YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC April 13, 2006
Growers and union hail new agreement for Global Horizons, UFW
John Verbrugge could never have predicted a year ago that he would be prepared to let union farm workers pick apples in his orchards. But that's what the Wapato grower has agreed to under a new labor contract signed this week in Seattle by a national labor contractor and the United Farm Workers of America union. Unions and farmers have hardly been cozy in the Yakima Valley. Organizing campaigns in the fields and packing houses have largely failed. But after about six weeks of secret negotiating, Global Horizons, a Los Angeles-based company that has hired foreign workers for Verbrugge and other Yakima area growers, and the UFW agreed to a three-year contract. It calls for improved benefits and working conditions. A 2 percent wage increase will go for union dues. The union agreement comes as Congress has failed to find its own middle ground on immigration and a guest-worker program. Verbrugge said farmers had to do something because legal labor is already in short supply. The contract will cover both local U.S. and temporary foreign guest workers that Global Horizons hires for its customers, who are farmers and other types of agricultural employers in up to 28 states with up to 4,000 employees. "It's a big historical step," Verbrugge said Wednesday in a telephone interview. "We're all working together for the common goal of keeping agriculture viable in the United States." Farm workers in the state aren't yet signing union cards because Global Horizons is not licensed to do business here. The Department of Labor & Industries revoked its farm-labor contractor's license in December for failing to correct in a timely manner several state labor and insurance law violations. Verbrugge, who last year criticized Gov. Chris Gregoire in television ads for being too harsh on Global Horizons, is once again calling on her to ease up. "If you look at the UFW, they've done a 180 on the governor, from telling her they don't want Global to now going the other direction," Verbrugge said. "The ball is actually in the governor's court right now. If she wants to do what's good for ag, she's going to have to push for Global to get their labor license." The UFW wants Global back in business in the state. "It's now our opinion that guest workers are going to be best protected working through Global Horizons," said Erik Nicholson, Pacific Northwest regional director for the UFW. "No other guest worker will have the same rights." The UFW has traditionally opposed the agricultural guest-worker program known by its visa, H-2A, calling it a step above indentured servitude. Difficult to organize, H-2A employees often work under the threat they might not be brought back for another season if they complain about problems on the job. But under the new labor contract, H-2A workers will have the right to air grievances without threat of retaliation. They will also receive two paid, 15-minute breaks a day, paid bereavement leave, medical benefits, a seniority system and other improvements. Room and board will be provided by Global Horizons, already a federal requirement under the H-2A program. So far, Gregoire's office has declined to comment on the labor agreement, and L&I has asserted that Global's license remains invalid. An appeals hearing is set for September. If Gregoire relents, there could be up to 3,000 unionized farm workers in the state this year, according to the UFW and Global. Mordechai Orian, president of Global, said he made a "hard call" by agreeing to sit down with UFW president Arturo Rodriguez. "It was hard because a lot of people hate the idea of unions. In the end of the day, it can be workable," he said in a telephone interview. In fact, Orian said, the union will take some pressure off the company by making sure the contract is being followed in the fields. Nicholson said the union dues will train UFW workers to implement the contract. Wages set by the contract won't change from those established by the federal government for H-2A workers under a complex calculation known as the Adverse Effect Wage Rate, presently $9.01 an hour. Verbrugge would pay 45 percent of that wage to Global to handle the overhead associated with recruiting and housing workers. His cost per worker would end up at about $12.74 an hour. Although higher than the state minimum wage of $7.63, Verbrugge said it's worthwhile. "That's about the same as going out to hire on our own. It's what we pay our good workers on average," he said. Both sides credited Patrick Grant, managing director of the Agricultural Labor Cooperative of America, an Illinois-based farm-labor contracting group, with getting the talks going. "Everybody took a higher ground and did what's best for our country," Grant said in a telephone interview.
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