The AgJobs bill (S. 340/H.R. 371) -- a compromise reached between farm workers and growers -- would streamline the H-2A visa program and make it easier for growers to bring in temporary workers, in exchange for a pathway to legal permanent resident status for those who perform seasonal agricultural work for several years.
It's the kind of legislation that can help businesses meet their labor needs while ensuring adequate labor protections for seasonal immigrant workers in agricultural jobs.
But agreeing to a compromise bill hasn’t stopped growers from lobbying the Bush Administration to adopt one-sided regulatory changes to reduce wages and weaken labor protections for farm workers -- a route they would prefer in lieu of AgJobs. The Bush Administration should reject these exploitative demands and support the AgJobs bill.
Meanwhile, Members of Congress in both parties appear to be rushing to do the bidding of corporate interests to renew and expand the H-2B Visa program, which allows businesses to import immigrant workers to do nonagricultural seasonal work such as construction. This program allows employers to bypass American workers, and to easily exploit immigrant workers, deficits that would be fixed by Sen. Bernie Sanders’ bill (S. 2094) to prevent exploitation of immigrant laborers and improve wages and benefits.
In another setback for farm workers, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger waited until the last possible moment and vetoed legislation that would have enabled farm workers to organize on the job using a majority sign-up procedure. Schwarzenegger justified his veto using the old pretext of defending workers’ right to a “secret ballot election,” but as those very workers know, “elections” are used by growers to intimidate workers out of supporting a union. United Farm Workers President Arturo Rodriguez has called the Governor’s decision devastating.
AgJobs bill summary:
What farm workers get:
- A pathway to a green card (permanent resident status) – by demonstrating recent agricultural work experience in the U.S. and by continuing to work in agriculture for three to five years (must work for 100 days/year for 5 years or 150 days/year for 3 years, plus pay fines)
- Retention of key protections regarding prevailing wages, transportation, free housing, worker’s compensation, the right to a written employment contract, etc.
- Encouragement to growers to enter collective bargaining agreements with labor unions
What growers get:
- Makes it easier to qualify to import workers with H-2A visas
- Requires fewer assurances on wages & working conditions for jobs covered by collective bargaining agreements
- Assuming the Governor certifies adequate housing is available, the grower need only pay for housing rather than being required to provide free housing themselves
- A significant break on the requirement to pay prevailing wages (need only pay what was prevailing in 2003 for 3 years after enactment)
Additional resources on AgJobs:
Comments (4)
Comments posted to CtW Connect are the sole property of the individual posting them, and do not necessarily reflect the viewpoints of Change to Win, its affiliated unions, or its leadership.
I am very disturbed by your statements regarding the H2B program. Your statements are misleading and very untrue. US employers follow a strict H2B process to bring in TEMPORARY, SEASONAL foreign workers. Employers must prove that US workers are not availabile and/or not willing to do the job. Employers do NOT "bypass American workers". For you to say that employers "easily exploit immigrant workers" is also untrue. If you would like to learn the truth about the H2B program, please feel free to contact me. In the future, please educate yourself before writing such misleading articles.
Posted by Tracy R Drus on October 16, 2007 at 8:51 AM
Posted on October 16, 2007 at 8:51 AM
Please Tracy , get a grip , is there anywhere in this United States that an employer dosen't take advantage of an immigrant work force .
If the H2B program is anything like the H1B visa , the employer has every means necessary to bypass a qualified American worker and exploit the Visa holder .
Aside from the fact that there isn't a need to drive down the wages of the workforce in construction , we have plenty of qualified US citizens who line up for days to get an application to get into one of our Union apprenticeship classes .
I know apples and oranges . But really , take a look at this site , where the H2B Visa workers at a shipyard in Pascagoula Mississippi tried to complain about the working conditions - link - certainly the H2B visa workers weren't taken advantage of (read with hint of sarcasm -Joe) .
The statement read in part: "We have been treated like animals here. We have been threatened with termination and salary reduction. We are living in isolation. Visitors are not allowed in the camps. We live 24 men in one container, with two bathrooms for all of us.
As the men were preparing to come public with their complaints, Signal told seven of the workers that their jobs had been terminated and that they would be sent back to India.
Upon hearing the news, one of fired workers - Sabu Lal - tried committing suicide by slitting his wrists. "
Thank you for letting me educate myself about the truth of the H2B visa program . Now I'm disturbed .
Posted by Joe W on October 16, 2007 at 8:05 PM
Posted on October 16, 2007 at 8:05 PM
We're getting obese on the "fruits" of the H2B's labor. How about we stop subsidizing the grain growers, and stop using temps? Food prices will rise, causing us to eat less. Raise the limits for getting food stamps, and everyone is basically covered.
Posted by wgft on October 19, 2007 at 3:05 AM
Posted on October 19, 2007 at 3:05 AM
while labor to do such jobs in agriculture may be hard to find because of unwillness, the bottom line is the cheaper the labor the higher the profit margin. as i see it the price of everything from housing,gas,to peas and carrots have boosted the botttom line. with little or no hope for the people doing the work. soon there will be work visas for every type of work out there, and this is a shame. look at exxon 40.6 BILLION in profits. workers need a voice and the only ones speaking up is labor unions. say what you will about union bosses, but thier are people bigger and more powerful with much deeper pockets and they are the politicians spending your tax dollars yet thats ok? WAKE UP AMERICA
Posted by G rivera on February 3, 2008 at 10:13 AM
Posted on February 3, 2008 at 10:13 AM