YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLICDecember 31, 2005Farm labor contractor losing license State officials took steps Friday to revoke the farm-labor contractor license of Global Horizons, the California company that has brought Thai workers to the Yakima Valley for the past two seasons. Global Horizons failed to meet a Friday deadline set earlier this month for fixing a series of violations, according to the state departments of Labor & Industries and Employment Security. The violations include failing to fully pay taxes and not paying workers in a timely manner. The revocation is effective in two weeks, but Global has 30 days to appeal. Employment Security has stopped providing services to the worldwide recruiting company. Mordechai Orian, president, could not be reached for comment. "Global's failure to comply with these requirements and lax reporting and payment of taxes violate the laws and are not acceptable," wrote Karen Lee, commissioner of Employment Security, and Gary Weeks, director of L&I. Citing a shortage of documented workers, two Yakima Valley farmers hired Global Horizons beginning in 2004 to recruit and contract with workers under the federal H-2A guest-worker program. About 170 Thai workers were employed last year, but the number dropped to 90 this past season because the company ran into problems with both state and federal regulators. This fall, state officials said they were keeping the company "on a short leash" and would revoke its license at the first violation subsequent to a settlement of citations from the 2004 season. Among the problems that year were not reimbursing workers' plane fares back to Thailand and withdrawing state income taxes from paychecks even though Washington does not have such a levy. L&I said Global still has not provided written notice of the name of an independent third party that it agreed to hire in order to monitor its compliance with state rules. If Global appeals the revocation, the company can't claim it is licensed to recruit H-2A workers for new contracts. It may, however, complete existing contracts. The company has paid $23,042 owed to L&I for unpaid workers' compensation premiums and interest and penalties. But L&I said it failed to meet the deadline for the payments, a violation of law and the settlement. Global also paid down part of about $6,938 to Employment Security for delinquent unemployment taxes, interest and penalties. It still owes $4,449, according to the department.
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