What a device to exploit immigrant people. This is a more efficient way to skirt labor rights. It amazes how greedy the rich are in this country. Who pays for house cleaning? The rich. And their greedy little hearts can't allow them to pay more that five dollars an hour.

Don't let me get started on the racist reasons behind this crazy nut-ball idea.

You want immigrant people to work in the United States? Fine. Let's increase the minimum wage to $15.00 an hour for anyone who works and make providing health care mandatory.

The truth is that immigrant people are building this country and all under the table. They get exploited and rich get richer.

Posted by: lasdrmike026 | Nov 30, 2005 1:47:21 PM

I am so appalled by the original posting that I can bearly calm myself to comment.

Sadly Xenophobia and Racism are alive and well in the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave.

Posted by: Franklin | Nov 30, 2005 1:58:24 PM

i guess i missed something. what happened while I was away?

Posted by: lasermike026 | Nov 30, 2005 3:17:18 PM

As someone who cleaned houses for 15 years I can tell you the going rate is way more than $5 an hour. The average cleaning rate is about $50-60 for a house weekly, and the $60+ for every other week. I used to be able to do 3 houses a day, sometimes 4. I did okay and it was under the table. My sister currently does the same thing and it works great for her as she is a single mother of two and it allows her to spend minimal time away while the kids are in daycare for about 6 hours or so instead of 10 or 12 as is the case for those who do the 9 to 5 routine and commute. She can make up to $500 a week easy and only work 5 or 6 hours a day. Most houses take about 2 hours to clean so you are not paying per hour, but per job. Most people didn't know it took 2 hours and I presume they believed it took a lot more. A couple people found out and I asked if they were happy with the job I did and they said yes. Then I reminded them they pay for the job, not per hour. Oh! And we don't buy the supplies either. I would leave a list of what they should buy and they would do so.

HOWEVER, if someone works for Merry Maids or crap places like that then they get paid crap. Also, I had many clients in my list of people I cleaned who had had cleaning agencies and quit because they did crap jobs. Many didn't even move things to clean behind something etc. And 5 or 6 people ascend upon your house and then are gone in about 20 or 30 minutes. Most were unhappy and called on private cleaning people like me.

Also, it's all relative to where you live. My aunt lived here in NJ and had a thriving cleaning business making the usual five or six hundred a week (someone could make $750 a week or more if they did 3 houses a day, 5 days a week). Then she moved back to San Diego after 10 years of living in NJ. She thought she could pick up the same thing in SD. Absolutely NOT. The reason is because the Mexican women underbid the cleaning people charging rates like $50 a house. An immigrant woman will charge $50 to clean the house, wash and fold the laundry and make the dinner for the day. This works on some level for everyone. The woman can make $300 or $400 a wk and send the bulk of it back to Mexico. According to immigrants I've spoken to $300 is a LOT of money in Mexico, especially the farther you get away from the tourist areas.

One man told me his plan was to be here to make about $30,000 dollars and send it back home. He would then return, build a small house for his family and be able to retire on the rest of the money. If an immigrant works 10 hours a day for $7 hour and brings in $1,400 a month he can live on the $400 and send the $1000 home. In 5 years he will have sent $60,000 home and his family is essentially rich (in Mexico). Which of course is why immigrant workers are still coming to the US in droves. It appears that US yahoos are more upset over the pay rates than the immigrants are themselves as that pay is a LOT of money from where they came from.

Ed

Posted by: Ed | Dec 1, 2005 6:57:57 AM

Ed - I hate to say it, but that it is a compelling argument. Sure, it would be great to pay everyone a great hourly wage and give them benefits, but most citizens do not even have any or proper health coverage! Let's face it, ours is an economic system ripe for exploitation at many levels. And those of us is the golden middle get a lot of mileage out of it too.

Posted by: Black Irish | Dec 1, 2005 7:35:18 AM