The March for America -- Rally for Immigration Reform Sunday

Written by Bruce Goldstein Saturday, 20 March 2010 17:57

Tens of thousands of people are coming to Washington, D.C. to demonstrate to Congress their support for legislation to reform our broken immigration system and enable law-abiding contributors of this country to be treated decently.  Info on the March and rally is available at http://reformimmigrationforamerica.org/blog/what-march/ .

NY Reporter Cuts Lettuce for a Season in Arizona -- Hard Work

Written by Bruce Goldstein Sunday, 14 March 2010 21:12

This Arizona Republic article about the hard work of lettuce cutters, including Mexican citizens who work under the H-2A agricultural guestworker program, is by a reporter from Brooklyn who worked for a season as part of a series of jobs he held for book. "The job you won't do: Try working a season in the lettuce fields of Yuma," by Gabriel Thompson - Mar. 14, 2010, The Arizona Republic http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/viewpoints/articles/2010/03/14/20100314thompson14.html

 

Farm Bureau Reactionaries Sue Solis Over H-2A Guestworker Program Regulations

Written by Bruce Goldstein Friday, 12 March 2010 23:10

On Friday, March 12, the American Farm Bureau Federation -- long known for its backwards view of labor relations -- and the North Carolina Growers Association sued Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis and the Department of Labor for the new regulations, effective Monday, March 15, under the H-2A temporary foreign agricultural worker program.  The Bush-Chao regime, with a Department of Labor political appointee named Leon Sequeira, reversed years of labor protections under the H-2A program and slashed wage rates.  Secretary Solis issued new regulations, mostly to restore the previous wage rates -- an average of $1 per hour difference -- and other protections that the Reagan Administration had put into the regulations.  Now these grower groups have sued, claiming the regulations are somehow illegal, and Leon Sequeira is one of the attorneys for the growers.  The case was filed in Greensboro, North Carolina.

Followers of this blog know that there already are two lawsuits pending about the H-2A program, one which Farmworker Justice and its co-counsel filed on behalf of farmworker organizations, and one which grower groups filed against Secretary Solis for an earlier effort to reverse the Bush-Chao regulations.  Those cases are still pending.  Until now, the Bush-Chao regulations have been in effect.

The H-2A program is intended to allow agricultural employers to bring in temporary foreign workers when there are labor shortages in the United States.  Employers must first seek approval of the Department of Labor.  To gain approval the employers are required to recruit inside the United States for workers and to offer wages and other job terms that do not undermine the labor standards of U.S. farmworkers.  The Bush-Chao Administration slashed the wages and benefits so that employers in the U.S. could pay wages and benefits attractive to impoverished citizens of poor countries but not attractive to U.S. workers, and minimized the government's oversight of this program, which has rampant abuses.

The lawsuit by the Farm Bureau and its allies reveals the unabashed quest for the right to hire indentured servants.  We thank Secretary Solis for taking the time and resources to restore basic protections for farmworkers and end a shameful year in which tens of thousands of farmworkers were subjected by our own government to substandard job terms at the request of greedy growers.   In the 50th year since Edward R. Murrow released "Harvest of Shame," the Farm Bureau continues it legacy of subjecting farmworkers to intolerable conditions. We will help to ensure this lawsuit fails and we continue to encourage the Department of Labor to end rampant violations of workers' rights under the H-2A program.

Bruce Goldstein, Executive Director, Farmworker Justice

Why Guestworker Programs Are Inherently Problematic

Written by Bruce Goldstein Tuesday, 09 March 2010 23:22

Once employers get guestworkers, addiction sets in.  With no right to switch jobs, no right to remain in the country beyond the job term, and coming from a poor country where wages are very low, guestworkers will usually be highly productive at wages that are very low by U.S. standards.  So even when U.S. workers face high unemployment and desperately seek work in agriculture, the growers still say that U.S. workers are lazy and don't want these jobs.  The Daily Sentinel in Grand Junction, Coloradao, on March 5, published a story entitled;  "Demand high for orchard jobs: Ads draw big response for seasonal farm work."  The article reported on a grower's observation that a large number of local workers had returned to look for agricultural work recently and his reaction:

"One of the area's largest fruit growers, Talbott Farms, 3782 F 1/4 Road, received 400 to 500 walk-in requests for employment this year, co-owner Bruce Talbott said. The company hires about 120 people a year. "We got guys that came in here and say, ‘I worked here 15 years ago. Do you have any work for me?'" he said. "They're roofers, concrete guys, landscapers, all kinds of people who have been laid off from the trade industry."  The H-2A "workers are "highly reliable," Talbott said. Local job seekers are usually unaccustomed to the hard work that farm work entails, he said. And local workers are much more likely to quit midseason, or often, after only a day. H-2A workers have incentives to be here, do good work, stay out of trouble and make money to support their families in their home countries, Talbott said. They also know the farm well and "know the difference between putting in time and being an efficient employee," he said. "My very best guys are in the H-2A program," Talbott said. "They don't want to commit to a vehicle. They know they're safe here, and there's a lot less stress than trying to run the border."

The U.S. Department of Labor should not approve an H-2A application when three times as many workers apply for work as there are jobs. The employers must be required to comply with the law: U.S. workers must be offered the job and the job terms must be equal or exceed the wages and working conditions of the U.S. labor market.