Federal Judge in NC Stops Solis Reform of H-2A Guestworker Program

Written by Bruce Goldstein Monday, 29 June 2009 20:26

A bad day for farmworkers.  Monday, June 29.  A federal district court judge in North Carolina entered a preliminary injunction nationwide, preventing Secretary of Labor Solis from reversing the Bush-Chao changes to the H-2A guestworker program.  The judge said that he expected on full consideration to rule in favor of the growers that sued Solis and that the growers would suffer harm by having to pay the higher wage rates that the 20-year-old regulations required, rather than the Bush-Chao wage rates.  The Department of Labor is the defendant. 

The United Farm Workers and individual farmworkers, represented by Farmworker Justice and other counsel, intervened in the lawsuit to object to the growers' request.  The decision came down in very late afternoon eastern time Monday. 

 Meanwhile, there is a lawsuit pending in federal court in Washinton, D.C. that Farmworker Justice and others filed on behalf of the UFW, Farm Labor Organizing Committee, PCUN (Oregon's farmworker union) and individual farmworkers.  In the D.C. case, plaintiffs have asked for a substantive ruling on the merits to overturn the wage system that the Bush-Chao regulations imposed, slashing the wages of U.S. and foreign workers at H-2A employers.  The federal judge effectively said that Secretary Chao must impose the Bush-Chao wage rates without reviewing their legality, and their legality is under challenge in the DC case.

Next steps are being considered.

Waiting for Court Decision on Guestworker Program Changes

Written by Bruce Goldstein Sunday, 28 June 2009 20:32

Many farmworker advocates anxiously await a federal judge's decision.  Agribusiness groups sued Secretary Solis for her decision to suspend the Bush-Chao "midngiht" changes to the H-2A agricultural guestworker program and reinstate the former regulations (which have higher wages, more labor protections, and greater government oversight of the guestworker program). 

The suspension finally takes effect Monday, June 29 -- unless the judge enters a preliminary injunction preventing the Department of Labor from beginning the suspension.  The United Farm Workers union and individual farmworkers, represented by Farmworker Justice attorneys and NC Attorney Robert Willis, presented argument against the growers' demand for a preliminary injunction during a hearing on Monday morning, June 22, in federal court in Greensboro, NC.  The Department of Labor, the growers' attorneys, and we submitted supplemental briefs on Tuesday morning. 

 We'll let you know what happens. 

"For the Farm Lobby, Too Much Is Never Enough"

Written by Bruce Goldstein Friday, 26 June 2009 07:48

Washington Post financial columnist Steven Pearlstein discusses the agribusiness success in obtaining more subsidies through the climate-control cap-and-trade program that Congress is planning to enact to reduce environmental harm to the planet.  Despite this success, the Farm Bureau urged members of Congress to defeat the bill.  The Los Angeles Times agrees in an editorial about the inordinate power that leads to "the theory that heading off global catastrophe is only worthwhile if agribusiness can profit from it."

Another example of the excesses of the "greedy growers," as former Wyoming Senator Alan Simpson used to say.  We poison the environment and our farmworkers and agribusiness continues to lobby for the ability to continue to do so, while getting paid subsidies not to do so.

White House Meeting on Immigration Policy: Work to Do

Written by Bruce Goldstein Friday, 26 June 2009 07:42

President Obama met with key members of Congress on Thursday to say he wants bipartisan comprehensive immigration legislation passed, but earlier Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel said that at the moment the votes are not there to pass it.  So there is work to do.  The AgJOBS farmworker immigration bill, which has been updated and improved, has bipartisan support and the coalition of growers and farmworker advocates has hung together.  For more information on the AgJOBS legislation, see our AgJOBS page on our main web site. 

Immigration Legislation Planning Is Heating Up

Written by Bruce Goldstein Thursday, 25 June 2009 08:23

On Wednesday, Sen. Schumer spoke to immigration advocates, including Farmworker Justice's Adrienne DerVartanian, about his plans, as Chair of the Senate Immigration Subcommittee, to move forward on comprehensive immigration reform.  Schumer has been a supporter of AgJOBS and in fact was part of the trio of lawmakers in 1986 who negotiated the special agricultural worker ("SAW") legalization program in that year's immigration legislation, which legalized 1.1 million formerly undocumented farmworkers.  Today, Thursday, President Obama meets with key members of Congress regarding immigration policy.  Best guesses are that Congress can't put immigration legislation on its schedule for floor debate until very late in 2009 or early 2010, and that it must be done by early 2010 to avoid election-year politics.  A lot of preparatory work will happen over the next several months. 

Article Features Farmworkers' Grinding Poverty in Coachella Valley's Grapes

Written by Bruce Goldstein Tuesday, 23 June 2009 21:24

The LA Times has a long story about the difficult conditions faced by farmworkers harvesting table grapes in the Coachella Valley, near southern California's Salton Sea.  Mecca, California is a place of hard, dangerous work, decrepit housing, low pay and over a billion dollars worth of produce.  These farmworkers feed us.  But they often are afraid to challenge their employers' illegal or unfair conduct, and frequently that's because so many of the workers lack authorized immigration status.  Also, federally funded legal aid programs may not represent undocumented workers (even with non-federal money), so there are few avenues for workers who do want to step forward.  Workers are much more likely to feel empowered to join labor unions and challenge their employers if they have immigration status.  Immigration reform is a critically important step in advancing the interests of farmworkers. 

We need immigration reform.  President Obama is meeting with key members of Congress on Thursday about immigration reform.  He needs to tell them to get it done.  They need to tell him to use his bully pulpit to explain to the American people that it's the smart thing to do and the right thing to do.