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TRI-CITY (
July 25, 2008 Guest worker program drafted
for
By Mary Hopkin, Herald staff writer
As national immigration reform stalls in the other Washington, state
agricultural advocates are rolling out a guest worker pilot program they
hope state legislators will support in January.
"It shouldn't be easier to bring in someone to mow lawns in Seattle than
to pick apples in Wenatchee," said Dan Fazio, director of employer
services for the Washington Farm Bureau. He addressed more than 100
members of the National Onion Association who gathered Thursday at the
Pasco Red Lion for an annual convention.
Access to an adequate labor supply is the biggest issue facing farmers,
Fazio said. But it's a heated issue.
The H2A guest worker program now in place is expensive for farmers,
requiring them to provide transportation for the workers, as well as
visa fees and housing. The government sets the minimum wage, now $9.94,
topping the state minimum wage. And guest workers don't have any taxes
taken from that wage, although domestic workers picking alongside them
would.
The program is supposed provide a stable work force for the agriculture
industry by requiring the workers to work at one farm. But many leave
anyway, looking for higher wages, and the farmer is out his investment,
Fazio said.
Bob Brody of Wenatchee also noted that under the current rules if he had
a shortage of workers and needed to use the H2A program, he'd have to
file with the state employment agency and then wait 90 days to see if
any domestic workers want the jobs.
"I don't have 90 days," he said. "It's important to pick the fruit at
the right time."
The H2A program is strictly for agriculture workers. There are similar
programs for nonagriculture workers (H2B) and for high-tech workers
(H1B), but there are significant differences, Fazio said.
The H2B program was developed for nonagriculture jobs like landscapers
and restaurant and hotel/motel workers. Those employers aren't required
to pay to bring the workers into the country or provide housing. There
also are no wage requirements and those workers must pay taxes.
The same is true for the high-tech workers brought in under the H1B
program, Fazio said.
Employers using all three programs must prove out-of-country employees
are needed, he said, and document that they tried to fill the jobs. "But
they don't even look at the high-tech applications, they just file
them," he said, while officials carefully scrutinize every H2A
application.
Fazio said current immigration policy is not working and the Washington
Farm Bureau has drafted an eight-point "essential worker" pilot program
that it hopes to draft into a bill for state legislators to consider in
2009.
If they support it, Congress also would have to sign off on a bill.
Under the proposal, workers from other countries could buy a three-year
nonimmigrant visa to come to the U.S. to work in agriculture and
agriculture processing.
Agriculture employers would have to list jobs with the state's work
force agency, which must attempt first to find domestic workers. Visa
holders could be referred after a job had been posted for domestic
workers for three business days.
Guest workers would have to return to their native country for at least
30 days each year. They also would not be eligible for unemployment
benefits, and if they were in the country for 45 days without working
their visa would be terminated.
The pilot program would sunset after six years, Fazio said, adding the
Washington Farm Bureau is hoping to work with the Oregon and California
Farm Bureaus to draft similar bills.
Fazio said presidential candidates Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. John
McCain stressed the need for a legal agricultural work force during the
American Farm Bureau Federation's Council of Presidents meeting last
week.
"We need to hold them accountable," he said. "Right now, every industry
has undocumented workers -- hospitality, agriculture, construction. It's
time to stop pointing fingers and solve the problem."
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