11/20/07 Talking About Labor

Talking About Labor. I'm Greg Martin with today's Fruit Grower Report. The Washington Farm Bureau held their annual convention last week in Spokane and of course the topic of labor and the issues associated with it were discussed. One of the key topics was the Social Security No-Match letters and according to Julie Anna Potts, General Counsel of the American Farm Bureau Federation, the no-match letters are really up in the air. POTTS: That regulation was stopped by a judge in the northern district of California, Judge Breyer who issued a preliminary injunction on October 10th and so right now the government has to litigate whether it can issue this rule, whether it can send the letters, the no-match letters as revised by the rule. The case will end up at trial for a permanent injunction some time next year. This does not mean that some letters can't be sent as Potts explains. POTTS: The old letters from the Social Security Administration or some version of Social Security Administration no-match letters can still be sent and employers are going to be receiving those  one thinks in the normal course but they can't send the revised letters that said, and this is the issue, that they are evidence or could be used as evidence of constructive knowledge of an immigration violation. So what does Potts see for the future of the issue? POTTS: My expectation is that after trial those legal deficiencies with probably still be there but it doesn't look good for the government's case. That's today's Fruit Grower Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.