Trump’s Tight Labor Market Wins U.S. Construction Workers Higher Wages

Construction Workers
Greg Pease/Getty

American construction workers are seeing their wages rise in the blue collar industry as President Trump’s “Buy American, Hire American” tightened labor market forces business to find and employ disenfranchised U.S. workers, rather than importing foreign workers.

A recent report by the Miami Herald chronicled the rise in wages and business having to adapt to an economy with a tight labor market as immigration enforcement has been increased and unemployment has hit record lows.

As admitted in the Miami Herald by industry insiders, the tight labor market has secured jobs for Americans willing to do the blue collar work and won them higher wages in the process.

With 243,000 open jobs construction jobs nationwide, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics — and more than 500 listed by local ABC members — South Florida has become a worker’s market, said Peggy Marker, president of Fort Lauderdale-based Marker Construction, “the employees are in a position where they are interviewing us as much as we are interviewing them.”

As a result, 95 percent of those who come to ABC looking to learn a trade are matched with a job — experienced or not. “The reason it’s not 100 percent is that not everybody that walks through the door is serious,” Dyga said. “That’s how acute the shortage is.” [Emphasis added]

The primary things that people see during a labor shortage is rising wages and the need for people to train more folks,” said Wade Helms, president of Edd Helms Group, which performs HVAC — heating, ventilation and air conditioning — and electrical work. “The projects get built, they just take longer.” [Emphasis added]

Trump’s tightened labor market has shifted the burden of the economy away from American workers — who are forced to compete for U.S. jobs in many states against cheaper, illegal aliens — and towards business that now must look for and employ Americans they would have previously passed on to hire foreign workers instead.

Through tariffs, Trump has secured higher wages for workers in counties like Peoria County, Illinois, which has led the nation in wage hikes thanks to a manufacturing boom, the result of protective tariffs to keep steel and aluminum jobs in the U.S.

A recent analysis by Breitbart News also reviewed the wage and job opportunity benefits of workplace immigration enforcement by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency.

In the most famous case, 600 jobs were secured for black Americans and wages were increased in February when ICE raided the Cloverhill Bakery in northwest Chicago, Illinois. Black Americans’ wages rose 25 cents thanks to enforcement.

Most recently, the tight labor market helped reintegrate retirees back into the workforce. Breitbart News has also reported extensively on how the tight labor market in Trump’s “hire American” economy has brought new job opportunities for Americans with disabilities and helped lower the demographic group’s unemployment rate.

There has also been history-making wage growth for American workers in the construction industry, the garment industry, for workers employed at small businessesblack Americans, and restaurant workers.

The tight labor market has also secured higher wages for overtime workers and high-paying, coveted white-collar jobs for American teenagers. Most recently, Breitbart News reported that the construction industry has had to recruit women to take jobs at higher wages rather than hiring illegal aliens. A Chick-Fil-A in California has even raised wages to $18 an hour to retain workers.

John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter at @JxhnBinder

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