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Guest worker program gains popularity but could lead to discord
Yakima Herald-Republic
New statewide numbers show that growers are increasingly more
comfortable with a federal guest worker program that allows them to hire
documented foreign help instead of local workers who may not have legal
immigration status.
But with a growing H-2A program, some employers are worried about
possible tensions between the two groups of workers: the illegal
immigrants who have traditionally worked the harvest and the foreign
workers who may get preference in the hiring process.
As of Tuesday, growers in the state had filed 28 applications for 1,637
workers under the federal H-2A program that allows employers to hire
temporary foreign workers from Mexico if they can prove the local supply
is inadequate.
That's on pace to beat all of last year, which saw 31 applications for a
total of 1,657 workers. Not all of those workers arrived for one reason
or another, so the total number of H-2A guest workers in the state last
year was 1,140.
More than half worked for Selah-based Zirkle Fruit Co., which hired 600
H-2As for orchards spanning Central Washington.
Labeled by employers as overly bureaucratic, the federal H-2A program
has been slow to catch on in Washington compared with states such as
North Carolina, Georgia and Florida.
But growers here are learning the ropes with help from farm labor
contractors and established organizations including the Washington
Growers League in Yakima and the Washington State Farm Bureau.
Parker Heights grower Rob Valicoff has studied the program in detail and
first used foreign guest workers last year. He thinks the use of H-2A
workers is bound to increase without a comprehensive solution to
immigration reform.
"As more and more growers use it and word gets around, they'll get more
confident about the program," Valicoff said.
Although state officials are required to direct local residents to farm
jobs, they also believe the use of H-2A will become more common.
"I think we can expect it to continue to grow as growers become more
experienced at using it," said Sheryl Hutchison, spokeswoman for the
state Employment Security Department in Olympia.
The department runs WorkSource centers, which try to fill agricultural
jobs first with local residents. The department also gathers wage data
used by the federal government to determine H-2A pay.
Increasing use of the guest worker program is a reflection of the demand
for a stable source of farm labor and employer concerns about the
immigration status of local workers. Employers in the past have worried
about immigration raids and liability if they hire undocumented workers
-- unwittingly or not.
Farm worker rights groups, meanwhile, have been suspicious of H-2A
because workers are beholden to one employer for the entire contract
period -- up to 10 months -- and can't shop for the highest wages.
Workers can be blacklisted if they complain about working conditions and
unscrupulous employers can manipulate the contract to drive down their
costs.
But the United Farm Workers Union has decided it wants a piece of the
H-2A action. In April, the union announced an agreement with the state
of Michoacán in western Mexico to help recruit guest workers to the
United States. They would arrive under a union contract.
"If this is something that's going to be utilized more in the future,
then we've got to get in on it," UFW President Arturo Rodriguez said in
a news release at the time. "We're looking for enlightened employers who
are willing to sit down and do this with us."
So far, no employer in the state of Washington has taken the UFW up on
its offer.
Some growers here are more worried about friction between the guest
workers and local workers over wages, benefits and working conditions.
Guest workers from Mexico earn a higher minimum wage and growers must
provide them with room and board, local transportation and round-trip
bus fare from Mexico.
"If you're a local guy and you've paid $2,000 to a coyote to come over
here illegally and you see these guys getting new housing, there's some
animosity," said Dan Fazio, director of employer services for the
Washington Farm Bureau.
One Lower Valley grower, who asked that his name not be used because he
didn't want to anger longtime employees, said he's seen crew bosses try
to intimidate H-2A workers.
"Their thinking is that if there's no H-2A program, they'll have to
legalize everyone that's already here," said the grower.
Under the H-2A program, employers this year must pay at least $9.94 an
hour compared with the state minimum wage of $8.07. But all workers earn
more under a piece rate, which rewards them for faster picking. If the
piece rate, or prevailing wage, is higher than $9.94, employers have to
pay the higher rate.
But even the piece rate is problematic.
The U.S. Department of Labor, for example, surveyed the apple industry
and determined that the piece rate on Fujis should be $23 a bin. (A bin
of Fujis takes more than an extra hour to pick than less expensive
varieties because the fruit bruises easily and must be handled
carefully.)
But the federal survey lumps small growers in with larger ones and
doesn't account for different growing methods. Picking fruit from big
trees atop eight-foot ladders is going to take much longer than
harvesting an orchard of dwarf trees.
Brendan Monahan, an industry lawyer who is defending Zirkle Fruit Co.
against a lawsuit over productivity standards, said the federal
government needs to fine-tune its wage surveys.
"As H-2A becomes more prevalent in any given segment of agriculture, it
needs to find its footing and really ascertain nuances and differences
within each crop," Monahan said.
The lawsuit against Zirkle alleges the company failed to comply with H-2A
requirements by failing to disclose tougher work requirements and not
fully reimbursing travel expenses, driving wages below the minimum. The
case, filed in January, is pending in federal court in Yakima.
It's too early to know if there will be a significant labor shortage
this season and, if there is, how local wages might be affected. Last
year was a laborer's market in some varieties of apples. For instance,
some growers paid as much as $4 more per bin above the average of $14 to
$18 for Golden Delicious apples.
Valicoff said he delayed his order for 90 H-2A workers by about a week
because of frost damage, which means the crop size is uncertain.
"Red Delicious got beat up pretty good," he said.
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