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i buy an apple farm. the machine i use to harvest apples is damaged beyond repair in a freak accident. it's an old machine and i'm unable to afford a new one or source a used one for the money the insurance company pays me out. i'm stretched as far as i can go in terms of debt. in order for me to just break even i have to limit my picking cost to $1 per bushell. a good picker can pick a between 4-6 bushells in an hour. i therefore cannot afford to pay minimum wage. there are illegals who will pick for 80cents per bushell.
i buy an apple farm. the machine i use to harvest apples is damaged beyond repair in a freak accident. it's an old machine and i'm unable to afford a new one or source a used one for the money the insurance company pays me out. i'm stretched as far as i can go in terms of debt. in order for me to just break even i have to limit my picking cost to $1 per bushell. a good picker can pick a between 4-6 bushells in an hour. i therefore cannot afford to pay minimum wage. there are illegals who will pick for 80cents per bushell.
do i close the business, or do i hire illegals?
If the option is breaking the law or not breaking the law (not paying minimum wage), then he should close his business. Otherwise he would be no better than wall street bankers.
However, I think govt. should ensure that there is an equal playing field with other countries so that the farmer can compete with other countries. There is no reason whatsoever that a farmer can't produce a perishable product and sell it in the U.S. more cheaply than produce from another country, unless the other country is subsidizing the cost of their production.
i buy an apple farm. the machine i use to harvest apples is damaged beyond repair in a freak accident. it's an old machine and i'm unable to afford a new one or source a used one for the money the insurance company pays me out. i'm stretched as far as i can go in terms of debt. in order for me to just break even i have to limit my picking cost to $1 per bushell. a good picker can pick a between 4-6 bushells in an hour. i therefore cannot afford to pay minimum wage. there are illegals who will pick for 80cents per bushell.
do i close the business, or do i hire illegals?
If you cannot operate a business within our laws, then don't, it's that simple. If you need to work 12 year old children 10 hours a day, to stay in business, then you need to shut it down.
i buy an apple farm. the machine i use to harvest apples is damaged beyond repair in a freak accident. it's an old machine and i'm unable to afford a new one or source a used one for the money the insurance company pays me out. i'm stretched as far as i can go in terms of debt. in order for me to just break even i have to limit my picking cost to $1 per bushell. a good picker can pick a between 4-6 bushells in an hour. i therefore cannot afford to pay minimum wage. there are illegals who will pick for 80cents per bushell.
do i close the business, or do i hire illegals?
It's not your job to determine who is legal and who is illegal just like it's not your job to determine if your employees are murderers.
On the other hand, it's illegal to pay below minimum wage.
So you should offer minimum wages and hire whoever can do the work.
i buy an apple farm. the machine i use to harvest apples is damaged beyond repair in a freak accident. it's an old machine and i'm unable to afford a new one or source a used one for the money the insurance company pays me out. i'm stretched as far as i can go in terms of debt. in order for me to just break even i have to limit my picking cost to $1 per bushell. a good picker can pick a between 4-6 bushells in an hour. i therefore cannot afford to pay minimum wage. there are illegals who will pick for 80cents per bushell.
do i close the business, or do i hire illegals?
You should sell the business to someone that has a LINE OF CREDIT that can afford to replace the machinery or take on a partner and then buy them out when you turn profitable.
no, because this thread is more about the damage the minimum wage does to employment
it looks to me like the issue is not what minimum wage does to employment, but illegal immigration does to employment.
if american citizens were willing and able to pick the apples for less than minimum wage, but you couldn't hire them at wages they were willing to work for, then maybe i'd understand where you were coming from.
Looking at the early polling i'm not surprised we have 20% real unemployment!
bear in mind that those illegals will find jobs elsewhere, it's not like they're going to leave. also consider that i too am unemployed and anyone else who might've been employed by me is also. then consider that instead of buying apples grown in america and at least having some of the money staying here, all of it is going to go overseas to farmers in brasil or wherever they grow apples
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