The Nov. 2 story “Migrants feel trapped in the U.S.” (Main news) quotes Don Villerajo, director of the California Institute for Rural Studies, as saying “much of the work we will need done in the future is low-paid work, and we as a society have not figured out how to deal with that.”
Such a statement displays an ignorance of the basic economic law of supply and demand. There are no jobs that are inherently low paying; rather low pay is indicative of excess labor supply.
In the case of farm workers, for instance, had we not allowed millions of legal and illegal migrants to create an excessive labor supply, the demand would have driven up their wages. Instead, their inflation-adjusted wages have dropped more than 20 percent since 1975.
At the peak of the economic cycle, when labor markets tighten as they are doing today, it is natural for wages to rise and income inequality to narrow. Some businessmen argue that rather than raise wages, they will relocate. Let them. It is better to move jobs to underdeveloped countries than bring people from undeveloped countries here. Most of today’s low-paying jobs, however, are in the retail/service sectors and thus are in no danger of leaving.
Ironically, labor leaders, who in the past knew the dangers of excessive immigration, today seem less interested in improving the wage rates of their members than gaining new dues-paying members, irrespective of how poorly paid they are. As such, big labor has become a willing ally of big business in supporting today’s record level of immigration.
