Juan Antonio harvests crawfish traps in a crawfish pond in Crowley, La. on March 19. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert) |
Louisiana's crawfish industry feels the pinch of limits on foreign workers |
Spring is peak season in Louisiana for crawfish, the hard-shelled star of outdoor parties. But a shortage of foreign workers is dampening the mood. Deep in Louisiana's bayous, where crawfish production is a $300 million industry that is a key ingredient for backyard boils and buttery etouffees served in New Orleans' French Quarter, operators are fuming over labor struggles and pointing fingers at the administration over what they say has been a failure to authorize enough guest foreign workers. The shortages add to a list of industries in the U.S. that rely on seasonal foreign labor, including landscaping and construction, whose struggle to fill jobs has been exacerbated during the Republican administration's wider clampdown on legal avenues for immigration. The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to multiple requests for comment. The Department of Labor said it respects the crawfish industry and importance to the U.S. economy, and that the agency "has been actively engaging with industry stakeholders to help address workforce needs and identify workable solutions." Read more. |
What men and women think about gender and pay, according to a new AP-NORC poll |
A new AP-NORC poll finds that men and women have different views on who has the advantage when it comes to earning competitive wages. Equal pay emerged as the biggest source of concern for women in the poll — compared to getting an education, a job or a promotion — and an area where men and women are far apart in their perception of gender equity. About 3 in 10 working women say they've personally experienced wage discrimination, compared to about 1 in 10 working men. The findings come as men's earnings are rising faster than women's, and the gender wage gap is widening. Read more. |
