Fighting H2A Changes

Fighting H2A Changes. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Fruit Grower Report.

Farm Bureau is fighting proposed changes to the H2A program. Farm Bureau President Bob Stallman says they are disappointed the Department of Labor wants to suspend the rules that allow U.S. agriculture to legally hire much-needed temporary workers. He says the sudden change is also creating confusion for the farmers who took the time to learn the new rules. Farm Bureau labor specialist Paul Schlegel says this about-face will be harmful to the program.

SCHLEGEL: It’s confusing to growers.  It will minimize use of the program. It will be legally confusing and the people that are going to be left holding the bag are the growers. 

Schlegel says reverting to the old rules will make it easier for people here illegally to get jobs.  That’s because growers who use the program must hire anyone referred by a state workforce agency, but the old rule does not require those state agencies to make sure people are eligible to work in the United States.

SCHLEGEL: So the practical effect is you now have workers who aren’t eligible to work in the United States who will be entitled to get those jobs and we don’t think that’s an appropriate provision.

So what prompted the Departments changes?

SCHLEGEL: There’s a substantive reason: they’re saying that they don’t have time to implement the rule.  It’s confusing and they want the chance to look at it.  They also claim there are policy reasons, that they might disagree with things the bush administration said that they were going to do and there probably, frankly, are political reasons as well.  The people that are in charge in the administration don’t like the new changes and this is an opportunity to draw them back. 

That’s today’s Fruit Grower Report. I’m Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.