JerryNA | dailykos.com
11 April 2013
A two part news series on NPR by Wade Goodwyn displayed the Texas
construction industry as harmful to itself and its workers. Worker
injury and death is much higher than the national average and twice
California's average. People are treated as disposable, with no
repercussions.
Construction booming in Texas but many workers pay dearly.
Texas contractors say playing by the rules doesn't pay.
(One quibble- what they call "playing by the rules" I call "following the law".)
The reporter completely missed two natural followups: 1. How the GOP
plays a part in this massive illegal tax evasion and exploitation of
undocumented workers by an entire industry. Texas government (i.e.
Texas GOP) prides and promotes itself on how "business-friendly" it is,
and how few regulations an industry has to follow. Tax evasion and
illegal employment (and exploitation) of undocumented workers cannot
take place on an industry-wide scale without collusion by the state
regulatory agencies.
The NPR reporter quoted or played recordings of
construction company owners saying that for 15 or more years they have
been hiring workers as "contractors" instead of employees in order to
pay wages below industry norm, even below living wages, and as a way to
evade paying Social Security and workers compensation insurance. One
owner said he did not believe his contractors paid taxes, and did not
think more than a fraction were in the country legally. No wonder he
did not want his last name quoted- he was admitting on the radio to
several felonies. (Want to bet how he votes? There is a better than 57%
chance it is for the GOP. This is Texas, though, so in some counties
it's much much higher.)
Texas is a "right to work" state, so the laws are deliberately lax,
but it's even worse for 'contractors' than for employees. The reporter
touched on but did not elaborate on the fact that these 'contractors'
got no other benefits as well- no overtime, no health insurance, no sick
leave, no vacation time, no freaking nothing except for the right to be
worked to death for subsistence wages, all so Texans can buy cheaper
houses.
Furthermore, the GOP both promotes and benefits from this illegal
activity. The GOP blocks minimum wage increases. The GOP blocks a path
to citizenship- a path to paying taxes for both employees and
employers. The GOP keeps these workers "illegal" so the workers are
afraid to make legal complaints about being exploited, and their
families cannot take legal action for the people killed. The GOP
underfunds or actively cuts state and federal regulatory agencies,
stopping from having the resources to raid businesses which break the
law. The GOP promotes and exploits the fear of undocumented workers,
but their campaign contributors and voters actively exploit those same
workers. There is a lack of empathy in all of this exploitation which
seems inhuman to me.
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