BAKERSFIELD – Once again, the Bush Administration is attempting to circumvent the very real problem of a lack of workers to harvest the nation’s crops.
Today the Administration announced what it calls the “most significant overhaul of the nation’s agricultural guest worker program in two decades.” These changes would affect the H2-A program that allows growers to bring in foreign workers to harvest crops.
"This so-called reform is nothing more than a gutting of existing protections for both domestic and foreign workers. It will result in lower wages and a worsening of conditions that currently exist," said Arturo Rodriguez, UFW President.
The key to real solutions is the UFW-backed AgJOBS which provides a stable and reliable agricultural workforce. AgJOBS also has the support of growers, workers and a bipartisan majority in Congress.
The proposed changes include an easing of the standards farmers must follow to show they have tried to hire domestic workers first. The proposed reforms also hurt those workers coming in under the H2-A program by not providing safeguards for wages, not to mention undermining existing labor protections for U.S. workers.
In December, the UFW and Farm Worker Justice sued the Department of Labor for failing to provide information to domestic workers and instead allowing the recruitment of foreign workers for those domestic jobs.
“Instead of gutting the program, the DOL should be enforcing the regulations that are currently on the books,” Rodriguez said.