H-2A and Wages Pt 2
From the Ag Information Network, this is today’s Fruit Grower Report. New rules for H-2A workers and what they get paid is hung up in the court system right now, but how it will turn out is anyone’s guess.Northwest Horticultural Council Senior Vice President, Kate Tynan says it’s complicated …
TYNAN … “For example, right now, the Adverse Effect Wage Rate is based on a particular number within a survey that’s conducted by USDA that essentially makes it so that you are establishing the following year’s base pay rate, based on a number that includes overtime, incentive pay, and any sort of bonus pay from the year before.”
Best-case scenario, Tynan says would be having no survey …
TYNAN … “We’ve been actively working with USDA to try to at least start collecting that base wage information just to see if we could try to move more towards that approach. Frankly, our preference is to move away from a survey completely and that’s what we’re really pursuing from a Congressional perspective and that’s something we’ll be asking for the incoming administration to do as well, but even such a modest change might at least take some of that pressure off.”
Another challenge, Tynan says is the differences you see from state to state …
TYNAN … “You know, the parody question is a big one and it’s a big concern because it creates an uneven playing field just for growers within the United States who are forced to pay different wage rates.”
Tynan says even in states with a lower AEWR, wage increases can be a big problem.