American companies thrive with help of Hispanic workers By KATRICE FRANKLIN, The Virginian-Pilot © August 4, 2001

Edgar Sosa, right, a Mexican worker for Colonial Tree Care and Signature Landscapes, hauls off branches from a tree-trimming job in a Virginia Beach park. Foreman Bob Gallant lowers himself after finishing a tree. Photo by Norm Shafer/The Virginian-Pilot

CHESAPEAKE -- Five years ago, when a consultant said a landscaping business would need to hire Hispanic workers to survive, Oscar Richardson laughed so hard his jaw hurt.

He isn't laughing now.

The owner of Colonial Tree Care and Signature Landscapes in Chesapeake said business has thrived because of 11 Mexican immigrants he hired through a temporary work visa program during the past two years.

``Last year we put an advertisement in the paper to fill six positions,'' he said. ``We got two calls, and no one ever showed up to work.

``These Mexican workers come to work every day,'' he said. ``Not once did they take any sick leave. They wonder why they can't work on Saturdays.''

Throughout the nation, unskilled labor companies are turning to Hispanics to fill job vacancies. Americans no longer are willing to work long hours in the sun and rain building houses and manicuring lawns, labor experts said.

The switch to Hispanic workers has led to new discussions about the country's immigration policies -- some of which limit the number of foreign workers each year.

President Bush announced a plan last month that could grant legal status for up to 3 million Mexican immigrants. The proposal is opposed by some legislators who fear the immigrants will take jobs from Americans.

Landscaping, a $34 billion industry in 1999, is perhaps the most visible business affected by immigration. Company owners said if it weren't for immigrants, they wouldn't have enough workers to cut down trees and manicure golf courses.

Hispanic workers have helped the industry experience unprecedented growth, industry experts said. From 1995 to 1999, the landscaping industry's sales increased by almost 55 percent, according to the Associated Landscape Contractors of America.

Between 1996 and 1998, the temporary work visa program the landscaping industry uses almost doubled -- from about 14,300 workers to about 25,000, according to Immigration and Naturalization Services.

Interest in the program in Virginia has also nearly tripled in the past few years. In 1998, employers asked for about 1,500 workers, according to the Virginia Employment Commission. Last year, they requested about 5,900 workers.

Immigration officials don't know how many workers were in the program in 1999 and 2000. A computer glitch is forcing immigration officials to examine records for two immigration work policies, including the unskilled work visa.

Accurate information is becoming more critical because the federal government limits the program to 66,000 immigrants nationally each year.

Richardson only needs to glance at the list of jobs awaiting his crewmen to feel the program's impact. His customers are oblivious to the efforts he must go through to get workers to cut their grass and trees.

In 1999, 67 million households were served by the landscaping industry.

``We need to dispel the myth that Hispanics are taking away jobs from Americans,'' said Maria P. Threadgill, operations manager for James River Grounds Management Inc. in Richmond and Portsmouth. ``. . . I can't get any interest in the community to do this work.''

``Hispanic workers are kind of like a microwave,'' said Threadgill, who has 85 immigrants working for her this year, with 17 in Portsmouth. ``We got the job done before, but now I don't know how.''

On a hot July afternoon, Juan Benitez and David Galicia picked up the branches of an 80-foot willow oak tree at a house near Regent University.

The Mexicans carefully watched their foreman, Robert Gallant, cut down the tree with a chain saw.

``These guys teach me things,'' said Gallant, who has worked with Benitez and Galicia at Colonial Tree Care since March.

Like many Hispanic landscape laborers on the temporary work visa program, Galicia, 24, and Benitez, 28, came here to make more money in 10 months than they could in their entire lives back home. Benitez sends $600 to $800 a month to his family in Mexico.

``If I stayed in Mexico, I wouldn't have been able to buy a car, and my brothers and sisters wouldn't be able to stay in school,'' Benitez said.

Dale Ziegler, chief of the division of foreign labor for the U.S. Department of Labor, said Americans flush in the good economy started shunning unskilled outdoor jobs in favor of indoor work about four years ago.

More construction companies and farmers turned to temporary work visas.

The landscaping industry also noticed the country's immigration programs. Companies were created to help business owners weed through the complex paperwork needed to get Mexican workers.

Jeff M. West, of GTO International in Goodrich, Mich., looks for Mexican workers who have strong hands and previous outside work experience. He started his headhunting firm three years ago to help landscaping employers find immigrant workers.

``I've had people with law degrees and doctorates begging to get a job at a golf course,'' said West, who also has offices in Monterrey and Guadalajara, Mexico. ``As bad as they want to work, you can't let them sink that low.''

Richardson called Mid-Atlantic Resources Association in Roseland, Va., to help him find workers like Galicia. Mid-Atlantic processes the work visa applications required by the Department of Labor.

In 1997, the Northern Virginia company was hired to file paperwork with the government for 400 immigrants. This year, Mid-Atlantic expects it'll handle requests for about 5,000 workers, general manager Libby Whitley said.

``Similar organizations are seeing the same kind of increase,'' Whitley said.

The Department of Labor requires employers to attempt to fill positions with American workers. If they can't, they must show they can provide transportation and housing at a minimal cost to immigrants.

The agency also sets pay scales based on the job. Most immigrant landscaping workers are paid $7 to $10 an hour.

Galicia is paid $8 an hour at Colonial Tree Care. It's enough money for him to build a house for his wife and two children when he gets back to Mexico.

``If I didn't come here, it would take years and years to build a home, and it would be small,'' he said.

Jennifer Thomas has made a business out of teaching restroom etiquette to landscape employers and immigrant workers.

``Hispanics put toilet paper in the wastebasket instead of flushing it,'' Thomas said. ``They don't want to ruin our piping system because where they're from, the piping is terrible, and they don't put paper in it.''

Thomas started Spanish Training Services out of Evanston, Ill., four years ago to help the landscape industry communicate and understand Hispanic workers. The market dismissed her services at first. Now companies beg for her help.

Whitley said Mid-Atlantic resolves misunderstandings between workers and employers. ``We are committed to making sure the employer and employee have a successful work experience,'' she said.

Tom Grey, golf course supervisor at Franklin Hills Country Club in Franklin, Mich., wants his Hispanic workers to feel at home. He went back to school at age 40 to learn Spanish.

Green said the workers have turned him on to Latino music stars like Jennifer Lopez. He has them liking country music.

``They're really ambitious,'' said Green, who's used the work program for the past five years. ``They're putting an effort into learning English. They spend an awful lot in the area buying stereos, clothes and TVs that they take back with them.''

Chesapeake's Richardson tries to get his workers whatever they need. He bought a car for Benitez to drive himself and the other immigrant workers at Colonial Tree Care.

Richardson can't believe he thought that landscaping consultant was crazy five years ago for suggesting he hire Mexican workers.

``Generally, whatever you tell them to do, they do it,'' he said.

-- Anonymous, August 05, 2001