Jobs Australians Wont Do?

Okay so I'm watching the Colbert Report, very funny as always, but something came up, the often repeated phrase "they do the jobs Americans wont" and it reminded me of something that is said in Australia a fair bit as well, the problem is it's total bullshit.

It's not that Australians (and Americans) wont do the jobs commonly done by illegal immigrants, backpackers, and new immigrants, it's that they can't do those jobs, it's just not possible. Now let me explain, speaking from experience from where I live backpackers often come in and pick up seasonal work that use to go to local workers, they work for cheaper as they don't have to worry about paying the rent, putting food on the table, making sure their kids have something to wear, no, they just want some extra spending money on their holiday, so farms employee these workers at less then what it would cost for an Australian worker, great for the farm in the short term, horrible for the local economy.

The same can be said of other types of migrant workers all over the world, they are paid less then what the local people would expect for the same job, because they have lower over-heads, often times working for cash in hand ($100 cash in hand is worth more then $150 paid correctly, after tax, super, etc is taken out), this in turn drives down what farms are willing to pay, why should they pay local workers what they need in order to live if they can get workers for cheaper? This leads to the expression "they do the jobs XYZ wont do", which is patently false.

Now I'm not against migrants picking up work (well I am against backpackers, fuck off you cunts, you're either here working, in which case you should be paying tax, or here on holiday, stop trying to have it both), I just think that in order for it to be fair for local workers, and migrants the governments of the world need to pull their thumbs out and sort out this problem, by enforcing minimum wage, by enforcing fair treatment, by stopping the exploitation of migrant workers; doing that will not only help the migrant workers, but the local workers as well, because pay rates will go back to where they were, allowing them to take jobs they currently can't because the pay isn't enough to live on.

Early Retirement

A Maryland woman lost her accounting job after a background check performed through the FBI’s criminal database indicated, erroneously, that she was unsuitable for the job, according to the Baltimore Sun.

Eschol Amelia “Amy” Studnitz had been working for Corporate Mailing Services since August 2008 as a senior accountant.

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2009/10/ncic

Well congratulations Amy, looks like you've just won an early retirement, I'm betting you've got lawyers lined up around the block begging you to hire them and from what I'm reading you've got a rock solid case against the FBI and you're old employer.

Personally I wouldn't of sued myself if I'd of got my job back, but since they screwed you, SUE THEM TO HELL AND BACK!

I feel bad for her, really I do, but I also find it kind of funny really in a "hah some big company / government agency is going to get owned" kind of way, though given the way the legal system works she'll either have to take an out of court settlement or live hard for a year or two while it's worked out in the courts.

It's yet another example of why the legal system needs an overhaul, limits placed on the number of lawyers/assistants/etc each side can have, and limits on the time they can take. Cases should take weeks at most, not years.