Читать книгу To Be An American - Bill Ong Hing - Страница 24

In its own survey of labor market studies in New York City, the Department of Labor concluded that immigrants did not have a negative impact on the employment or wage rates of native workers. For example, African Americans tended to be concentrated in employment areas with few immigrant workers, thereby decreasing the chance for competition from immigrants. And although wage growth in the industries with the greatest numbers of immigrants fell behind the national average in the early 1980s, the rest of the New York City labor market had higher wage growth than the rest of the nation. Most male immigrants, for example, were employed in manufacturing jobs—female immigrants were even more likely to be so employed. Some industries, such as leather and garment producers, were dominated by low-wage immigrant workers who had been used by business owners as a means to remain competitive. Many whites had left the city, allowing for the movement of African Americans into white-collar and public sector jobs.²³

The availability and use of low-wage immigrant workers in New York City raise the question of whether immigrants deserve credit for the viability of certain industries or whether better alternatives exist. Immigrants have been credited with the continued viability of the traditionally labor-intensive garment and printing industries, although capital improvements were possibly avoided, and some piecework projects reinstituted, as small business and production sites increased. Similarly, the Department of Labor credits immigrants with the vitality of full service, fresh food restaurants in New York. Without immigrant workers, the food industry in New York would have followed the trend in other regions toward domination by fast-food outlets.²⁴

The New York City data (and that of Los Angeles, below) do raise concerns. First, the Latino concentration in manufacturing raises a question about the perpetuation of Latinos in this low-wage sector. Opportunities in other sectors may be limited if ethnic networks are limited, and few “role models” for other occupations are available. The second concern is over the concentration of African Americans in public sector employment. Reliance on that sector as a means for economic advancement may be shaky given government budgetary problems and consequent limited expansion of the public sector.