Job Fight: Immigrants vs. Locals
In Shelbyville, Tenn. scores of locals and immigrants spent an anxious night on a cold sidewalk waiting to compete for jobs in a slaughterhouse.
“I don’t mind doing any kind of work,” Ms. Aye, a petite 22-year-old Burmese refugee, said that evening as she settled into a reclining beach chair she bought at Goodwill. Farther back in the line locals like David Curtis seethed. “This is the worst job I have ever applied for,” said the 31-year-old welder. Eyeing those ahead of him, he added: “I’m very annoyed foreigners are taking jobs that Americans need.”
Slaughterhouse jobs can be difficult and dangerous. Now, with U.S. unemployment at a 25-year high, they are also fiercely coveted. American workers — who for years have largely avoided fruit-picking, office-cleaning and meat-processing shifts — are increasingly vying for these jobs with immigrants, creating flashpoints in places like Shelbyville.
Source: The Wall Street Journal
