GARDEN ISLAND (Hawaii) NEWS July 21, 2006 Ag industry wilting under low unemployment by Charlotte Woolard - The Garden Island Local farmers and seed company representatives sat down with federal and state labor officials yesterday to review existing labor law — especially law related to migrant and foreign national workers.
“People need to start getting an idea of other avenues for labor,” said Sandra Lee Kunimoto, chairwoman of the Department of Agriculture, which hosted the event. She pointed to low unemployment figures that leave the agricultural industry facing a shrinking pool of local workers.
Kaua‘i County unemployment, not seasonally adjusted, hit 2.7 percent in May, compared to 4.4 percent for the nation as a whole.
In a recent report, the University of Hawai‘i projected that the labor market on Kaua‘i will stay “extremely tight, restraining overall economic growth.”
The Department of Agriculture invited federal and state labor officials to talk about employment of foreign national, migrant and seasonal workers, as well as worker’s compensation, insurance, and wage laws.
Terence Trotter, assistant district director of the U.S. Department of Labor, told farmers that federal law mandates that foreign nationals hired in Hawai‘i be paid at least $9.99. U.S. employees who work the same type of job must be at least equally compensated.
The state requires employers to provide health coverage for workers, said Nelson Befitel, director of the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations.
The presentation comes less than a month after a judge ordered Global Horizons to shut down until it offered proper insurance to its employees.
The court found that the contract labor company hired foreign nationals for agricultural work, but failed to provide worker’s compensation insurance for 102 of its workers employed throughout Hawai‘i — including Kaua‘i, according to a HDLIR press release.
The HDLIR, which led the suit, said it also issued the company citations for providing unsafe housing and inadequate safety and health management systems.
The labor director also alleged that Global owes $177,232.56 in back taxes.
Befitel told Kaua‘i farmers yesterday that the company still has not complied with legal requirements. |