Immigrant Workers
In chapter 4, Shipler discusses immigrant workers. This is a topic that is very relevant today. Shipler, the author of The Working Poor, provides the readers with a variety of stories about immigrant workers to put a face to this issue. Immigrants migrate to the United States predominately for the "American Dream". They leave their country and often families in hope of a better future, and a better financial stand. However, more often than not, they are not aware of how they will be exploited in this country for their labor. Immigrants perform the jobs and duties that most Americans choose not to do. These jobs like Shipler explains often consist of farming and cultivating. They are jobs that require hand labor and sweat. In my opinion they are jobs that most Americans prefer to rely on government assistance than to work under such circumstances. The living conditions, Shipler explains are non that the average individual would tolerate. The most concerning aspect is that for the difficulty of their labor, the long hours, and their living conditions, the wages are incredibly low. Not only do migrant workers get paid low wages, they are also exploited out of their labor in the sense that corporate leaders cheat them out of their pay as well. Shipler poses a scenario in which employers openly admit to adding falsified deductions to migrant workers checks in order to cheat them out of the little pay they already receive. Migrant workers unfortunately are not able to defend themselves due to many obstacles, such as education, language barriers, and most importantly fear. Fear of being deported, that comes from lack of education and not knowing their rights. The largest group of individuals who benefit from migrant workers are the elite. These elite often consist of corporate executives and farm owners. These individuals are able to get away with low wages, labor exploitation, untolerable living conditions, and other abuses, because of the fear that these immigrant workers have. Lastly, we benefit from them as well. It sounds very negative to state we are contributers to the oppressive issue of migrant workers, but without their exploitation our produce and many other products would not be available at such low rates.
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