Proposals on Guestworker Program Policies Submitted by Coalition
Written by Bruce Goldstein Tuesday, 20 October 2009 16:43
The Obama Administration proposed changes to the H-2A agricultural guestworker program. Tuesday was the deadline for submitting comments on the proposed changes. Farmworker Justice helped encourage and coordinate the submission of comments by thousands of organizations and individuals. Farmworker Justice joined with several organizations in the submission of a set of comments that generally supported the proposed changes but recommended improvements in the proposal to better protect workers and apply the legal standards. The joint comments were submitted by the AFL-CIO; Change to Win; Farm Labor Organizing Committee, AFL-CIO; Farmworker Justice; Florida Legal Services; and the United Farm Workers.
Most of the changes proposed by Secretary of Labor Solis would reverse the Bush Administration's policies that were issued at the end of last year and took effect on January 17, 2009. The Bush Administration slashed the wage rates paid to U.S. workers and guestworkers by employers under the H-2A program, minimized government oversight, reduced employee benefits, and made recruitment of US workers a cruel joke at a time of high unemployment and underemployment. The combination of no recruitment and a crummy job offer meant that the Department of Labor "certified" that there were "labor shortages" at hundreds of employers, who were permitted to pay substandard wages. 2009 was a bad year.
We hope the Administration will quickly review the comments. We expect thousands of negative comments by growers even though most of the proposal is aimed at restoring regulations issued in 1987 by the Reagan Administration (which was no friend of farmworkers or their advocates). Farmworkers need the revised regulations to take effect as soon as possible. We expect some grower groups will sue the Department of Labor.
Thanks to those of you who submitted comments. You are helping educate the Department of Labor about appropriate policies and demonstrating that the selifsh goals of many agribusinesses under the H-2A program do not have the support of the majority of people.
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