Raising The Roof In Philly....

Submitted by editorkevin (not verified) on 2 December 2010 - 12:13pm

As the Amish have trended away from being an agrarian people (more so in some areas than others) to a service and shop culture, they have butted up against non-Amish workers. This has caused a bit of a culture clash at times. The Amish are often able to undercut competitors because they don't have to pay into social security when they are self-employed and some take religious exemptions from workers comp...sooo, this allows the Amish to greatly undercut non-Amish competitors. I definitely understand the gripe from the non-Amish workers, but I'm not sure what to do about it...Level the playing field and if the Amish win on quality, speed and efficiency, so be it....Click here to read more.

Re: Raising The Roof In Philly....

Submitted by lindambolt (not verified) on 2 December 2010 - 4:22pm.

I don't know about Philadelphia, but all else being equal, even if the cost was equal, I would hire Amish workers over others, because they are honest, hard workers, and would do the job right. And, while they are working, they wouldn't be playing loud music, smoking, or yelling.

Re: Raising The Roof In Philly....

Submitted by muslim sister (not verified) on 2 December 2010 - 5:19pm.

i would agree with linda too, we had to have our roof repaired after a hurricane blew through. what a nightmare, the workers showed up whenever they felt worked for an hour and took a lunch break.

Re: Raising The Roof In Philly....

Submitted by editorkevin (not verified) on 2 December 2010 - 4:33pm.

SIGH, I know some will disagree with me here...and, yes, I am generalizing, there are many G-R-E-A-T non-Amish contractors out there, BUT, yea, Linda, I agree with you..if all were equal I'd likely go with the Amish roofer anyway for the reasons you described....

Re: Raising The Roof In Philly....

Submitted by muslim sister (not verified) on 2 December 2010 - 5:20pm.

Re: Raising The Roof In Philly....

Submitted by muslim sister (not verified) on 2 December 2010 - 2:32pm.

I can understand the soreness of the non-amish roofers, but that is no reason to be rude when talking about them:

When told what Esh and other Amish said about working faster, McLean scoffed. "They don't work faster," he said, suggesting that a lower cost of living in the Amish community - no cable bills, for example - was a big factor. "They don't have a lifestyle. They just work

Is it because they do not have a cable bill make them less of a person, or if they had cable bills and car payment would Esh feel better. and i never knew that a lifestyle was judged by bills.