THE PACKER November 21, 2005
Immigration at center of labor shortfall fears
By Darcy DeVictorStaff Writer
BRAWLEY, Calif. – It’s an issue every year but labor seems to be gathering more attention from vegetable growers in the Imperial and Coachella valleys this year.
Finding quality workers is more of a concern than last year because workers are being lured away from agriculture production, said Joe Colace, Jr., president of Five Crowns Marketing.
“We work with a legal work force, and we’re losing workers to other industries like construction,” Colace said. “We’re not seeing younger workers blend in. The work force is getting older with each passing year.”
Bruce Sanbonmatsu, president and owner of Sanbon, Inc., El Centro, agreed.
“It used to be that generation after generation went to work in the fields,” Sanbonmatsu said. “More kids are going into white-collar jobs.”
The issue of labor strikes a delicate balance between immigration and homeland security, said Suzanne Powell, vice president of marketing and business development at Coachella-based Peter Rabbit Farms.
But the company’s Coachella operations aren’t as affected by the labor issue as growers farter south, she said.
“People who work here generally live her, but in El Centro, it’s closer to the border and many people come across to work,” Powell said.
Lack of labor is the single scariest thing next to lack of demand, said Phil Adrian, vice president and secretary of sales and marketing of Salinas-based Coastline.
Labor shortages haven’t affected Coastline’s Imperial Valley operations though, Adrian said.
Jim Adam, vice president of sales and marketing for Bengard Ranch Inc., Salinas, said the company contracts harvesters for its broccoli and cauliflower deals out of Holtville.
“It’s going to be a bad year down there, even if you’ve got a contract,” Adam said.
More pressure at border patrol adds to the concerns, Colace said.
Patrolmen are stopping more buses, said Jack Vessey, salesman at Vessey & Co., Inc., El Centro.
“We need reform,” Vessey said. “Everything we grow is in jeopardy of (going unharvested.) I’ve got millions of dollars in the ground and there’s a shrinking labor base.”
A number of factors complicate the labor issue.
“There’s more enforcement along the border,” he said. “They’re stopping labor buses on the way to and from fields and borders. And word gets to central Mexico about the Minutemen with guns, and they don’t want to come up.”
Vessey’s referring to the civilians who’ve taken the matter of protecting the border into their own hands, a matter that’s received press attention, particularly along the Arizona border.
Robert Fleming, partner of Spruce Farms, also has concerns about locating enough labor for this year’s harvest.
“You just never know when the government is going to step up security at the borders,” he said. “These people really want to work.”
If labor shortages tighten, Fleming said he may have to resort to using less experience labor and doing more training at harvest time.
Margaret D’Arrigo-Martin, executive vice president of sales and marketing at D’Arrigo Bros. Co. of California, said the company is asking workers at its Salinas headquarters to move south and work on its fields in the Imperial Valley.
“The foremen are pushing that,” D’Arrigo-Martin said. “We’re nervous. They’re tightening up the borders.”
At Holtville-based Imperial Sales, co-owner Cliff Smith said the concern of finding ample labor this season is exaggerated.
“It’s a rumor, but I don’t think it’s going to be a factor,” Smith said. “We always have these scares, but it always get worked out. I think there’s going to be a promotable volume.”
Growers in the Imperial Valley have a better chance at finding labor than growers in Yuma, Smith said.
“Our labor force is closer. We have workers who cross in Calexico,” he said. “Most of our fields are within five miles of the border.”
Others downplayed what some describe as a labor crisis.
“There’s not a serious labor problem,” said Greg Krikorian, salesman of DiMare Co., Indio. “This pales in comparison to1979 and the Cesar Chavez-led labor strikes.”
Some grower-shippers expressed concern about labor shortages, but said their employment policies better prepared them to manage the issue.
Sanbonmatsu of Sanbon Inc. said treating his harvest crews in the right way ensures a steady work force.
“That shields us from some of the labor issues,” he said.
D’Arrigo has an edge because it pays workers higher wages amd provides medical benefits, said D’Arrigo-Martin.
“That’s huge,” she said. “We can give them 40 hours a week because we pack every day.”
Salinas-based Tanimura & Antle Inc. provides medical and full benefits to workers.
“We’re hoping we’ll be able to attract a stable work force,” said Steve Bassi, senior vice president of agricultural operations.
“It makes operations expensive,” Bassi said. “But we get it back with dedicated, higher-skilled, happier employees, and they’re more efficient.”
Also increasing efficiency is a group production incentive program at Tanimura & Antle where worker’s compensation goes up the more they produce.
A guest worker program would be an ideal solution, Powell of Peter Rabbit Farms said.
The AgJobs bill outlines just that – a guest worker program that would allow workers to cross the border legally during the harvest season, said Robert Guenther, vice president of public policy for United Fresh Fruit & Vegetable Association, Alexandria, Va., which supports the AgJobs legislation.
Homeland security concerns about illegal immigration means beefed up border patrols, furthering the delays, said Will Feliz, vice president of agricultural operations for River Ranch.
“Illegally documented workers represent 50-60% of the work force,” he said.
After sitting down with its growers to estimate a number of visas that would help the labor situation, River ranch said 50,000 visas would help. But the pilot program being proposed in Washington D.C. may not come in time for this year’s growing season, Feliz said.
“There’s no way that was going to happen in a pilot program,” he said. “Any possible change probably won’t be in time for this season.”
Guenther of United confirmed Feliz’s doubts.
“It’s going to take a year or two,” Guenther said. “Not just to get the bill passed, which hopefully it can pass in the next year, but also the regulatory process takes a while. Probably next year is when there’ll be more discussion in Congress.”
|