06-30-2008, 10:07 AM
quote:
Originally posted by Damon
[quote]Originally posted by JWFITZ
12 dollars an hour is a starvation wage....
Interesting.
I am not offended.
Now, let me clarify a few points.
The $12/hr was arrived at by way of paying more than the $10/hr that some others had been paying the same people. Also, $12/hr is the going rate for unskilled construction site helpers.
Who gets paid this? A few points describe:
'Day labor' (btw, which I did in Kentucky in the '80's for minimum wage ~$3/hr, for landscaping work and moving heavy furniture).
Skills required are always minimum and it is amazing how many adults > age 20yrs have no experience using the most basic tools (shovel, wheelbarrow, etc) and zero idea of what happens in a garden, much less anything about livestock and poultry.
Is $12/hr all they get? No.
Most of the time it also includes at least lunch, sometimes breakfast, and often transportation to and/or from work. Almost every one leaves with some fruit, and sometimes lots of it. Also, when we know the people do not have acces to a shower, we invite them to take a shower before the leave (we have a nice H&C water shower outside that we use after working -- we supply towel, soap, and shampoo. On a few occasions, we have picked up a hitch-hiker, put them up them overnight, they worked the next day and we paid them -- always careful to determine who is trustworthy before making the overnight offer and have done OK so far.
Two sides of how much is the right pay:
One, how much gets done and the value of it.
We do not expect day labor to perform grand tasks of great economic impact. Just simple stuff that frees up our own time to do other stuff. For example, pulling weeds from around pineapples or spreading mulch around bananas -- $12/hr is already not a sure positive outcome, depending on how much they are able to do. And, $20/hr would be way past what pineapples and bananas would pay for.
So, JW, how to get past this conundrum?
Two, what can be done with that whatever $/hr? and what are the other alternatives?
Granted, $12/hr does not support an expansive lifestyle. With care, it can go a long way.
Since the workers at our place are generally only doing one or two days a week, they do have time to do other work that may or may not pay more (and, to forage for food in the jungle -- which I also have a lot of personal experience doing to get by). For example, on person who has been working for us on and off for a while, is living at another farm where he works part-time to pay for his room and board, and then works for us one or two days a week to get some cash.
Is the situation as good as we can hope for? Absolutely not.
Still, to pay so much that the whole enterprise becomes untenable would not be to anyone's long-term benefit.
James Weatherford, Ph.D.
15-1888 Hialoa
Hawaiian Paradise Park