04/17/08 American Farm Bureau comments on H2A changes

Washington Ag April 17, 2008 The American Farm Bureau Federation has submitted comments on the Department of Labor's proposed rules to reform the H2A temporary worker program. Farm Bureau encouraged the department's efforts to move toward a market-based wage. The farm organization said the program currently forces growers to pay wages higher than the market plus housing and transportation costs. In some cases the Farm Bureau says those requirements make the program impossible to use from an economic standpoint. Among the other reforms the American Farm Bureau supported in its comments were having packing and processing employees, as well as the dairy sector as part of the program. Dan Fazio of the Washington State Farm Bureau says more and more agricultural employers are looking at the H2A program. Fazio: "Some people have come to the conclusion that it is a very hard program to use. Other people have said they have to try and use it because it is the program we are going to use going forward. It looks like if there is immigration reform it will just be improvements to the H2A program." Whatever new rules the Department of Labor adopts, Fazio says they won't have an impact until next season. The department did issue guidance to states that would have an immediate impact but the state of Washington is refusing to follow it. That would have state employment agencies only referring legal workers to employers. I'm Bob Hoff.