Posted on 04/30/2008 3:38:41 PM PDT by SwinneySwitch
HURON, Calif. - Weary of waiting for Congress to overhaul the nation’s immigration laws, the United Farm Workers hopes to recruit Mexican laborers to pick crops on U.S. farms.
The union’s efforts to import temporary workers under an existing government program follows similar moves by lawmakers in Arizona and Colorado, who are also trying to create new pathways to bring in foreign field hands without approval from Washington.
This month, UFW President Arturo Rodriguez signed an agreement with the governor of the Mexican state of Michoacan to help recruit local residents to apply for temporary jobs on U.S. farms, all of which would be covered under union contracts.
Under the new pact, government field staff in Michoacan will distribute information on U.S. labor protections, especially in rural towns known for sending a large number of their residents north.
In exchange, the union will negotiate contracts with U.S. growers willing to guarantee that legal workers’ rights will be respected on both sides of the border, UFW International Director Erik Nicholson said.
The UFW got involved after hearing that Mexican recruiters were charging people as much as $5,000 for short-term contracts under the existing, but rarely used federal guest worker program, Nicholson said.
“Agriculture is a global industry, so we’re building an international infrastructure to advocate for these global workers,” Nicholson said. “Workers need to know about their rights on both sides of the border.”
Immigration raids and employer penalties have led to a shortage of workers in the nation’s largest farm states, leading many in the agriculture industry to conclude that growers can’t get their products to market without a stable supply of workers from abroad.
But with Congress deadlocked over immigration reform, the question is under what conditions the workers will be hired - legally or illegally.
The farm labor force in the U.S. currently numbers about 1.6 million people, 70 percent of whom are thought to be undocumented, according to people in the industry. Only about 70,000 farm workers were brought in from abroad last year for the short stints permitted under H2-A visas issued by the U.S. Department of Labor.
The UFW wants to increase those numbers by matching willing workers in Mexico with U.S. farmers ready to use the H2-A program. That would in turn help grow the union’s membership, which has been in decline.
Legislators in Arizona are considering a proposal that would let employers recruit workers through Mexican consulates, if they could document a labor shortage. A similar Colorado bill aims to help chili and watermelon farmers hire foreign staff by eliminating the bottlenecks in the federal program.
Both put the Labor Department in an awkward position, and could be challenged in court, said Leon Sequeira, its assistant secretary for policy.
“I don’t think anybody would object to organizations trying to prevent recruiters from charging workers exorbitant fees,” Sequeira said. “But it’s new territory when you are talking about states setting up their own guest worker programs and letting aliens into the country.”
The federal government is trying to stave off the state-by-state approach by tinkering with its existing guest worker program, and released a set of proposed changes in February.
I would not have a problem with a picking visa - provided certain conditions are met.
Like 3 months in, then 9 months out, worker only, no family members, $10 an hour, wages payable in Mexico City.
McCain will pay you fifty bucks an hour to pick lettuce. Guess that would be the going rate. Wages like that I imagine they can buy insurance and keep their wives and children well taken care of in Mexihole. Be great if it worked like that and we didnt get stuck with another farm subsidy ie (cheap farm labor) supported by the tax-payer.
Depends. Maybe $50 -$60 a day?
“Immigration raids and employer penalties have led to a shortage of workers in the nation’s largest farm states, leading many in the agriculture industry to conclude that growers can’t get their products to market without a stable supply of workers from abroad.”
“The farm labor force in the U.S. currently numbers about 1.6 million people, 70 percent of whom are thought to be undocumented, according to people in the industry.”
It’s good to hear that some employers are actually trying to find workers by using a legal program.
But I wouldn’t believe the above two quoted statements for anything. 70% of farm workers are illegal aliens? According to people in the industry? Far too much self-serving rhetoric in those statements. Our government needs units within the immigration service to verify claims made by employers, and the means to verify a decent sample of the statements.
We’ll never have sensible immigration/guest worker policies until we have the means to verify the claims of employers, and stiff penalties for those making false claims to justify cheaper foreign workers.
On what the prevailing wage is, or an adverse wage.
The wages are not the big issue.
Its the advertising. Its getting a DOL contract that coincides with the work. Its the 50% rule. Its the 3/4 rule. Its the providing housing.
Its the regulations.
Picker ping!
If you want on, or off this S. Texas/Mexico ping list, please FReepMail me.
If they would only ensure their workforce is 100 legal through the established verification program, they could grab a significant market share.
Employers don’t want to hassle with document verification or take the risk of fines or labor disruptions from raids.
As an example: if you own a packing shed and you have million dollars of apples sitting around to be processed and shipped (you don’t own those apples) but if your labor force gets sacked up or runs off and you can’t process the order you are going to be paying for those apples.
If the union could establish and verify that their members are legal and assume the responsibility for document verification I believe a lot of employers would use them.
As it stands now, unions only represent a very small number in the agg area so they would have nothing to loose.
How are you going to keep em down on the farm when they can work “construction” and double their pay by undercutting legitimate citizens wages?
Just another crock, immigration reform has nothing in it about these worker programs. Just as soon as a worker can make enough to get some sort of stolen ID or get some fat gal to marry him, are some female drops a kid they stop working on the farm.
ping
$10 an hour? That’s double this college educated US citizen’s wages. Oh, well.
There are laws available that allow temporary workers to come here legally, earn money, pay taxes and go home.
What is the problem and issue here? Just follow the laws we have.
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