The Reasons Behind Drywallers’ Distress

As much as I feel empathy for anyone making poor wages, I find it difficult to have sympathy for the immigrants involved in the drywall trade and the building industry in Southern California.

In my opinion, the immigrants you describe in your articles have had a direct impact on the Southern California middle-class tradesmen and subcontractors.

Wages and contract bids have been undercut by cheap labor and opportunistic subcontractors using and abusing immigrant labor to ultimately replace the higher paid skilled worker on many projects in this area.

I have been in the plastering and drywall business for 35 years in Southern California and have never experienced such a rapid decline in bid prices as in the last three years. Wages are the prime factor in any estimate and $5 per hour, as opposed to $20 per hour, plus 33% of payroll for compulsory insurance cannot be overcome even by the most frugal and cost-conscious subcontractor.

Established subcontractors are going down the tubes; skilled tradesmen can no longer find work to sustain a middle-class income and environment.

The sheer number of immigrants coming to Southern California has displaced the available skilled tradesmen, along with their buying power, tax contributions, and self-maintained freedom from social dependency.

In the early 1900s immigrants worked for low wages in a sweatshop environment and ultimately rebelled. Rebellion once again is being voiced by immigrant workers, and it appears we must endure another labor movement in Southern California.

Let’s hope we can bring back the stability of a middle class capable of contributing to and receiving from a system that will benefit all.

DON McCLUSKEY, Brea