American Agri-Women

AAW members worked at their spring 2009 Mid-Year meeting to update Ag Labor's position papers which is the following:

2009 AAW Ag Labor Policy/Position Statements
AG LABOR
AAW believes labor-intensive agriculture in the U.S., especially fruits and vegetables, livestock and poultry, greenhouse and nursery, dairy and Christmas trees, could face a dire labor crisis. Estimates of 50-70% of the workforce is feared to lack legal status, and the costly and difficult H-2A program provides less than 3% of the workforce. Food is a strategic resource for the United States, and the stability of our domestically produced food supply and other agricultural industries is at risk.

AAW supports a guest worker program with a realistic (unlimited) admissions level that will be a legal channel for workers to enter the country.
AAW supports a workable employment verification system where workers can be verified by one card issued by one government agency.
AAW supports a realistic solution (legal status?) for the experienced workforce that is feeding America and sustaining our industries.
AAW supports strong border security.
AAW supports reform of the H-2A program which is covered in the AgJOBS legislation (Agricultural Jobs, Opportunities, Benefits and Security Act, H.R.371 [2008]).
AAW believes that secret ballot should be the way for workers to vote for union representation.
 

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Here is the report submitted at the annual convention of American Agri-Women. 

American Agri-Women Convention
Salem, Oregon
November 12, 2009

AGRICULTURAL LABOR REPORT
- By Kathy Reavis
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Not a lot has changed on the ag labor scene as far as new legislation goes since March 2009 when the Department of Labor (DOL) announced the proposed suspension of a final rule (Bush Administration) implementing changes in the H-2A program. (H-2A program allows U.S. ag businesses to employ foreign workers in temporary or seasonal agricultural jobs.)

AAW still supports the AgJOBS bill, H.R. 2414 (which has 50 cosponsors) and S.1038. According to Craig Regelbrugge, Vice President of Government Relations for the American Nursery and Landscaping Association, the Obama Administration sees the Bush H 2-A regulations as one-sided and are headed to suspend and maybe rewrite them. This is why those wanting reform are pushing so hard on AgJOBS – finding a bipartisan middle solution is the only way forward.

A Notice was put in the Federal Register by the DOL that it is seeking comments on a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking concerning the process by which employers obtain a temporary labor certification from the Department for use in petitioning the Department of Homeland Security to employ a nonimmigrant worker in H-2A status. The DOL also proposed to amend the regulations so that workers are appropriately protected when employers fail to meet the requirements of the H-2A program. Comments were due October 5, 2009.

The “card check” legislation, aka the Employee Free Choice Act of 2009, H.R. 1409 (Miller) and S.560 (Harkin and Kennedy), would effectively deny workers their right to a secret ballot vote when deciding whether to be represented by a union. Right now there is no push on immigration bills as the Administration has been busy with other issues.

If you remember, there was a lot of talk the last couple of years about Social Security sending “no match” letters to employers to verify the validity of new hires’ Social Security (SS) numbers. Well, it seems there was/is a high false alarm rate and a limited ability to detect identity theft involving stolen or fraudulent numbers. Between June 2004 and May 2006, the Social Security Administration erroneously rejected 11% of foreign-born U.S. citizens and 1.3% of authorized foreign-born noncitizens, according to a report provided to Congress. For nearly three decades the government has been unable to develop adequate tools for identifying undocumented workers.

With no new immigration legislation, the federal government is collecting more fines and even starting to criminally prosecute business owners for immigration violations. Be sure and have the proper documentation on your I-9 forms. Some states are also requiring participation in the Federal E-Verify Program. Be sure and check whether that is the case in your state.