of Hispanic Americans identify as black.