Unemployed? Take Your Pick!

Tomato farmer Keith Eckel says he's scaling down his massive Pennsylvania operation because he can't find enough immigrant workers. He blames the lack of a feasible guest-worker program.

From the AP:

Though Eckel's tomato pickers made an average of $16.59 per hour last year, he said the relatively high wage is not enough to attract local labor to work the fields.

"A lot of people think with immigration that we're talking about immigrants taking jobs from others. Let me tell you, there is no local labor that is going to go out and harvest those tomatoes in 90-degree temperatures except our immigrant labor," Eckel said. "They come here to do a job that no one else will do in this country."

Or maybe Mr. Eckel needs to get busy with the want ads. Sixteen bucks an hour isn't exactly slave wages. As for those 90-degree temperatures, it's obvious he never worked a summer at Six Flags Over Mid America.