Organizing your community to bring public attention to builder’s bad deeds and seeking assistance from local, state and federal elected officials has proven to be more effective and much quicker for thousands of families. You do have choices and alternatives. Janet Ahmad
Housing market troubles stress Latinos Construction permits across the region were down as much as 66 percent in recent months, and with 50 percent of Southwest Florida's construction industry staffed by Latinos, the shift is likely to have a big impact on that industry and perhaps the region's general economy...They learned the construction trade on the job in Indiana, and moved to Southwest Florida three years ago.Together, they formed The Brothers Ramirez Construction Co. of South Florida. They built up a base of 60 full-time independent contractors and began working with Lennar...The majority of us here are illegal," said Benjamin Ramirez, a 34-year-old framing subcontractor from
Bradenton, who has worked in the
United States illegally for about eight years. "For us, when the work is gone, it's just no more
With the huge drop-off in the state's formerly hot housing market, Latinos are leaving Southwest Florida for places offering more work or taking jobs that pay less.
Construction permits across the region were down as much as 66 percent in recent months, and with 50 percent of Southwest Florida's construction industry staffed by Latinos, the shift is likely to have a big impact on that industry and perhaps the region's general economy.
STAFF PHOTO / NINA GREIPEL
Sain Vasquez, a subcontractor for The Brothers
Ramirez Construction of South Florida, works on
an East Manatee roof in December. He is one of
a few crew members left working in home
construction for the Ramirezes, who said they
have cut back to three crews.
The impact goes beyond construction companies to rental managers and shops catering to Latinos.
"The majority of us here are illegal," said Benjamin Ramirez, a 34-year-old framing subcontractor from Bradenton, who has worked in the United States illegally for about eight years. "For us, when the work is gone, it's just no more."
Many Latinos are moving to other areas, such as Louisiana and other Gulf Coast states where residential construction is still strong.
At the same time, lower-paying jobs in agriculture, food service and retail are reclaiming workers as they wait out the construction downturn.
About six weeks ago, Ramirez was called to a meeting with Lennar Homes, the big Miami-based developer and the biggest home builder in Southwest Florida.
Ramirez, who had subcontracted for Lennar for three years, was told there would be no more work.
Ramirez may be one of the lucky ones, with a skill set that is easily transferrable to other kinds of construction jobs.
No one is certain how much this shift will affect the local economy.
"That distress is going to percolate through the economy," said Ralph Gentile, senior economist with McGraw-Hill Construction.
No work
Though the overall unemployment level has remained relatively unchanged in Florida, unemployment claims in construction have risen 63.37 percent since June.
That measure greatly underestimates what is going on because of the vast number of undocumented workers in the sector and its heavy reliance on subcontractors.
"Many of these workers may never have been included in the jobs figures," said Mark Vitner, a Wachovia Bank economist, who focuses on the Southeast. "Many may be working as independent contractors and still have jobs but just not be as busy."
The best documentation of what is happening comes from the workers.
Benjamin Ramirez and his 31-year-old brother, Ricardo, said construction jobs in Southwest Florida have evaporated.
"Last year was nice. Everybody had a job. And there were a lot of houses to build," Ricardo Ramirez said. "This year there's no work."
The brothers came to the United States about eight years ago from Toluca, a congested industrial suburb of Mexico City, known as Mexico's Detroit because it is home to DaimlerChrysler, Nissan, General Motors, BMW and Mitsubishi plants.
They learned the construction trade on the job in Indiana, and moved to Southwest Florida three years ago.
Together, they formed The Brothers Ramirez Construction Co. of South Florida. They built up a base of 60 full-time independent contractors and began working with Lennar.
With the downturn, the brothers thinned their crews to a handful of close friends and immediate family.
"One crew went to Indiana, one crew went to Miami and one crew went to Tampa," Ricardo Ramirez said. "Others wait. They are sleeping on the couch or playing soccer -- not much of anything -- until there's more work."
More enforcement
The housing slowdown is not the only thing prompting Latino workers to leave.
Last year, employers and workers saw unprecedented enforcement of immigration laws, with more arrests for immigration violations at job sites nationwide than any other period in recent memory.
Add to that new rules from Homeland Security designed to prevent employers from hiring undocumented workers, by checking for mismatched Social Security numbers.
Employers are now becoming leery.
"When the jobs were coming down two months ago, they started looking for papers. And they were arresting the Hispanics in Tampa -- the day laborers. And then, there was nothing," Ricardo Ramirez said.
Wendy Smith, an attorney with employment law specialist Fisher & Phillips, knows why. Her firm began counseling clients about six months ago to be cautious in hiring decisions. Picking up an undocumented worker carried the threat of criminal charges.
"We told our clients, 'You have to tighten up and get your house in order,'" Smith said. "We said, 'You know what? This is coming. And with the no-match letters, it's going to be: You can run but can't hide.'"
Winners, losers
While the construction industry sheds workers, other sectors are benefiting. State and national unemployment numbers show drops in construction and manufacturing jobs are being counterbalanced by a big run-up in food service and retail jobs. Florida's vital agriculture sector has also benefited.
"Having lost a lot of labor to construction, we are finally getting that back," said Mike Sparks, a spokesman for Florida Citrus Mutual.
Besides the workers themselves, the players suffering most from the downturn in the industry are the small business owners that cater to them.
"The construction companies used to have a lot of work, they were building thousands of houses and the Hispanics had money to spend," said Lenny Esparca, the manager of Cha-Cha-Cha's on 15th Street East in Bradenton. "Lately it's been real slow. Now, they have no work and no money to spend eating out."
Property managers and owners in Southwest Florida catering to Latinos have been hit with unexpected vacancies.
About 25 percent of the 1,400 units that Harvey Vengroff owns are rented to Latinos, and he has more than 40 vacancies.
"I'm getting a lot of stories. It's really a very different world than it was last year," said Vengroff, also the owner of one of the world's largest collections companies, Vengroff & Associates. "Last year, people had more money because there were plenty of construction jobs."
Evictions are up.
"We have a huge problem of people who are nice people, but they are taking in other family members. And we are evicting them. It's not because they are not nice people. It's just not conducive to having a good neighborhood," Vengroff said.
The distress spilling out into the Latino community is part of an economic cycle, and that cycle will come around again, more optimistic observers say.
"They will survive," said Palmetto attorney Jim Delgado, a member of Concilio Mexicano de Florida and the Gulf Coast Latin Chamber of Commerce.
"They will pick up another job. Even if they leave temporarily, they will be back."
