As more Americans fail drug tests, employers turn to refugees
44 replies, posted
[quote]
Erie, Pennsylvania (CNN)Inside a factory near this lakeside city, a man holding a blowtorch is putting the finishing touches on a plastic rain barrel that will soon make its way to a home and garden section somewhere in America.
He is Talib Alzamel, a 45-year-old Syrian refugee who arrived here last summer with his wife and five children. He can't speak much English, but neither can most of the 40 refugees who work at Sterling Technologies, a plastic molding company based near the shores of Lake Erie. They earn $8-14 an hour. [/quote]
[url]http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/27/us/refugees-jobs-drug-testing/[/url]
when you want to hire american but cant because americans are druggies or refuse to move
Not really a surprise to me. I'll admit these are SWEEPING generalizations, but as far as I can tell Refugees are often eager to work, while some of the poorer sections of the American working class have contracted a serious heroin/meth epidemic.
When you want to make America great again and bring all the jobs back but bring the outsourced workforce in the process.
[QUOTE=Zergeant;52168887]When you want to make America great again and bring all the jobs back but bring the outsourced workforce in the process.[/QUOTE]
Who needs outsourcing when you can bring the poor to you? /s
9% of employees failing a drug test doesn't feel like that much of an epidemic. Nowadays weed is becoming more socially acceptable, but drug tests still consider it a fail.
[QUOTE=Duck M.;52168807]Not really a surprise to me. I'll admit these are SWEEPING generalizations, but as far as I can tell Refugees are often eager to work, while some of the poorer sections of the American working class have contracted a serious heroin/meth epidemic.[/QUOTE]
Not really sweeping generalizations since what you've said is true. Refugees and immigrants do in fact generally tend to be this way. The majority come here in the first place because they want to better themselves, and in the process they're willing to commit to themselves totally to doing just about anything that's required. Not getting into any legal trouble is obviously important to them as well. And that's exactly why it irritates the hell out of me when I hear a number of worthless naturalized people in this country complaining about them being here.
What sector(s) are we talking about and which kind of level of education is required for those jobs? A lot of the examples in the article seem like jobs people with (higher) education would refuse.
[QUOTE=DinoJesus;52168958]9% of employees failing a drug test doesn't feel like that much of an epidemic. Nowadays weed is becoming more socially acceptable, but drug tests still consider it a fail.[/QUOTE]
It's a fluff piece to try and spin migrants replacing workers as a good/just thing.
I'm positive that the mood would shift if they posted how many employees lost jobs due to testing positive for marijuana usage.
[QUOTE=Zeemlapje;52168965]What sector(s) are we talking about and which kind of level of education is required for those jobs? A lot of the examples in the article seem like jobs people with (higher) education would refuse.[/QUOTE]
It says some make $8 an hour, so I'm assuming it's unskilled labor.
Where I live, if you can pass a drug test and/or speak English, you can probably get a job somewhere they pays a lot better. (Fast food jobs start around $10-$12)
Drug tests are only as popular as they are because the companies that make drug tests market them so heavily.
Feels kinda dystopic in it's own right
[QUOTE=HumanAbyss;52169338]Drug tests are only as popular as they are because the companies that make drug tests market them so heavily.
Feels kinda dystopic in it's own right[/QUOTE]
It's more of a liability thing than anything else. It's tough to get insurance as a company when your employees are taking drugs that inhibit their ability to work safely. You also just don't want drug addicts representing your company either.
[QUOTE=Cyke Lon bee;52169370]It's more of a liability thing than anything else. It's tough to get insurance as a company when your employees are taking drugs that inhibit their ability to work safely. You also just don't want drug addicts representing your company either.[/QUOTE]
People are fine with people drinking, you're not an alcoholic if you drink, you're a regular person. The distinction around drugs is pretty arbitrary. Yeah, coke and heroin are pretty nasty drugs, I would know, I did them, but people really shouldn't be punished for ecstasy or mdma or marijuana or something like that, it makes no sense and is entirely hypocritical.
[QUOTE=Thlis;52169050]It's a fluff piece to try and spin migrants replacing workers as a good/just thing.
I'm positive that the mood would shift if they posted how many employees lost jobs due to testing positive for marijuana usage.[/QUOTE]
I think it's a lovely story about people escaping war and finding a place to work and provide for their family in America. Just because the topic is uncomfortable doesn't make it a "fluff piece".
This part though
[QUOTE]Sterling Technology's management voted for Trump and hopes he will push for tax cuts that will allow them to reinvest in their business. But at the same time, they don't want to see their refugee-powered workforce go away.
"Do I want to see all of my people deported?" asked Quigley, the Sterling Technologies president.
"Absolutely not. They're a part of this company. They've helped build this company," he said. "Our goal is to continue to grow the company. We can't grow the company without people that want to do the work." [/QUOTE]
wew
To be fair, this is Erie, PA, and its a broken down rust belt city in the midst of a serious painkiller/heroin epidemic. In fact, most of the people in the city proper are on welfare. Its a really deplorable situation there and frankly I'm not shocked the Syrian refugees are finding the few jobs there are there easier than those who've lived there all their lives.
[QUOTE=HumanAbyss;52169379]People are fine with people drinking, you're not an alcoholic if you drink, you're a regular person. The distinction around drugs is pretty arbitrary. Yeah, coke and heroin are pretty nasty drugs, I would know, I did them, but people really shouldn't be punished for ecstasy or mdma or marijuana or something like that, it makes no sense and is entirely hypocritical.[/QUOTE]
Don't try and swing this that having a drug habit is a neutral or even positive thing. Drinking and smoking isn't good for you, no matter how society looks at it. And it really doesn't matter how society looks at it, having an employee with a drug habit is entirely detrimental to your business.
Not getting employed because you have a detrimental habit you refuse to kick isn't a punishment. You don't meet that company's criteria for employment so they didn't hire you. It's no different than not having enough experience in a specific field to get an advanced job in that field.
[QUOTE=DinoJesus;52168958]9% of employees failing a drug test doesn't feel like that much of an epidemic. Nowadays weed is becoming more socially acceptable, but drug tests still consider it a fail.[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE]One oil and trucking company in Colorado did random drug screening at one of their locations last year and found 80 percent of their employees failed, Fay said. (Colorado's Supreme Court has ruled that companies may fire employees who smoke pot, even if legally.)
"They had to replace everyone," she said. "The employer was glad he found the problem because his employees do extremely dangerous work. He was shocked and disturbed."[/QUOTE]
America is in the middle of a [URL="https://static01.nyt.com/images/2016/01/19/learning/overdosedeathsmapLN/overdosedeathsmapLN-tmagArticle.jpg"]serious drug epidemic. [/URL] Having to replace workers who test negative costs the business time and money, so they prefer to hire people coming from a background where drugs are shunned.
[QUOTE=Cyke Lon bee;52169452]Don't try and swing this that having a drug habit is a neutral or even positive thing. Drinking and smoking isn't good for you, no matter how society looks at it. And it really doesn't matter how society looks at it, having an employee with a drug habit is entirely detrimental to your business.
Not getting employed because you have a detrimental habit you refuse to kick isn't a punishment. You don't meet that company's criteria for employment so they didn't hire you. It's no different than not having enough experience in a specific field to get an advanced job in that field.[/QUOTE]
Who said it had to be positive? It just doesn't fucking matter.
What you do at home is not your employers concern and the fact you argue it is, and should be is fucking literally dystopian to me.
[editline]30th April 2017[/editline]
Like you're fairly ignorant of reality if this how you actually feel Cyke.
Go to South Korea. [B]IF[/B] you do not go out with your coworkers to drink, you are socially ostracizing yourself and cutting your career short. It's essential to social life there.
In the US, it's not, but it's clearly socially acceptable to drink and spend time in a state of non sobriety with a drug that kills millions a year, you don't lose your job for a night out drinking, or a night cap at home. Why should you if the substance is different but no harm is done to anyone?
If you believe that this is the right the employer has, then I honestly believe you should be relinquishing [B]everything[/B] to them logically. You're an employee first, then a person, right?
[QUOTE=Govna;52168962]Not really sweeping generalizations since what you've said is true. Refugees and immigrants do in fact generally tend to be this way. The majority come here in the first place because they want to better themselves, and in the process they're willing to commit to themselves totally to doing just about anything that's required. Not getting into any legal trouble is obviously important to them as well. And that's exactly why it irritates the hell out of me when I hear a number of worthless naturalized people in this country complaining about them being here.[/QUOTE]
These "worthless complainers" should probably be reminded about the rules of nature. Which is basically adapt or die.
And the thing is, if certain individuals think that they're "too good" for certain jobs, then it's their loss because there are many people out there who are perfectly willing to accept the jobs that others think are beneath them.
Just because you were born somewhere, doesn't mean you have priority one when it comes to being chosen for a job. After all, I was born at St Helier Hospital, but somehow I doubt that I'd be more likely to get a job there because of it.
Thank fuck this is illegal in Norway. Only petroleum transport can use drugtests because of the exxon valdez accident.
The issues with foreign/refugee workers is that they get easily abused and paid less than market wage, making them overall cheaper than a national and less likely to complain/revolt etc. In a lot of cases we like to blame drug use, but mostly thats just businesses pushing it as a reason to allow more into the country.
[QUOTE=thelurker1234;52168789][URL]http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/27/us/refugees-jobs-drug-testing/[/URL]
when you want to hire american but cant because americans are druggies or refuse to move[/QUOTE]
Smoking pot doesn't make you a "druggie" in your own words. Ridiculous demands from employers doesn't constitute much for them to stand on either.
Nor does hiring desperate unskilled labor willing to whore out their own family on the corners of the street for 10 cents in order to maintain borderline sweatshop quotas to keep their jobs.
At the end of the day employers will do anything to save a dollar. I don't understand why this is ignored.
[QUOTE=Boilrig;52169732]The issues with foreign/refugee workers is that they get easily abused and paid less than market wage, making them overall cheaper than a national and less likely to complain/revolt etc. In a lot of cases we like to blame drug use, but mostly thats just businesses pushing it as a reason to allow more into the country.[/QUOTE]
Do you have any evidence that suggests that this is what happening or are you just making baseless accusations?
[QUOTE=Cyke Lon bee;52169452]Don't try and swing this that having a drug habit is a neutral or even positive thing. Drinking and smoking isn't good for you, no matter how society looks at it. And it really doesn't matter how society looks at it, having an employee with a drug habit is entirely detrimental to your business.
Not getting employed because you have a detrimental habit you refuse to kick isn't a punishment. You don't meet that company's criteria for employment so they didn't hire you. It's no different than not having enough experience in a specific field to get an advanced job in that field.[/QUOTE]
When I could afford it, I smoked marijuana because it did wonders for my anxiety. [I]On my own time[/I]. Never before/while I was on the clock. But hey, fuck me and any knowledge and experience I could bring to the table, right?
[QUOTE=Zero-Point;52169939]When I could afford it, I smoked marijuana because it did wonders for my anxiety. [I]On my own time[/I]. Never before/while I was on the clock. But hey, fuck me and any knowledge and experience I could bring to the table, right?[/QUOTE]
If I didn't have a method to unwind in my extremely limited free time, I would kill myself. I'm not joking, exagerating, or trying to make things seem worse than they are, but life is stressful as fuck at the moment and if I lost my job because I smoke some weed in my free time, on my own time, I wouldn't hesitate.
The idea that my job requires my free time to be regulated by their demands means one very simple thing. I am not a person. I am an employee. I am a number. Not a person.
As far as I can tell, that's what people like Cyke want and it scares the living fuck out of me.
[QUOTE=Raidyr;52169873]Do you have any evidence that suggests that this is what happening or are you just making baseless accusations?[/QUOTE]
I live in New Zealand, its becoming a bigger issue over here.
[URL]http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11766210[/URL]
[URL]http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/83764331/Business-handed-20k-bill-for-underpaying-migrant-worker[/URL]
Businesses aren't choosing to do this because abusing someone is fun, simply cost cutting. They don't know their rights, and because of that are easily tripped into these situations. We are facing issues in a lot of countries where we are attempting to balance our budgets and one way of doing that is to reduce unemployment, especially youth unemployment, so the argument in New Zealand has become: "How can you let 95,000 migrants into New Zealand if we having rising unemployment as well a still high youth unemployment", its just our government choosing to allow the migrant workers for the sake of business instead of pushing for more youth employment, because yeah, for some you can blame drugs, but certainly not a majority.
[QUOTE=Boilrig;52169986]I live in New Zealand[/QUOTE]
I'm going to stop you here because this story is about a company in America and you made some pretty specific allegations. If you don't have any proof of those then maybe don't do that in the future.
[QUOTE=Raidyr;52170022]I'm going to stop you here because this story is about a company in America and you made some pretty specific allegations. If you don't have any proof of those then maybe don't do that in the future.[/QUOTE]
A lot of things happening in America are happening in most developed nations, the US isn't above or beyond these issues, if you want an American example go search a couple of pages back on why Trump is going after the H1B visa, underpaying workers, locking them to employers etc.
Are there really drug tests for companies in america? Never heard of such a thing before.
[QUOTE=Adarrek;52170122]Are there really drug tests for companies in america? Never heard of such a thing before.[/QUOTE]
Yep, including in states with legalization with no real protection for employees. In fact drug testing in Colorado rose in areas after legalization because insurance companies made a huge push for discounts if a company tests.
[QUOTE=HumanAbyss;52169379]People are fine with people drinking, you're not an alcoholic if you drink, you're a regular person. The distinction around drugs is pretty arbitrary. Yeah, coke and heroin are pretty nasty drugs, I would know, I did them, but people really shouldn't be punished for ecstasy or mdma or marijuana or something like that, it makes no sense and is entirely hypocritical.[/QUOTE]
I will say at least Henry Ford went the full lengths and told his alcoholics to fuck off.
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