Mercer Canyons Faces Federal Class Action Suit
It's back to court for Mercer Canyons of Alderdale WA, who grow grape and row crops. They learned Wednesday they would face a federal class action lawsuit involving over 600 Yakima Valley farm workers alleging that Mercer Canyons failed to inform previous local employees about higher paying H-2A jobs. The Yakima Herald reports that when Mercer Canyons, , acquired permission from the federal government to hire foreign workers under the H-2A program, it agreed to to advertise the positions to domestic workers and provide the same wage of $12 an hour. The attorneys for the farm workers say the class of over 600 includes domestic workers who obtained jobs and were paid below that rate along with potential domestic workers not made aware of available jobs by Mercer Canyons. The trial had been delayed because Mercer Canyons appealed the decision on several grounds, including that several members of the class might not have been adversely affected but the appeals court disagreed and now it is up to a jury to decide.
And on a lighter note, here is aginfo reporter Tom Allen with a night apple harvest tour September 7
ALLEN: Get an up close look at Honeycrisp apple harvest under LED lighting and dark skies. WSU Extension and Automated Ag Systems have scheduled a twilight field tour for Wednesday Sept 7, 2016 in Quincy, WA. The tour will begin outside the block with a multi-year overview of harvest operations using harvest assist platforms and a description of the equipment and operation. The group will then enter the block where several machines and crews will be harvesting Honeycrisp apples.
Get an up close look at Honeycrisp apple harvest under LED lighting 7:00 Sept 7
7:00 at White Trail Produce Stand, 10024 in Quincy,
Contact: Karen Lewis at WSU irrigatied agriculture extension
No registration required
