Immigration/Labor Rights

Farmworker Justice to testify at House Hearing on Guestworkers

Last Updated (Wednesday, 07 May 2008 16:47) Written by barb howe Monday, 05 May 2008 18:32

    The House Committee on Education and Labor is holding a hearing on guestworker programs on Tuesday, May 6, 2008, to investigate whether US workers are denied jobs by employers seeking exploitable foreign guestworkers. The hearing, "Do Federal Programs Ensure U.S. Workers Are Recruited First Before Employers Hire From Abroad?” will be held at 11:00am in room 2175 in the Rayburn House Office Building.

    Under current US law, employers are required to recruit US workers before receiving permission to bring in temporary foreign workers. Critics say many employers bypass qualified U.S. workers. The Bush Administration’s Department of Labor has proposed changes to one guestworker program –the H-2A agricultural program—that would reduce government oversight and allow such abuses to become even more rampant.

    Congress is considering expanding guestworker programs in the US to encompass a wider array of industries. Farmworker Justice’s Executive Director Bruce Goldstein will testify before the Committee on the abuses suffered by farmworkers under the current programs, the plans to erode current protections for U.S. workers by the Department of Labor and the urgent need for Congressional reform.

    You can watch the hearings live on the Committee's website.