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- New
Concerns Highlight Need for Farm Labor Reform
By
Bob Stallman
American Farm Bureau
A lot has changed in
a little over 50 years. In 1952, U.S. servicemen were fighting in
Korea. Dwight Eisenhower was elected, for the first time ever using
television ads as part of a presidential campaign. There were no
McDonalds. Elvis Presley had not even recorded his first song.
It was also 1952 when the Immigration and Nationality Act was established
in part to help U.S. farmers recruit temporary, foreign employees
when they could not find workers locally. Today, section H-2a of
that law, like a rusty 1952 Buick that has been kept out behind
a barn, is outdated, clunky and in need of major repairs.
Today, more farmers are relying on hired workers, but fewer legal
workers are available. Vermont dairy farmers woke up one recent
morning to find the Homeland Security Department had raided their
farm and removed their workers. With the increasing focus on homeland
security, we can expect more raids. We need a viable and workable
H-2a program now more than ever.
A
Broken System
Since its inception,
H-2a has never been significantly reformed to meet changing times.
The program, which has fundamental value at its core, is forcing
U.S. farmers to look elsewhere for labor and take their chances
with a mostly illegal workforce.
The first major problem is the H-2a program's minimum wage, which
is basically an average of all farm wages in a state. Thus, the
minimum wage for squash pickers in Jamestown, Ohio, is inflated
by the wages of tractor mechanics who might live in Cleveland.
A second flaw is that to use the program, a farmer must prove, and
the Labor Department (DOL) has to agree, there is a labor shortage.
DOL fails 40% of the time to agree or disagree with applications
submitted two months in advance. This year, a tobacco farmer in
Connecticut was left stranded on the day of the harvest, missing
80 of the 100 workers needed.
Another deficiency with the system is once in the program, farmers
can almost bet they are going to be sued. Suspicion of this type
of targeting is well grounded. Recently, North Carolina growers
were sued for not paying for their workers' travel during the first
work week. In Washington state, a sheep rancher was sued for not
paying workers while they were sleeping.
Time
for a Fix
Farm Bureau has long
championed H-2a reform. For years, we were one of the only organizations
fighting for an adequate legal workforce. Now, with the interest
of a dozen congressional members and strong support within the industry,
we are getting somewhere.
Recently, Farm Bureau threw its support behind H-2a reform legislation
by Sens. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) and Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) that streamlines
H-2a, moves toward a market-based wage, and creates a process for
farm workers to earn an adjustment of status.
That's a good start. However, we need a market-based wage. The minimum
wage for squash pickers in Jamestown, Ohio, should be based on squash
pickers in Jamestown, Ohio.
We also need to limit excessive lawsuits, like the ones in North
Carolina and Washington. There needs to be more flexibility in housing
requirements. Farmers should not have to hire workers that walk
on after the job starts, and we need to make sure that all of agriculture
can use the program if they so choose.
The good news is there are several other bills in Congress that
attempt to reform the program, all of which have components we support.
Rep. Henry Bonilla (R-Texas) will soon be introducing legislation
that helps iron out more of our concerns.
AFBF will continue working with Congress toward a strong, viable
H-2a program, ensuring agriculture's voice is included. There's
no sense in driving a rusty, old 1952 jalopy when, with a little
work, we could be driving a vehicle engineered for today's highways,
using today's technology.
Bob Stallman is the
president of the American Farm Bureau.
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