12/20/2015   1. 2.   Results PREPARED  STATEMENT  OF  C.  STAN  EURY  ON  BEHALF  OF  THE  NATIONAL  COUNCIL  OF  AGRICULTURAL EMPLOYERS  AND  THE  AMERICAN  ASSOCIATION  OF  NURSERYMEN  BEFORE  THE  HOUSE  COMMITTEE  ON AGRICULTURE  IN  COOPERATION  WITH  SUBCOMMITTEE  ON  IMMIGRATION  AND  CLAIMS,  HOUSE  COMMITTEE ON  THE  JUDICIARY  Federal  News  Service,  DECEMBER  14,  1995,  THURSDAY,  IN  THE  NEWS,  4907  words PREPARED  TESTIMONY  OF  C.  STAN  EURY  PRESIDENT  NORTH  CAROLINA  GROWERS  ASSOCIATION,  INC. VASS,  NORTH  CAROLINA  FARM  BUSINESS  COALITION  BEFORE  THE  HOUSE  COMMITTEE  ON  THE  JUDICIARY SUBCOMMITTEE  ON  COMMERCIAL  AND  ADMINISTRATIVE  LAW  Federal  News  Service,  JUNE  15,  1995, THURSDAY,  IN  THE  NEWS,  1291  words Return  to  List 1  of  2  DOCUMENTS Federal  News  Service DECEMBER  14,  1995,  THURSDAY PREPARED  STATEMENT  OF C.  STAN  EURY ON  BEHALF  OF  THE NATIONAL  COUNCIL  OF  AGRICULTURAL  EMPLOYERS  AND  THE AMERICAN  ASSOCIATION  OF  NURSERYMEN BEFORE  THE  HOUSE  COMMITTEE  ON  AGRICULTURE IN  COOPERATION  WITH  SUBCOMMITTEE  ON  IMMIGRATION AND  CLAIMS,  HOUSE  COMMITTEE  ON  THE  JUDICIARY SECTION:  IN  THE  NEWS LENGTH:  4907  words Mr.  Chairman  and  Members  of  the  Agriculture  and  Judiciary  Committees: My  name  is  C.  Stan  Eury.  I  am  President  of  the  North  Carolina  Growers  Association,  Inc.  and  Chairman  of  the Immigration  and  H-­2A  Committee  of  the  National  Council  of  Agricultural  Employers  (NCAE).  I  am  testifying  today on  behalf  of  NCAE  and  on  behalf  of  the  American  Association  of  Nurserymen  (AAN).  NCAE  is  a  Washington,  D.C. based  national  association  representing  growers  and  agricultural  organizations  on  agricultural  labor  and employment  issues.  NCAE's  membership  includes  growers,  packers,  processors,  farm  cooperatives  and agricultural  associations,  in  all  50  states,  who  employ  about  75  percent  of  the  nation's  agricultural  workforce.  The American  Association  of  Nurserymen  is  the  national  voice  for  the  nursery  industry.  AAN  directly  represents  nearly 2500  nursery  crop  growers,  landscape  firms  and  retail  garden  centers,  and  through  the  membership  of  state  and regional  nursery  associations,  represents  an  additional  16,000  family  farms  and  small  businesses.  Nursery  and greenhouse  crops  account  for  II  percent  of  all  U.S.  farm  crop  cash  receipts.  Horticultural  specialties  growers  had hired  labor  expenses  of  $2.5  billion  in  1992,  which  represented  more  than  45  percent  of  their  total  farm  production expenses.   My  testimony  today  has  three  purposes.  First,  I  want  to  describe  for  you  the  experience  of  the  North  Carolina Growers  Association  in  using  the  H-­2A  program  to  persuade  you  that  the  program  must  be  radically  restructured if  it  is  to  meet  the  temporary  and  seasonal  labor  needs  of  American  agriculture.  Secondly,  I  will  describe  for  you  the efforts  the  North  Carolina  Growers  Association  makes  to  recruit  U.S.  workers  to  try  to  persuade  you  that  there are  not  sufficient  U.S.  workers  available  to  meet  our  need  for  temporary  and  seasonal  labor.  Third,  I  want  to  outline for  you  in  some  detail  the  components  of  a  workable  temporary  and  seasonal  alien  agricultural  worker  program,  as developed  by  NCAE's  Immigration  Committee  over  the  past  18  months.Let  me  set  the  stage  for  my  testimony  by giving  you  some  background  on  myself  and  the  North  Carolina  Growers  Association,  Inc.  I  have  worked  in  the area  of  farm  labor  for  20  years  and  I  consider  myself  a  friend  of  the  farmer  and  the  farmworker.  For  13  years  I  was a  Rural  Manpower  Representative  with  the  Employment  Service  Rural  Manpower  Program  of  the  North  Carolina https://www.nexis.com/search/homesubmitForm.do#0 1 BOOLEAN search.common.threshold.off 1/8 12/20/2015   Employment  Security  Commission  (NCESC).  At  that  time  the  NCESC  had  one  of  the  largest  and  most  progressive agricultural  labor  programs  in  the  nation.  I  worked  on  the  "front  lines",  serving  both  farmers  and  farmworkers  in rural  job  placement  activities. For  the  past  6  years  I  have  worked  in  the  private  sector  as  the  President  of  the  North  Carolina Growers  Association.  The  Association  was  formed  in  1989  to  assist  its  members  to  comply  with  the  Immigration Reform  and  Control  Act  of  1986  with  respect  to  the  hiring  of  a  legal  workforce,  including  assisting  our  members  to use  the  H-­2A  program  to  meet  seasonal  labor  shortages.  NCGA  currently  has  410  grower  members.  Almost  all  of our  members  are  very  small  family  farmers.  Our  average  member  uses  only  about  8  H-­2A  workers.  Many  are  so small  they  cannot  use  workers  full  time  and  share  workers  with  other  members.  Contrary  to  the  oft  expressed opinion  of  the  farmworker  advocates  dedicated  to  killing  the  H2A  program,  our  members  do  not  disdain  employing U.S.  workers  or  prefer  aliens.  The  best  evidence  of  that  is  that  in  addition  to  the  approximately  3600  H-­2A  workers we  employed  in  1995  to  meet  our  peak  needs,  our  members  employ  more  than  2500  U.S.  workers  in  year  'round and  seasonal  jobs. Our  history  with  the  H-­2A  program  since  we  began  in  1989  has  been  one  of  constant  struggle  with  USDOL  and farmworker  legal  advocates.  When  NCGA  was  preparing  to  file  its  first  H-­2A  labor  certification  application  we  were cautioned  by  government  officials  and  H-­2A  users  in  Florida,  Virginia  and  West  Virginia  that  "we  would  be  sued  out of  the  program".  Since  our  second  year  in  the  program,  we  have  been  in  continuous  litigation  with  Farmworker Legal  Services  of  North  Carolina  (FLS).  FLS  has  filed  frivolous  class  action  lawsuits  costing  our  small  family farmers  hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars.  They  continually  threaten  the  NCGA  with  additional  litigation  if  we disagree  with  their  interpretations  of  regulations. In  1994  the  U.S.  Department  of  Labor  orchestrated  a  campaign,  clearly  coordinated  with  FLS,  that  was  intended  to be  the  coup  de  grace  for  the  H-­2A  program  in  North  Carolina  and  elsewhere.  We  have  documentary  evidence  of the  collaboration  between  DOL  and  FLS  and  their  allies.  We  understand  that  the  Administrator  of  the  DOL's  Wage and  Hour  Division  stated  publicly  that  H-­2A  use  would  be  ended  by  the  end  of  the  year.  While  she  failed  to accomplish  that  goal,  DOL  and  farmworker  legal  services  advocates  did  their  best  to  bring  it  about. The  attack  on  the  NCGA  H-­2A  program  in  1994  was  initiated  by  requiring  the  NCGA  to  travel  to  Florida  for  positive recruitment  on  an  unprecedented  3-­day  itinerary  to  six  different  Florida  Job  Service  offices.  This  requirement  was imposed  in  spite  of  overwhelming  evidence,  based  on  past  recruitment,  that  such  efforts  are  costly  and  ineffective. Under  pressure  from  Washington,  USDOL  and  the  Florida  Job  Service  undertook  a  massive  TV,  newspaper,  radio and  call-­in  recruitment  campaign  to  run  concurrently  with  our  recruitment  visit.  In  addition,  the  Florida  Job  Service, through  a  Florida  JTPA  402  grantee,  offered  to  advance  transportation  funds  to  North  Carolina  to  any  worker  who would  accept  an  NCGA  job.  In  spite  of  all  these  efforts  the  Florida  Job  Service  was  only  able  to  refer  20  workers. We  offered  all  of  them  jobs.  The  results:  16  workers  never  reported  to  work,  in  spite  of  having  their  transportation paid,  and  the  remaining  four  all  abandoned  the  job  within  30  days.  The  administrative  cost  to  the  NCGA  for  this effort  was  approximately  $6000.  The  government's  cost,  including  Florida  Job  Service  staff  time,  USDOL  Region  IV staff  time,  USDOL  National  Office  staff  time,  JTPA  grantee  staff  time,  JTPA  discretionary  funds  used  to  give  bus tickets  to  job  applicants,  and  travel  and  phone  expenses,  even  by  conservative  estimate  must  have  exceeded $50,000. We  do  not  know  how  much  of  the  $200,000  earmarked  for  paying  workers  transportation  to  North  Carolina  was actually  used  to  give  away  tickets.  It  was  such  a  waste  of  taxpayers  money  we  probably  never  will  know.  Where  all those  workers  traveled  with  that  money  is  also  a  mystery,  since  only  4  reported  for  work  in  North  Carolina.  When we  expressed  our  concern  to  the  head  of  the  JTPA  402  program  in  Washington,  his  response  was  that  "$200,000 is  just  a  drop  in  the  bucket".  We  strongly  disagree.  Ironically,  it  is  apparent  that  at  least  four  of  the  workers  referred from  Florida  and  travelling  on  JTPA  402  funds,  were  illegal  aliens. The  next  phase  of  the  attack  on  NCGA  was  to  make  massive  referrals  of  inexperienced  and  unqualified  workers from  Puerto  Rico  in  an  attempt  to  block  our  labor  certifications.  The  Puerto  Rican  Department  of  Labor  proved themselves  totally  incompetent  in  the  selection  and  referral  of  workers  to  our  job  orders.  As  a  result,  our  members suffered  financially  and  emotionally. The  primary  reason  for  the  poor  performance  of  the  workers  referred  by  PRDOL  was  the  total  lack  of  any screening.  This  was  evidenced  by  the  relatively  few  real  farmworkers  referred.  We  were  told  by  the  workers themselves  that  the  were  "plucked  from  the  unemployment  line"  and  informed  that  they  were  going  to  North Carolina  or  would  lose  their  benefits.  Our  troubles  began  when  PRDOL  informed  us  just  before  our  starting  date that  the  workers  would  be  two  weeks  late  arriving. When  the  workers  finally  did  depart  Puerto  Rico,  further  complications  were  caused  by  the  infiltration  of  union organizers.  Upon  arrival  at  the  Miami  airport  the  workers  were  met  by  worker  advocates  opposed  to  the  H-­2A program  who  proceeded  to,  as  described  by  a  DOL  official  who  was  on  the  scene,  nearly  incite  the  workers  to  riot. Although  PRDOL  says  they  ascertained  at  departure  that  all  workers  had  money  for  the  bus  fare  to  North  Carolina, suddenly  approximately  50  percent  of  the  worker  claimed  they  had  no  money  and  refused  to  board  the  buses.  I was  awakened  in  the  middle  of  the  night  with  the  news  of  the  situation  in  Miami.  After  tense  negotiations,  NCGA agreed  to  pay  the  cost  of  the  busses  from  Miami.  (NCGA  was  subsequently  reimbursed  for  the  expense  by https://www.nexis.com/search/homesubmitForm.do#0 1 BOOLEAN search.common.threshold.off 2/8 12/20/2015   PRDOL).I  was  stunned  by  what  I  witnessed  when  the  workers  arrived  in  North  Carolina  the  next  morning.  A significant  portion  of  the  workers  were  under  the  influence  of  alcohol,  several  exhibiting  obvious  signs  of drunkenness.  One  worker  had  consumed  so  much  alcohol  he  went  into  convulsions  as  a  result  of  alcohol  poisoning and  had  to  be  evacuated  by  EMS.  We  gave  this  worker  another  chance  after  his  release  from  the  hospital  and place  him  in  a  job.  He  was  terminated  several  days  later  for  stealing  other  workers'  food  and  vomiting  in  the  camp and  refusing  to  clean  it  up.  Three  weeks  later  the  same  worker  stood  before  TV  cameras  to  impugn  our  reputation, saying  he  had  to  leave  the  job  for  lack  of  work. Shortly  thereafter  USDOL  informed  us  they  were  reducing  the  number  of  workers  on  our  next  certification application  by  228  workers  because  more  workers  had  been  found  to  be  available  in  Florida  and  Puerto  Rico.  We strenuously  objected  to  this  action  based  on  the  previous  experience  with  these  referrals.  Our  fears  were  soon realized  when  we  were  informed  that  PRDOL  had  misunderstood  the  starting  date  and  these  workers  would  also be  arriving  two  weeks  late.  Ultimately,  only  38  workers  arrived  from  Puerto  Rico  and  none  from  Florida,  leaving  us 190  workers  short.  This  pattern  continued  throughout  the  remainder  of  our  season. Meanwhile,  the  situation  on  our  farms  approached  a  state  of  siege.  Throughout  the  season  our  growers  and  their workers  were  repeatedly  visited  or  investigated  on-­site  by  officials  of  the  U.S.  Department  of  Labor's  ETA  and  ESA national,  regional  and  state  offices,  and  by  officials  of  the  North  Carolina  Employment  Security  Commission.  The level  of  monitoring  went  way  beyond  the  norm  and  was  invasive,  intrusive  and  a  detriment  to  the  conduct  of  normal business.  At  one  point  there  were  more  than  20  government  officials  investigating  our  members  at  the  same  time. Our  farms  were  also  visited  several  times  a  week  by  worker  advocates  from  North  Carolina  Farmworker  Legal Services,  Florida  Rural  Legal  Services,  the  Farmworker  Justice  Fund,  and  CATA,  a  farmworker  union  which  was working  out  of  the  offices  of  the  North  Carolina  Farmworker  Legal  Services.  FLS  personnel  trespassed  on  the private  property  of  our  members  to  solicit  clients  for  potential  lawsuits.  FLS  lawyers  forced  their  way  into  an  NCGA worker  orientation  meeting  and  attempted  to  organize  the  workers  into  a  protest  and  had  to  be  removed  by  law enforcement  officers.  FLS  filed  another  class  action  lawsuit  and  several  administrative  complaints  against  NCGA. With  the  above  as  background,  let  me  report  to  you  the  results  of  our  U.S.  worker  recruitment  for  the  1994  season: We  filed  H-­2A  labor  certification  applications  for  approximately  3100  job  opportunities.  A  total  of  687  persons  were referred  to  our  job  opportunities  and  offered  jobs.  Of  that  number  292  reported  for  work.  Of  the  292  who  reported for  work,  222  abandoned  their  employment,  23  were  terminated  for  lawful  job  related  reasons  and  only  47 completed  the  season.  NCGA  members  reported  to  me  that  19  of  the  workers  who  completed  the  season  should have  been  terminated  for  contract  violations  but  were  not  for  fear  of  retaliation  by  the  government  or  frivolous litigation  from  Legal  Services.I  understand  that  at  the  December  7  hearing  some  witnesses  suggested  that  growers who  faced  a  shortage  of  labor  should  rely  on  more  intensive  recruitment  of  domestic  workers  -­-­  that  there  was  a surplus  of  domestic  workers  to  meet  growers  needs  if  they  were  only  recruited.  I  thought  the  Committee  might  be interested  in  knowing  in  detail  about  the  recruitment  efforts  we  undertook,  and  that  the  North  Carolina  Job  Service and  the  Job  Services  in  other  states  undertook  on  our  behalf,  to  try  to  fill  the  approximately  3600  job  opportunities for  which  we  filed  for  labor  certifications  in  the  1995  season. Recruitment  began  on  February  1  with  the  filing  of  the  first  of  four  H-­2A  labor  certification  application.  The  North Carolina  Job  Service  prepared  local  job  orders  that  were  entered  into  the  state's  computerized  job  bank.  The  Job Service  also  began  a  call-­in  program,  sending  written  notices  of  our  job  openings  to  all  applicants  in  their  computer registered  for  work  under  farmworker  occupational  codes.  In  addition,  the  Job  Service  put  up  posters  in  Job Service  offices  to  alert  walk-­in  applicants  of  our  job  opportunities  and  sent  outreach  workers  to  visit  farmworkers  in local  communities  to  advertise  the  job  openings.  Approximately  two  weeks  after  the  filing  of  our  order,  it  accepted by  the  region  and  "cleared"  to  other  potential  supply  states.  In  1995  our  job  orders  were  cleared  to  Puerto  Rico, California,  Texas,  Florida,  South  Carolina,  Georgia,  Alabama,  Mississippi,  Tennessee  and  New  York  for  active recruitment  by  the  Job  Service  offices  in  these  states.  Florida,  according  to  the  Labor  Department  a  traditional "supply"  state,  took  additional  steps  to  locate  workers  for  our  orders.  These  included  advertising  the  job  openings via  radio  and  television  public  service  announcements,  entering  into  an  agreement  with  JTPA  to  operate  a  program to  provide  transportation  to  any  worker  who  accepted  an  H-­2A  job,  and  recruiting  JTPA  farmworker  training grantees  and  other  migrant  service  organizations  in  Florida  to  advertise  our  job  openings  among  their  members and  clients. NCGA  members  advertised  the  job  openings  by  word  of  mouth  among  current  and  former  employees,  perhaps  the least  sophisticated,  but  still  the  most  effective  farm  worker  recruiting  mechanism.  NCGA  staff  and  volunteer intermediaries  placed  posters  advertising  the  jobs  in  places  frequented  by  farmworkers.  NCGA  advertised  in statewide  newspapers  and  on  local  radio  in  North  Carolina,  and  in  English  and  Spanish  in  newspapers  in Immokalee,  Homestead  and  Belle  Glade,  Florida.  NCGA  also  circulated  the  job  order  to  the  North  Carolina  JTPA grantee,  North  Carolina  Farmworker  Legal  Services  and  Catholic  Outreach  Services  and  requested  they  share  the information  with  other  migrant  organizations  of  which  they  are  aware. This  process,  including  the  advertising,  was  repeated  for  each  of  our  four  job  orders.  Active  recruitment  continued from  the  beginning  of  February  until  the  beginning  of  September,  a  seven  month  period.  In  the  entire  period  572 persons  expressed  interest  in  the  jobs  and  were  scheduled  for  telephone  interviews,  but  only  299  reported  for  the interviews.  Two  workers  refused  the  job  after  the  interview  and  the  remaining  297  were  hired.  Of  the  297  hired, https://www.nexis.com/search/homesubmitForm.do#0 1 BOOLEAN search.common.threshold.off 3/8 12/20/2015   only  152  reported  for  work  and  only  14  completed  the  season.  The  workers  who  actually  reported  for  work  worked an  average  of  39  days  of  a  218-­day  contract  period.I  have  described  the  experience  of  the  NCGA  with  the  H-­2A program  in  some  detail.  While  the  experience  of  other  users  is  different  in  detail,  NCGA's  experience  is  by  no means  unique.  Many  users  of  the  program  have  faced  the  bureaucratic  harassment  and  ineptitude  and  crushing litigation  that  is  endemic  to  the  program.  This  has  led  even  the  long-­time  users  of  the  program,  who  in  1986 attempted  to  streamline  and  fine-­tune  the  H-­2  program  in  creating  the  H-­2A  program,  to  conclude  that  the  program is  irretrievably  broken  and  must  be  radically  restructured.  The  current  H-­2A  program  is  responsible  for  admission  of fewer  than  17,000  workers  annually  into  the  United  States.  The  program  cannot  even  effectively  meet  that  need. The  program  and  the  agencies  which  administer  it  would  be  totally  incapable  of  expanding  the  program  to  meet  the needs  placed  upon  it  by  meaningful  reform  of  illegal  immigration. About  18  months  ago,  as  a  result  of  the  history  I  have  recited  above  and  many  other  similar  events,  it  became apparent  to  us  and  many  other  NCAE  members  and  users  of  the  H2A  program  that  the  program  was  in  the  process of  being  rendered  totally  unworkable  through  a  coordinated  campaign  by  the  U.S.  Department  of  Labor  and farmworker  legal  advocates.  Concurrently,  concern  about  the  continued  high  level  of  illegal  immigration  into  the United  States  and  the  failure  of  IRCA  to  control  it  was  leading  both  Congress  and  the  Administration  to  seek  new, more  effective  control  measures.  And  increased  INS  activity  and  anecdotal  information  from  knowledgeable sources  made  it  apparent  to  those  of  us  in  agriculture  that  our  temporary  and  seasonal  work  force  was  once  again heavily  populated  with  persons  not  legally  entitled  to  work  in  the  United  States.  False  documents  of  a  sufficiently high  quality  that  they  met  the  test  of  reasonably  appearing  to  be  genuine  were  readily  available.  Employers  could not  question  these  documents  without  risking  discrimination  penalties  from  the  Justice  Department's  Office  of  the Special  Counsel.  Finally,  continued  expansion  in  the  production  of  labor  intensive  fruit,  vegetable  and  horticultural specialty  crops  was  occurring,  particularly  in  areas  of  the  country  that  had  not  previously  produced  labor  intensive crops. The  members  of  NCAE  could  see  a  potential  disaster  developing  for  the  agricultural  industry  if  effective  immigration control  measures  withdrew  a  significant  portion  of  the  agricultural  work  force  even  as  production  of  labor  intensive commodities  was  expanding.  We  began  discussions  on  a  new  approach  to  admission  of  temporary  and  seasonal alien  agricultural  workers  to  replace  the  illegal  alien  workforce  soon  to  be  rendered  unemployable  by  the  new legislation. We  began  by  setting  out  the  criteria  that  a  workable  temporary  and  seasonal  alien  program  must  meet. These  criteria  included  the  following: 1.  The  program  must  be  "user  friendly".  This  means  that  it  must  enable  employers  to  secure  an  adequate  and timely  labor  force  with  a  minimum  of  bureaucratic  impediments.  2.  The  program  must  be  structured  to  ensure responsiveness  to  changes  in  labor  need  and  supply  by  ensuring  the  availability  of  labor  on  short  notice. 3.  The  program  must  enable  employers  to  employ  labor  at  costs,  including  wages,  benefits  and  cost  of  program administration,  that  enable  them  to  remain  competitive  in  commodity  markets. 4.  The  program  must  protect  access  to  jobs  of  qualified  U.S.  workers  who  wish  to  engage  in  seasonal  agricultural work  at  competitive  wages  and  working  conditions. 5.  The  program  should  minimize  the  opportunities  for  litigation  while  assuring  full  compliance  of  participants  with program  requirements. NCAE's  Immigration  Committee,  which  includes  representatives  from  all  regions  of  the  United  States  and  all commodity  groups,  and  both  H-­2A  users  and  nonusers,  has  worked  for  more  than  a  year  to  craft  the  elements  of  a workable  program  for  admission  of  temporary  and  seasonal  alien  agricultural  labor  that  would  meet  the  above criteria.  I  would  like  to  conclude  my  testimony  by  outlining  the  elements  of  a  workable  temporary  and  seasonal alien  worker  program. We  believe  that  a  workable  program  must  remove  the  Department  of  Labor  from  its  role  as  the  program's gatekeeper  by  eliminating  the  labor  certification  process  and  replacing  it  with  an  attestation  process  similar  to  that adopted  for  the  H-­1B  program  in  the  Immigration  Act  of  1990  and  the  Miscellaneous  and  Technical  Immigration and  Naturalization  Amendments  of  1991.  An  attestation  is,  in  effect,  a  notice  to  the  Department  of  Labor  that  the employer  may  need  to  employ  alien  labor  in  a  particular  occupation,  and  a  promise  by  the  employer  to  comply  with the  requirements  for  employing  such  aliens.  As  it  operates  in  the  H-­1B  program,  and  as  envisaged  in  a  temporary and  seasonal  agricultural  worker  program,  the  employer  submits  a  one-­page  attestation  form  to  the  Department  of Labor.  The  form  is  reviewed  for  completeness  by  the  DOL,  marked  accepted,  and  a  copy  returned  to  the  employer. A  copy  of  the  accepted  attestation  is  submitted  by  the  employer  with  the  employer's  petition  to  INS  for  the admission  of  aliens.  The  turn  around  time  on  H-­1B  attestations  is  about  7  days,  and  we  would  envision  a  similarly rapid  turn  around  in  an  agricultural  worker  program. The  following  are  the  program  requirements  that  NCAE  feels  will  protect  U.S.  farmworkers  and  the  competitive position  of  U.S.  farmers. Employers  should  be  required  to  offer  and  pay  at  least  the  prevailing  wage  rate  in  the  occupation  in  the  area  of intended  employment  to  all  domestic  and  alien  workers  in  an  occupation  for  which  an  attestation  is  filed  in  order  to avoid  adversely  affecting  farm  wages.  If  the  employer  pays  at  least  the  prevailing  wage,  that  means  the  employer's https://www.nexis.com/search/homesubmitForm.do#0 1 BOOLEAN search.common.threshold.off 4/8 12/20/2015   wage  falls  in  the  upper  half  of  the  wage  distribution  for  the  occupation.Employers  should  be  required  to  provide housing  or  a  housing  allowance  when  it  is  the  prevailing  practice  in  the  occupation  and  area  of  employment  to provide  housing  or  a  housing  allowance.  The  circumstances  surrounding  housing  for  temporary  and  seasonal agricultural  workers  varies  widely  from  area  to  area.  In  some  areas  virtually  all  such  workers  are  housed  on  the farms  where  they  work.  In  other  areas  virtually  all  workers  live  off  the  farm.  We  believe  prevailing  practice  is  the best  standard  to  assure  that  domestic  workers  are  not  adversely  affected  by  the  presence  of  alien  labor  but  that growers  are  not  required  to  make  expensive  housing  investments  in  areas  where  adequate  housing  already  exists in  the  community.  We  also  believe  that  if  employers  provide  transportation  arrangements  or  assistance  to  alien workers  they  should  provide  comparable  assistance  to  domestic  workers.  Finally,  we  believe  all  workers  in occupations  in  which  aliens  are  employed  should  be  covered  by  workers  compensation  insurance. We  believe  that  aliens  should  only  be  permitted  to  be  employed  in  agricultural  employment  which  is  temporary  or seasonal  in  nature,  and  that  the  duration  of  such  jobs  should  not  exceed  10  months. We  believe  that  aliens  should  not  be  permitted  to  be  employed  in  job  opportunities  which  are  vacant  because  the former  occupant  is  involved  in  a  strike,  lockout  or  work  stoppage  in  the  course  of  a  labor  dispute. We  believe  that  in  order  to  give  effect  to  the  complaint-­driven  compliance  mechanism  envisioned  in  the  program, employers  who  file  attestations  should  be  required  to  provide  notice  to  employees  in  the  locations  where  aliens  will be  employed,  or  to  their  bargaining  representatives,  of  the  fact  that  the  employer  has  filed  an  attestation  and  the obligations  the  employer  has  agreed  to  as  a  condition  for  employing  aliens. We  believe  that  U.S.  workers  should  have  an  opportunity  to  learn  about  available  temporary  and  seasonal  job opportunities  in  agriculture,  and  that  employers  who  employ  aliens  should  be  required  to  file  a  job  order  with  the local  office  of  the  state  employment  service  offering  the  job  to  qualified  U.S.  workers.  We  also  believe  the  U.S. Department  of  Labor  should  be  permitted  to  disseminate  information  about  the  availability  of  agricultural  jobs  and the  need  for  workers  wherever  it  feels  it  would  be  productive  to  do  so,  without  the  necessity  for  utilizing  the bureaucratic  and  litigious  Interstate  Clearance  System. We  believe  that  U.S.  workers  should  have  first  claim  on  temporary  and  seasonal  agricultural  jobs.  At  the  same time,  we  believe  it  is  important  for  employers  to  be  able  to  staff  their  operations  in  a  timely  manner  and  without  fear that  after  they  have  given  preference  to  U.S.  workers,  that  their  work  force  will  be  disrupted.  Therefore  we recommend  that  employers  be  required  to  give  preference  to  qualified  U.S.  workers  until  5  days  before  the  date workers  are  needed  in  an  occupation,  or  for  the  first  25  days  after  the  job  order  is  filed,  whichever  occurs  later. After  that  they  would  be  permitted  to  fill  untilled  job  opportunities  with  aliens.We  believe  that  all  federal  state  and local  labor  laws  and  labor  standards  applicable  to  U.S.  workers  should  be  applicable  to  temporary  and  seasonal alien  agricultural  workers  as  well. We  believe  that  rather  than  using  the  labor  certification  process  to  try  to  prevent  admission  of  aliens  at  the  front end,  control  of  the  program  should  be  exercised  at  the  back  end  through  vigorous  enforcement  of  compliance  with program  requirements.  We  believe  that  if  there  is  noncompliance  with  program  requirements,  any  aggrieved  person should  be  able  to  file  a  complaint  with  the  Labor  Department,  including  aliens,  U.S.  workers  and  worker representatives.  Stiff  penalties  should  apply  to  violators,  including  debarment  from  the  program  in  repeat  cases  of willful  violations. We  understand  the  concern  that  a  temporary  worker  program  may  become  a  back  door  to  illegal  immigration,  and we  support  the  controls  necessary  to  prevent  that.  These  should  include  counterfeit-­proof  identification  documents and  penalties  on  aliens  who  violate  the  terms  of  their  admission.  We  also  would  support  a  scheme  for  withholding  a reasonable  portion  of  alien  workers'  wages  for  payment  with  interest  when  the  worker  returns  to  his  home  country in  a  timely  manner,  provided  the  administration  of  such  a  plan  does  not  impose  unreasonable  burdens  on employers  or  the  aliens. However,  I  would  like  to  emphasize  to  the  Committee  that  experience  with  the  H-­2  and  H-­2A  program  has  shown that  if  alien  agricultural  workers  have  a  way  to  enter  and  depart  the  U.S.  legally  to  do  temporary  and  seasonal agricultural  work,  they  are  not  inclined  to  remain  in  the  U.S.  illegally.  Our  experience  with  the  H-­2A  program  has been  that  AWOL  rates  for  aliens  has  been  very  low.  H-­2A  workers  value  their  fight  to  enter  the  country  legally  and are  loathe  to  jeopardize  that  fight  be  violating  the  terms  of  their  admissions.  And  this  is  true  at  a  time  when  it  is easy  for  an  alien  in  the  United  States  to  secure  fraudulent  documents  and  remain  in  this  country.  If  H.R.  2202  is successful  in  ending  that  practice,  the  incentive  for  temporary  alien  workers  to  comply  with  visa  requirements  will be  even  greater. I  am  aware  that  INS  data  apparently  does  not  record  the  departures  of  a  significant  percentage  of  H-­2A admissions,  and  that  some  in  INS  have  claimed  that  this  data  indicates  a  high  level  of  visa  abuse  by  H-­2A  aliens.  In reality,  this  circumstances  is  an  illustration  of  the  appalling  state  of  INS  data  rather  than  the  behavior  of  aliens.  INS is  very  ineffective  in  recording  departures  of  aliens.  This  is  especially  true  of  aliens  who  depart  by  land,  as  most Mexican  H-­2A  workers  do.  We  have  found  that  aliens  listed  by  INS  as  not  having  departed  the  U.S.  have,  in  many cases,  already  secured  visas  in  their  home  countries  and  returned  for  their  next  H-­2A  contract.  When  alien  workers leave  the  country  prematurely  for  reasons  of  illness,  family  emergencies  etc.  and  it  is  necessary  to  make  sure  their departure  is  recorded  so  that  a  replacement  worker  can  be  admitted,  it  often  takes  extraordinary  measures  by  the employer,  including  telephone  calls  to  the  port  of  departure,  to  assure  that  the  alien's  departure  document  gets https://www.nexis.com/search/homesubmitForm.do#0 1 BOOLEAN search.common.threshold.off 5/8 12/20/2015   collected  and  entered  into  INS's  data  bank.  We  believe  that  a  controlled  temporary  worker  admission  program, coupled  with  effective  work  eligibility  verification  requirements  contained  in  the  pending  legislation,  will  assure  that a  temporary  worker  program  will  not  compromise  the  integrity  of  our  immigration  laws. We  believe  that  a  temporary  worker  program  should  be  funded  by  its  users.  We  have  proposed  that  employers  pay an  amount  equivalent  to  the  employer's  share  of  FICA  and  FUTA  taxes  on  the  payrolls  of  temporary  and  seasonal alien  workers  into  a  trust  fund  to  reimburse  the  appropriate  agencies  for  the  costs  of  administration  of  the  program. Finally,  we  believe  the  Attorney  General  should  consult  with  the  Secretary  of  Agriculture  and  the  Secretary  of  Labor in  developing  and  administering  the  program,  and  that  the  Secretary  of  Agriculture  should  have  the  authority  to review  regulations  of  the  Secretary  of  Labor  and  the  Attorney  General  governing  the  operation  of  the  program. Mr.  Chairman,  others  here  today  will  testify  about  the  importance  of  a  sufficient  supply  of  temporary  and  seasonal labor  at  competitive  cost  to  the  U.S.  economy  and  especially  to  U.S.  workers  in  agriculture  and  agribusiness  jobs. We  support  Congress's  efforts  to  simplify  and  bring  integrity  to  the  employment  verification  process.  In  particular, we  support  reducing  the  number  of  documents  for  employment  verification  purposes,  and  we  can  support verification  of  those  documents  if  the  process  is  simple  and  does  not  impose  added  liability  on  employers.  We  are convinced  it  is  possible  to  accomplish  the  goal  of  H.R.  2202  of  goals  of  giving  integrity  to  our  nation's  immigration laws  and  protecting  the  U.S.  workforce  without  imposing  economic  hardship  on  our  nation's  farmers  and agribusiness  workers.  It  is  in  the  U.S.  national  interest  to  participate  in  the  worldwide  growth  in  the  labor  intensive agricultural  industry.  It  is  in  the  U.S.  national  interest  to  have  a  workable  temporary  and  seasonal  agricultural worker  program. LOAD-­DATE:  December  16,  1995 LANGUAGE:  ENGLISH Copyright  1995  Federal  Information  Systems  Corporation Return  to  List 2  of  2  DOCUMENTS Federal  News  Service JUNE  15,  1995,  THURSDAY PREPARED  TESTIMONY  OF C.  STAN  EURY PRESIDENT NORTH  CAROLINA  GROWERS  ASSOCIATION,  INC. VASS,  NORTH  CAROLINA FARM  BUSINESS  COALITION BEFORE  THE  HOUSE  COMMITTEE  ON  THE  JUDICIARY SUBCOMMITTEE  ON  COMMERCIAL  AND  ADMINISTRATIVE  LAW SECTION:  IN  THE  NEWS LENGTH:  1291  words Good  morning,  Mr.  Chairman  and  members  of  the  Subcommittee.  My  name  is  Start  Eury  and  I  am  appearing before  you  today  both  in  my  capacity  as  President  of  the  North  Carolina  Growers  Association,  Inc.  and  on  behalf of  the  Farm  Business  Coalition. I  bring  to  you  my  personal  and  professional  experiences  from  a  unique  perspective,  I  have  worked  in  the  area  of farm  labor  for  20  years  and  I  consider  myself  a  friend  of  the  farmer  and  the  farmworker.  I  worked  as  a  government employee  for  13  years  in  the  Employment  Service  Rural  Manpower  Program  and  I  have  worked  in  the  private sector  for  the  last  6  years  as  President  of  the  North  Carolina  Growers  Association. While  employed  as  a  Rural  Manpower  Representative  for  the  North  Carolina  Employment  Security  Commission https://www.nexis.com/search/homesubmitForm.do#0 1 BOOLEAN search.common.threshold.off 6/8 12/20/2015   (NCESC),  I  worked  on  the  "front  lines"  serving  both  farmers  and  farmworkers.  The  NCESC  at  that  time  had  one  of the  largest  and  most  progressive  agricultural  labor  programs  in  the  nation.  I  personally  witnessed  the  destruction  of the  NCESC  Rural  Manpower  Program  by  Farmworkers  Legal  Services  of  North  Carolina  (FLS),  a  Legal  Services Corporation  (LSC)  grantee.   The  NCESC  administered  a  very  successful  interstate  clearance  system.  The  clearance  system  is  a  procedure  by which  agricultural  employers  place  job  orders  into  an  interstate  job  bank  system  operated  by  cooperating  state employment  services  who  then  actively  recruit  in  labor  supply  areas.  The  recruitment  encompasses  multistate regions  and  is  a  very  effective  method  of  matching  job  seekers  and  employers.  The  clearance  system  was beneficial  to  farmworkers  in  that  it  provided  them  with  current  employment  and  crop  information  in  local  and  out  of state  areas.  Workers  could  then  choose  their  out  of  state  job  from  a  variety  of  orders  placed  in  the  system  by employers.  This  system  provided  farmworkers  with  improved  continuity  of  employment  and  a  choice  in  crops, wages  and  benefits. The  NCESC  was  extending  about  300  clearance  orders  containing  6000  job  openings  in  1981,  providing  current job  information  and  placement  to  thousands  of  farmworkers. FLS  began  to  litigate  against  the  NCESC  and  the  employers  using  the  system,  attempting  to  "reform"  the  system according  to  their  agenda.  By  1985  the  clearance  system  collapsed  under  the  weight  of  that  litigation  and  the number  of  orders  in  the  system  dropped  to  only  a  few.  FLS  effectively  killed  the  best  system  for  the  interstate  and intrastate  recruitment  of  farmworkers. During  this  same  time  period  the  NCESC  Rural  Manpower  Program  was  the  primary  administrator  of  migrant housing  inspections  in  North  Carolina.  The  NCESC  was  repeatedly  sued  over  its  "interpretations"  of  the  housing standards  and  eventually  was  forced  to  change  its  rules  and  procedures  so  drastically-­that  the  NCESC  was  unable and  unwilling  to  continue  a  housing  inspection  program. The  NCESC  inspected  over  600  migrant  housing  facilities  in  1982.  By  1985  they  only  inspected  a  handful.  The effect  of  this  legal  service  action  was  significantly  fewer  housing  units  inspected  and  licensed  for  farmworkers. As  a  direct  result  of  this  litigious  pummeling,  the  leadership  of  the  NCESC  began  to  de-­emphasize  farmworker programs  to  avoid  the  unrelenting  lawsuits  initiated  by  FLS.  Farmers  and  farmworkers  have  suffered  as  a  result. Today  FLS  is  still  a  threat  to  the  employment  service  and  it  regularly  attempts  to  dictate  NCESC  policy.  Policy should  be  at  the  discretion  of  the  public  servants  entrusted  with  administering  the  services  not  by  FLS.  Activities  of this  nature  are  not  legal  services  for  the  poor  but  misguided  social  engineering  by  "legal  services  activists." The  North  Carolina  Growers  Association  consists  of  400  grower/members  who  use  the  H-­2A  temporary agricultural  worker  program  to  supplement  our  labor  force  when  there  is  an  insufficient  supply  of  US.  workers  to  fill our  needs.  We  support  the  effort  to  control  illegal  immigration  and  have  chosen  this  often  difficult  program  which insures  we  have  adequate  and  legal  workers  to  harvest  our  crops.  The  NCGA's  membership  is  composed  primarily of  small  family-­owned  farms.  We  are  known  to  offer  the  best  job  opportunities  in  North  Carolina  and  have  a reputation  of  maintaining  a  higher  level  of  compliance  with  all  labor  laws  than  the  non-­H2A  community.  It  is  against the  law  to  employ  illegal  aliens  and  we  have  attempted  to  comply  with  that  law  by  using  a  program,  that  was drafted  by  this  committee,  and  sanctioned  by  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  specifically  for  the  purpose  of controlling  illegal  immigration.  It  is  a  well  known  fact  that  it  is  not  the  presence  of  H2A  workers,  but  the  presence  of illegal  aliens  that  has  the  greatest  negative  impact  on  the  wages  and  working  conditions  of  US.  workers. Nonetheless  FLS  has  overtly  attempted  to  litigate  the  users  of  this  program  out  of  existence.  I  am  here  to  document its  negative  affect  on  farmers  and  farmworkers  alike. In  1989  the  North  Carolina  Growers  Association,  Inc.  was  formed.  Our  goal  was  comply  with  the  Immigration Reform  and  Control  Act  of  1986  with  respect  to  the  hiring  of  a  legal  workforce.  We  accomplished  this  by participating  in  the  H-­2A  guestworker  program.  We  were  cautioned  from  the  beginning  by  government  officials  and H-­2A  users  in  Florida,  Virginia  and  West  Virginia  that  "we  would  be  sued  out  of  the  program". Since  our  second  year  in  the  program  we  have  been  in  constant  litigation  by  FLS  and  have  come  very  near extinction.  FLS  has  filed  frivolous  class  action  lawsuits  costing  our  small  family  farmers  hundreds  of  thousands  of dollars.  They  continually  threaten  the  NCGA  with  additional  litigation  if  we  disagree  with  their  interpretations  of  the regulations.  The  only  reason  we  remain  in  the  program  is  because  we  have  no  other  way  to  find  sufficient  legal workers. Last  season  the  FLS  orchestrated  a  campaign  in  concert  with  the  U.S.  Department  of  Labor  (DOL)  that  was  to  be the  coup  de  grace  for  the  NCGA  and  a  message  to  all  other  users  -­  FLS  will  not  allow  the  H-­2A  program  to  work. This  pact  between  DOL  and  FLS  to  discourage  the  use  of  the  H-­2A  program  is  evidenced  by  the  memo  (exhibit  #1 attached).  Maria  Echeveste,  administrator  of  the  DOL's  Wage  Hour  Division  and  an  FLS  sympathizer,  stated publicly  that  she  intended  to  end  the  H-­2A  program.  (an  agenda  planned  and  directed  by  FLS).During  the  1994 attack  on  the  NCGA,  the  FLS  trespassed  on  the  private  property  of  our  members  to  solicit  clients  for  potential lawsuits.  They  engaged  in  unionizing  activities  by  providing  office  space  and  directing  CATA  (a  farmworkers  union) from  FLS  offices.  FLS  lawyers  forced  their  way  into  an  NCGA  worker  orientation  meeting  and  attempted  to organize  the  workers  into  a  protest  and  had  to  be  removed  by  law  enforcement  officers.  FLS  filed  another  class action  lawsuit  and  several  administrative  complaints  against  the  NCGA. In  conclusion  it  is  obvious  that  FLS  has  now  and  in  the  past  pursued  a  social  agenda  that  is  not  consistent  with  its https://www.nexis.com/search/homesubmitForm.do#0 1 BOOLEAN search.common.threshold.off 7/8 12/20/2015   charter.  This  misuse  of  funds  has  proven  detrimental  to  farmers,  the  government  and  even  farmworkers.  I  strongly believe  that  it  is  unfair  for  a  taxpayer-­  funded  organization  like  the  Legal  Services  Corporation  to  pursue  their  own agendas  without  proper  controls. The  decision  to  come  before  you  to  testify  has  been  a  difficult  one.  FLS  has  been  relentless  in  their  attack  on  the NCGA.  I  have  little  doubt  that  they  will  retaliate  against  me  for  testifying,  I  feel  I  have  come  here  to  fall  on  my sword.  Because  of  the  importance  of  this  issue  I  will  suffer  the  consequences  of  my  testimony.  I  consider  myself an  advocate  for  farmers  and  farmworkers.  Based  on  my  personal  experiences  I  believe  that  you  must  seriously reform  or  eliminate  the  Legal  Services  Corporation. ####  END LOAD-­DATE:  June  17,  1995 LANGUAGE:  ENGLISH Copyright  1995  Federal  Information  Systems  Corporation https://www.nexis.com/search/homesubmitForm.do#0 1 BOOLEAN search.common.threshold.off 8/8 12/20/2015   1.   Results House  panel  begins  debating  health,  tobacco  trust  funds  The  Associated  Press  State  &  Local  Wire,  June  21,  1999, Monday,  AM  cycle,  National  Political,  363  words,  By  DENNIS  PATTERSON,  Associated  Press  Writer Return  to  List 1  of  1  DOCUMENT The  Associated  Press  State  &  Local  Wire These  materials  may  not  be  republished  without  the  express  written  consent  of  The Associated  Press June  21,  1999,  Monday,  AM  cycle House  panel  begins  debating  health,  tobacco  trust  funds BYLINE:  By  DENNIS  PATTERSON,  Associated  Press  Writer SECTION:  National  Political LENGTH:  363  words DATELINE:  RALEIGH As  tobacco  farmers  and  health  advocates  watched,  a  special  House  committee  began  debating  how  to  divide  the $  4.6  billion  the  state  expects  to  get  from  a  national  settlement  with  cigarette  companies. Subcommittees  on  tobacco  and  health  programs  already  have  proposed  giving  two  trust  funds  for  their  interests more  money  up  front,  taking  money  from  a  charitable  foundation  to  help  tobacco-­related  communities. But  the  full  Select  Committee  on  the  Tobacco  Settlement  has  yet  to  approve  the  early  payments  that  would  leave little  money  in  the  early  years  for  the  foundation.   "If  you  vote  to  fairly  front-­load  the  trust  funds,  the  farmers  will  build  the  economy,"  Stan  Eury  of  the  North  Carolina Growers  Association  told  the  panel. "Why  are  we  front-­loading  health  care?"  he  asked.  "The  farmers  want  to  know  why  they're  not  being  supported  by this  body. "We  are  at  the  mercy  of  the  weather;;  we  are  at  the  mercy  of  market  conditions;;  and  we  are  at  the  mercy  of  this body,"  he  said.  "Don't  sell  our  heritage  short." "I  guess  we  were  a  little  politically  naive  to  assume  that  if  we  could  get  the  tobacco  subcommittee  to  front-­load  the funds  that  the  health  subcommittee  would  not  try  the  same  thing,"  said  Billy  Carter  of  the  North  Carolina  Tobacco Growers  Association. Legislators  in  March  agreed  to  set  aside  50  percent  of  the  settlement  funds  for  the  charitable  foundation,  with  25 percent  going  to  a  tobacco  trust  fund  and  25  percent  to  a  trust  fund  for  health  programs. But  the  subcommittees  over  the  last  two  weeks  have  shifted  the  formula  so  that  most  of  the  money  through  2005 would  go  to  the  two  trusts.  Farmers  have  argued  they  need  more  money  up  front  because  the  amount  of  tobacco they  are  allowed  to  grow  has  been  reduced  by  35  percent  over  the  last  two  years. The  select  committee  Monday  approved  guidelines  for  establishing  the  health  care  trust  fund,  including  an amendment  that  would  soften  language  about  the  bad  health  effects  of  tobacco. https://www.nexis.com/search/homesubmitForm.do#0 51 BOOLEAN search.common.threshold.off 1/2 12/20/2015   And  it  began  considering  amendments  on  guidelines  for  the  tobacco  trust  fund. But  it  did  not  directly  address  the  front-­loading  issue,  which  could  come  up  when  the  committee  meets  again  later this  week. LOAD-­DATE:  June  21,  1999 LANGUAGE:  ENGLISH Copyright  1999  Associated  Press   All  Rights  Reserved https://www.nexis.com/search/homesubmitForm.do#0 51 BOOLEAN search.common.threshold.off 2/2 12/20/2015   1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.   Results House  Judiciary  Subcommittee  on  Immigration  and  Border  Security  Hearing;;  H.R.1773,  the  "Agricultural  Guestworker Act,"  to  create  a  nonimmigrant  H-­2C  work  visa  program  for  agricultural  workers.;;  Testimony  by  Lee  Wicker,  Deputy Director,  North  Carolina  Growers  Association  Congressional  Documents  and  Publications,  May  16,  2013,  U.S.  HOUSE OF  REPRESENTATIVES  DOCUMENTS,  1493  words Southeast  farm  leaders  ask  for  guestworker  program  reforms  Southeast  Farm  Press,  March  12,  2012,  1744  words,  Paul Hollis Farmers  still  seek  guest-­worker  program;;  Nationwide  farmers  employ  about  1.2  million  illegal  immigrants  Grand  Forks Herald  (includes  Agweek)  (North  Dakota),  February  20,  2012  Monday,  NEWS;;  Pg.  43,  663  words,  Michael  Doyle;; Mcclatchy  Newspapers House  Judiciary  Subcommittee  on  Immigration  Policy  and  Enforcement  Hearing;;  "Regional  Perspectives  on  Agricultural Guestworker  Programs.";;  Testimony  by  Lee  Wicker,  Deputy  Director,  North  Caolina  Grower's  Association  Congressional Documents  and  Publications,  February  9,  2012,  U.S.  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES  DOCUMENTS,  1131  words House  Judiciary  Subcommittee  on  Immigration  Policy  and  Enforcement  Hearing;;  "American  Specialty  Agriculture  Act.";; Testimony  by  Lee  Wicker,  Deputy  Director,  North  Carolina  Growers  Association  Congressional  Documents  and Publications,  September  8,  2011,  U.S.  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES  DOCUMENTS,  1671  words House  Judiciary  Subcommittee  on  Immigration  Policy  and  Enforcement  Hearing;;  "The  H-­2A  Visa  Program:  Meeting  the Growing  Needs  of  American  Agriculture?";;  Testimony  by  Lee  Wicker,  Deputy  Director,  North  Carolina  Growers Association  Congressional  Documents  and  Publications,  April  13,  2011,  U.S.  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES DOCUMENTS,  1327  words House  Committee  Ponders  Options  On  Farm  Labor  Needs  National  Journal's  CongressDaily,  October  05,  2007  Friday, AGRICULTURE,  433  words Return  to  List 1  of  7  DOCUMENTS Congressional  Documents  and  Publications May  16,  2013 House  Judiciary  Subcommittee  on  Immigration  and  Border  Security Hearing;;   H.R.1773,  the  "Agricultural  Guestworker  Act,"  to  create  a  nonimmigrant  H-­ 2C  work  visa  program  for  agricultural  workers.;;   Testimony  by  Lee  Wicker,  Deputy  Director,  North  Carolina  Growers Association SECTION:  U.S.  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES  DOCUMENTS LENGTH:  1493  words Good  afternoon  Chairman  Gowdy,  Ranking  Member  Lofgren  and  Committee  members,  I'm  Lee  Wicker,  Deputy Director  of  the  North  Carolina  Growers  Association.  In  addition  to  my  position  with  NCGA,  I  am  also  a  member  of the  Board  of  USA  Farmers,  the  nation's  largest  organization  representing  agricultural  guest  worker  employers. NCGA  and  the  USA  Farmers  Board  support  Chairman  Goodlatte  and  the  cosponsors  of  this  legislation  in  their  PO Box  399  *  Vass,  North  Carolina  28394  *  General@ncgrowers.org  *  (910)  245-­2969  *  Fax  (910)  245-­3891  efforts  to provide  agriculture  with  a  guest  worker  program  that  provides  reliable  access  to  much  needed  farm  labor.  Their ideas  for  reform  offer  a  balanced  approach  to  address  the  many  problems  that  plague  the  H-­2A  program  and farmers,  including  too  much  paperwork,  too  much  bureaucracy,  too  many  regulations  and  too  much  frivolous litigation.  Thank  you  for  holding  this  hearing  on  a  critical  issue  for  labor  intensive  Agriculture.   As  the  largest  H-­2A  Program  user  in  the  nation,  NCGA  currently  has  750  farmer/members  that  will  employ  more https://www.nexis.com/search/homesubmitForm.do#0 26 BOOLEAN search.common.threshold.off 1/15 12/20/2015   than  7500  H-­2A  workers  and  many  thousands  more  U.S.  workers  this  season.  With  more  than  10%  of  the  total agricultural  guestworkers  employed  nationally,  NCGA  has  been  the  largest  program  user  for  more  than  15 consecutive  years.  I  am  proud  of  the  growers  I  work  for  because  they  strive  to  be  the  most  compliant  farmers  in  the nation  when  it  comes  to  the  various  state  and  federal  labor,  employment,  worker  protection  and  immigration  laws. In  previous  hearings  on  this  topic  I've  highlighted  the  chronic  problems  of  the  current  H-­2A  program  that  undermine farmer  confidence  and  make  hiring  illegal  workers  a  better  option:  H-­2A  is  expensive,  overly  bureaucratic, unnecessarily  litigious,  and  excludes  some  farms  and  activities. The  measured  reforms  in  H.R.  1773  go  a  long  way  towards  solving  the  most  onerous  flaws  in  H-­2A  and  creating  a guestworker  program  that  all  agricultural  producers  can  utilize.  This  proposal  is  evidence  the  U.S.  can  have  a workable  farmworker  program  that  treats  workers  well  and  carefully  balances  the  critical  elements  of  worker protections  while  promoting  economic  viability. This  bill  makes  significant  reforms  to  the  prohibitive  program  costs  associated  with  H-­2A  and  the  new  H-­2C program  makes  additional  improvements  in  other  important  areas.  The  bill  provides  for  a  realistic  market  based prevailing  wage  as  a  floor  that  surpasses  the  Federal  minimum  wage.  It  also  authorizes  piece  rate  pay  systems  on top  of  the  super  minimum  wage  to  promote  higher  earnings  as  a  financial  reward  for  increased  worker  productivity. The  new  program  allows  farmers  and  farm  workers  who  benefit  from  working  together  in  the  program  to  share  in the  program  costs  and  it  offers  a  structured  portability  process  enabling  workers  to  move  from  employer  to employer. Importantly,  the  bill  creates  a  streamlined  legal  dispute  resolution  system  to  solve  any  farm  worker  complaints quickly  and  efficiently,  and  makes  farmer  and  worker  obligations  clear  and  understandable.  These  improvements will  provide  a  viable  alternative  to  employing  illegal  aliens  and  will  give  farmers  and  workers  confidence  they  can participate  in  the  H-­2C  program  successfully. This  legislation  maintains  the  long  standing  protection  of  giving  American  workers  preferential  consideration  in obtaining  farm  jobs  by  requiring  farmers  to  solicit  and  hire  U.S.  workers  through  the  local  employment  service  for 30  days  before  the  jobs  begin  -­  prior  to  any  foreign  worker  being  employed.  In  addition,  this  bill  enables  farm workers  currently  employed  on  farms  without  proper  legal  status  to  come  out  of  the  shadows  and  continue  their employment  legally  by  waiving  the  3/10  bar  under  current  law. The  bill  maintains  valuable  employee  benefits  and  critical  worker  protections  for  domestic  and  foreign  workers  like: continuation  of  a  minimum  hours  work  guarantee,  mandatory  workers  compensation  insurance  coverage,  or  state law  equivalent,  for  workplace  injuries,  and  promotes  the  employment  of  US  workers  by  requiring  non-­seasonal  ag employers  to  pay  an  additional  users  fee  for  administration  of  the  new  program. The  bill  allows  farms  that  currently  provide  housing  to  continue  offering  it  as  a  worker  benefit  but  doesn't  prohibit farms  without  housing  from  participating  in  the  program.  It  requires  comprehensive  recordkeeping  and  reporting obligations  similar  to  current  law.  On  average,  I  estimate  the  wage  and  benefit  package  associated  with  this  bill  will cost  NC  farmers,  $10-­$12  per  hour.  If  that  is  the  total  cost  of  the  program  and  those  total  costs  remain  predictable and  reasonable,  then  this  is  a  viable  alternative  to  the  current  program  and  I  think  most  farmers  across  the  country could  use  it. It  should  be  noted  that  the  proposal  imposes  a  robust  enforcement  regime  and  maintains  a  strong  penalty  structure for  violations  and  severe  penalties  for  gross  material  violations  with  oversight  and  enforcement  authority  explicitly provided  to  USDA.  All  the  economic  benefits  and  worker  protections  in  this  bill  will  provide  workers  who  accept these  jobs  assurance  they  will  enjoy  a  higher  wage  and  benefit  package,  a  safer  work  environment,  and  quicker resolution  of  their  grievances  than  if  they  work  on  U.S.  farms  illegally. It  is  clear  there  is  bi-­partisan  bi-­cameral  consensus  that  our  nation  needs  a  modern  and  flexible  future  flow  ag guestworker  program.  This  H-­2C  proposal  encompasses  many  elements  of  the  Senate  Gang  of  Eight  ag  proposal such  as: *  streamlining  the  attestation  based  application  and  having  the  program  administered  by  USDA *  elimination  of  the  unnecessary  and  disruptive  "50%  rule"  from  the  H-­2A  program *  elimination  of  the  expensive  and  virtually  worthless  prescriptive  newspaper  advertisements  required  by  H-­2A https://www.nexis.com/search/homesubmitForm.do#0 26 BOOLEAN search.common.threshold.off 2/15 12/20/2015   *  reduction  in  the  prohibitive  overhead  costs  of  the  current  program  through  savings  on  transportation,  subsistence and  visa  fees *  opening  the  program  to  all  sectors  of  agriculture,  including  some  food  processing *  authorizing  longer  term  visas,  when  needed,  to  respond  to  evolving  ag  production  practices  and  newly  covered sectors *  enabling  current  undocumented  workers  a  means  to  obtain  legal  status  and  keep  working  in  agriculture *  provides  for  both  at  will  and  contract  style  agreements  under  the  new  program  to  allow  workers  and  growers flexibility  to  decide  for  themselves  what  works  best  in  certain  sectors  in  different  parts  of  the  country *  provides  portability  so  that  workers  have  the  ability  to  seek  additional  and/or  alternative  ag  work  opportunities  in the  farm  work  marketplace Although  the  750  farmers  of  NCGA  are  strongly  opposed  to  an  arbitrary  cap  in  a  new  agricultural  worker  program, we  acknowledge  that  the  500,000  per  year  worker  cap  in  the  H-­2C  program  is  far  more  reasonable  than  the woefully  inadequate  112,333  annual  cap  currently  in  the  Senate  bill.  Farmers  prefer  the  program  be  uncapped  to avoid  devastating  economic  losses  that  will  generate  unprecedented  farm  bankruptcies  when  crops  are  lost because  partisan  political  systems  and  administrative  processes  will  never  react  quickly  enough  as  crops  ripen then  rot,  market  opportunities  are  missed,  contracts  with  customers  go  unfilled  and  are  subsequently  lost,  and consumers  are  forced  to  pay  higher  prices  while  their  plates  have  fewer  healthy  fresh  fruits  and  vegetables. While  H.R.  1773  is  not  perfect,  the  NCGA  Board  of  Directors,  all  farmers  using  the  current  program,  voted unanimously  to  support  this  proposal  and  hopes  to  see  some  improvements  and  minor  adjustments  made  as  the bill  makes  its  way  through  the  legislative  process.  It  offers  great  employment  opportunities  and  provides  growers with  a  program  that  is  substantially  more  predictable  and  user  friendly  than  H-­2A.  The  delicate  balance  in  this  bill between  program  improvements  for  farmers  and  worker  benefits  and  protections,  represents  a  win  for  farmers,  a win  for  farm  workers  and  secures  a  safe  food  supply  for  Americans  into  the  future. Passage  of  H.R.1773  will  save  and  help  create  more  jobs  for  Americans  on  the  farm  and  off. I  applaud  Chairman  Goodlatte  and  this  Committee's  leadership  on  this  issue.  There  is  no  time  to  waste;;  the  House should  pass  this  legislation  as  quickly  as  possible  and  send  it  to  the  U.S.  Senate  for  passage. As  our  nation's  long  term  food  production  and  supply  hang  in  the  balance,  Congress  has  a  historic  opportunity, indeed  an  obligation,  to  provide  a  future  flow  program  for  agriculture.  It  is  critical  to  get  this  public  policy  right.  Most U.S.  farmers  cannot  afford  and  many  will  not  survive  another  1986  type  policy  failure. The  H-­2C  program  will  provide  a  fair,  predictable,  efficient  and  affordable  process  for  employing  workers  in agricultural  jobs.  Farmers  and  farm  workers'  want  to  comply  with  labor  and  immigration  laws.  Congress  should pass  the  Agricultural  Guestworker  Act  so  they  can. Read  this  original  document  at:  http://judiciary.house.gov/hearings/113th/05162013_3/Wicker%2005162013.pdf LOAD-­DATE:  May  17,  2013 LANGUAGE:  ENGLISH PUBLICATION-­TYPE:  Report JOURNAL-­CODE:  COSHC Copyright  2013  Federal  Information  and  News  Dispatch,  Inc. Return  to  List https://www.nexis.com/search/homesubmitForm.do#0 26 BOOLEAN search.common.threshold.off 3/15 12/20/2015   2  of  7  DOCUMENTS Southeast  Farm  Press March  12,  2012 Southeast  farm  leaders  ask  for  guestworker  program  reforms BYLINE:  Paul  Hollis LENGTH:  1744  words Strict  immigration  laws Farm  leaders  from  the  Southeast  appeared  recently  before  a  Congressional  Subcommittee  on  Immigration  Policy and  Enforcement  to  offer  their  views  on  improving  guestworker  programs  and  insuring  a  steady  workforce  for  their states'  farmers.  The  hearing  on  "Regional  Perspectives  on  Agricultural  Guestworker  Programs"  was  called  by  the Judiciary  Committee's  Subcommittee  on  Immigration  Policy  and  Enforcement.  Judiciary  Committee  Chairman Lamar  Smith,  a  Texas  Republican,  said  that  while  agriculture  needs  to  hire  hundreds  of  thousands  of  seasonal workers  each  year  to  help  put  food  on  Americans'  tables,  workers  with  better  options  choose  to  work  elsewhere. "That  is  why  many  illegal  immigrant  farm  workers  who  received  amnesty  in  1986  soon  left  the  fields  for  other  jobs  in the  city,"  said  Smith.  "As  the  president  of  the  American  Farm  Bureau  has  stated,  any  new  amnesty  such  as  AgJobs would  have  the  same  result.    Because  of  this,  U.S.  employers  often  face  a  shortage  of  available  American  workers to  fill  seasonal  agricultural  jobs."  Growers  believe  the  U.S.  Labor  Department,  which  largely  administers  the  H-­2A program,  is  hostile  to  them  and  the  program,  he  said.  "Growers  are  also  troubled  by  the  great  cost  of  using  the  H-­ 2A  program,  especially  the  'adverse  effect  wage  rate.'  Growers  have  to  build  free  housing  for  their  guestworkers," he  said.  Smith  said  he  had  introduced  legislation,  "the  American  Specialty  Agriculture  Act,"  that  establishes  an  H-­ 2C  guestworker  program  "responsive  to  the  needs  of  American  growers  and  maintaining  strong  policies  to  protect citizens  and  legal  workers."  The  bill,  he  said,  puts  the  USDA  in  charge  of  the  H-­2C  program,  and  it  is  "attestation-­ based,"  like  the  H-­1B  program  for  highly  skilled  works.  In  addition,  it  requires  growers  to  pay  H-­2C  workers  and American  workers  the  prevailing  wage,  as  required  in  other  guestworker  programs.    "The  bill  allows  growers  to provide  a  housing  voucher  instead  of  actual  housing,  which  can  prove  extremely  burdensome  for  growers  who  may need  foreign  workers  for  only  a  few  weeks  a  year.  "It  also  opens  up  the  H-­2C  program  to  dairies  and  other agricultural  producers  that  cannot  use  the  H-­2A  program  because  they  employ  workers  year-­round."  Finally,  the  bill allows  growers  to  include  binding  arbitration  in  contracts  with  H-­2C  workers  in  order  to  forestall  abusive  and frivolous  litigation,  said  Smith.  He  noted  that  the  recent  report  on  immigrant  labor  from  the  Georgia  Department  of Agriculture  found  that  his  bill  "institutes  an  H-­2C  program  that  will  be  responsive  to  the  needs  of  America's  specialty growers."    Among  the  agriculture  industry  representatives  giving  testimony  was  Georgia  Agriculture  Commissioner Gary  Black,  who  said  the  success  of  his  state's  agricultural  industry  rests  on  a  legal  workforce  that  growers  can  rely on.  "In  my  view,  it  is  not  just  a  labor  issue  but  also  a  food  safety  issue.  We  need  to  make  sure  we  know  who  is  on our  nation's  farms,  and  we  need  to  make  sure  that  America  does  not  become  reliant  on  third-­world  countries  to  put food  on  the  family  tables  across  this  country."  Georgia  is  one  of  several  states,  including  Alabama  and  North Carolina,  that  have  enacted  strict  immigration  reform  laws  that  have  resulted  in  farm  labor  shortages.  After  passing the  law  in  Georgia,  the  state's  legislature  directed  Georgia's  Department  of  Agriculture  to  conduct  a  study  on  the labor  needs  of  agriculture.  "The  survey  revealed  statistics  specifically  addressing  the  need  for  agricultural guestworker  reform.  Twenty-­six  percent  of  survey  respondents  reported  a  loss  of  income  due  to  the  lack  of available  workers.  "Although  only  26  percent  reported  losses,  these  losses  estimated  in  the  excess  of  $10  million. Further  analysis  of  this  statistic  suggests  those  in  the  fruit  and  vegetable  industry  experienced  the  greatest  losses," said  Black.  More  than  50  percent  of  respondents  who  produce  blueberries,  cabbage,  cantaloupe,  cucumbers, eggplant,  peppers,  squash,  tobacco  and  watermelon  reported  income  losses  in  2011  due  to  lack  of  workers,  he added.  "The  survey  also  found  that  while  52  percent  of  the  respondents  did  not  have  issues  finding  full-­time  labor, 21percent  did.  Poor  economy,  loss  of  revenue,  poor  worker  retention,  and  lack  of  workers  were  listed  as  major reasons  for  hiring  fewer  workers  in  2011.  "Similarly,  48  percent  of  respondents  found  their  part-­time  workforce  to  be about  the  same  over  the  last  five  years  while  20  percent  reported  their  workforce  was  smaller."  Producers,  he  said, expressed  both  concern  and  frustration  with  the  eligibility  requirements  of  H-­2A.  In  response  to  why  producers  do not  use  the  H-­2A  program,  40.1  percent  said  the  question  was  not  applicable  to  their  operation.  Many  respondents felt  that  H-­2A  was  too  expensive  and  too  complicated.  More  than  26  respondents  were  not  familiar  with  the https://www.nexis.com/search/homesubmitForm.do#0 26 BOOLEAN search.common.threshold.off 4/15 12/20/2015   program,  and  almost  17  percent  said  they  had  heard  negative  things  about  the  H-­2A  program.  Survey  respondents indicated  it  was  not  difficult  to  retain  experienced  workers  once  hired,  but  it  was  somewhat  difficult  to  find experienced  workers  to  hire.  Shortly  after  the  Georgia  legislation  was  signed  into  law,  said  Black,  producers  began reporting  labor  shortages.  "During  the  month  of  June,  Georgia  Labor  Commissioner  Mark  Butler,  worked  with various  agricultural  associations  to  place  unemployed  Georgians  in  these  positions.  "Even  with  unemployment rates  hovering  around  10  percent,  this  task  was  not  as  easy  as  it  would  seem.  "For  example,  one  Georgia  producer shared  he  had  one  employee  that  worked  half  a  day  one  week  and  two  half-­days  the  next  week.  This  employee earned  a  total  of  $119.  The  employee  walked  off  the  job  and  did  not  return  though  plenty  of  work  was  available.  "In addition,  the  employee  filed  an  unemployment  claim,  and  the  producer  received  notification  that  the  employee  was eligible  for  $235  weekly  benefits  for  17  weeks.  "The  producer  filed  a  timely  appeal,  and  it  was  finally  determined that  he  was  not  responsible.  In  addition  to  harvesting  his  crops  to  earn  a  living,  the  producer  had  to  take  time  to ensure  he  was  not  held  financially  responsible  for  the  employee's  irresponsibility.  "We  have  heard  similar complaints  from  producers  regarding  the  50  percent  rule  of  H-­2A.  I  do  not  believe  employers  should  bear  this unnecessary  burden  as  they  try  to  create  jobs  and  stimulate  our  economy.  Producers  would  rather  employ Americans,  and  this  aspiration  should  not  be  overlooked.  Unfortunately,  the  immediate  reality  trumps  those aspirations."  Developed  pilot  program  The  state's  labor  department  also  worked  with  the  Georgia  Department  of Corrections  to  develop  a  pilot  program  using  probationers  to  fill  Georgia's  agricultural  labor  needs,  but  there  were also  problems  reported  with  that  program.  Black  said  the  first  recommendation  of  his  department's  report  to  the legislature  was  that  first  and  foremost,  agricultural  guestworker  reform  must  start  with  the  federal  government. "From  expanding  eligibility  to  exercising  common  sense  in  writing  rules  for  the  antiquated  program,  only  the  federal government  can  make  this  program  useful  for  farmers.  It  is  yet  to  be  seen  if  H-­2A  can  be  rebranded  to  fulfill  the needs  of  21st  century  agriculture,  but  reforming  the  archaic  program  must  be  a  near  term  priority."  The  study  also indicated  a  need  for  improved  and  expanded  education  and  outreach  to  the  agricultural  industry  about  state  and federal  labor  recruitment  programs.  The  third  and  final  recommendation  highlighted  the  need  for  more  research  to thoroughly  comprehend  Georgia's  agriculture  labor  needs.  Also  speaking  before  the  subcommittee  was  Lee Wicker,  deputy  director  of  the  North  Carolina  Growers  Association  (NCGA).  "As  the  largest  H-­2A  Program  user  in the  nation,  NCGA  has  over  700  farmer  members  who  will  employ  more  than  7,000  H-­2A  workers  and  many thousand  more  U.S.  workers  in  2012.  "I  am  extremely  proud  of  the  farmers  and  farm  workers  of  NCGA  because, working  together,  they  have  refused  to  succumb  to  the  conventional  wisdom  that  it  is  impossible  to  comply  with labor,  immigration  and  worker  protection  laws.  "Instead,  the  farmers  and  workers  of  NCGA  have  committed themselves  to  compliance  and  intend  to  continue  promoting  compliance  and  working  towards  a  level  playing  field for  all  agricultural  employers,"  said  Wicker.  Labor-­intensive  agriculture  can  comply,  compete,  survive  and  thrive  if the  federal  government  would  institute  common-­sense  agriculture  labor  policy  reforms,  he  said.  "American  farmers need  a  reasonable,  rational,  predictable  and  workable  guestworker  program  that  supplies  a  legal,  available  and fairly  compensated  farm  workforce.  "A  guestworker  program  that  actually  works  in  a  reasonable  and  rational manner  is  absolutely  critical  if  our  nation  intends  to  secure  the  future  viability  of  our  farms,  especially  those  that grow  our  fresh  fruits  and  vegetables,"  he  said.  Most  farmers  lack  confidence,  said  Wicker,  that  the  federal  agencies running  the  current  H-­2A  program  will  make  the  required  decisions  on  time  even  when  the  farmers  execute  their responsibilities  perfectly  and  well  in  advance  of  the  deadlines.  Wicker  offered  possible  reforms  to  the  current program,  including  a  rational  wage  rate  linked  to  the  FLSA  minimum  wage  plus  10  to  15  percent  to  help  preclude wage  stagnation;;  binding  mediation  and  arbitration  to  streamline  resolution  of  worker  grievances  and  avoid  costly lawsuits  that  end  up  enriching  lawyers;;  having  farmers  and  workers  who  share  in  the  benefits  of  the  program  also share  some  of  the  fixed  costs  associated  with  the  program;;  simplifying  the  overly  bureaucratic  processes  required to  participate  in  the  program,  which  serves  as  a  disincentive  to  participation;;  and  including  all  sectors  of  agriculture in  the  program  to  encourage  wider  participation,  and  provide  a  path  for  farmers  and  farm  workers  to  comply  with immigration  law.  "In  addition,  any  reforms  must  include  clear  statutory  language  that  explicitly  defines  the  role  and reach  of  administrative  agencies  so  that  farmers  are  not  continually  whipsawed  and  subjected  to  different  legal interpretations  and  regulations  with  every  change  in  the  White  House,"  said  Wicker.  (To  read  about  earlier testimony  on  the  Georgia  labor  situation,  visit  http://southeastfarmpress.com/government/georgians-­testify-­farm-­ labor-­issues).  phollis@farmpress.com LOAD-­DATE:  March  12,  2012 LANGUAGE:  ENGLISH PUBLICATION-­TYPE:  Magazine Copyright  2012  Penton  Business  Media,  Inc All  Rights  Reserved https://www.nexis.com/search/homesubmitForm.do#0 26 BOOLEAN search.common.threshold.off 5/15 12/20/2015   Return  to  List 3  of  7  DOCUMENTS Grand  Forks  Herald  (includes  Agweek)  (North  Dakota) February  20,  2012  Monday Farmers  still  seek  guest-­worker  program;;   Nationwide  farmers  employ  about  1.2  million  illegal  immigrants BYLINE:  Michael  Doyle;;  Mcclatchy  Newspapers SECTION:  NEWS;;  Pg.  43 LENGTH:  663  words WASHINGTON  -­  California  and  Southern  farmers  renewed  their  case  recently  for  some  kind  of  an  agricultural guest-­worker  program,  but  they're  sailing  against  the  wind. Make  that  a  hurricane. Buffeted  by  campaign-­season  currents  and  the  inherent  complications  around  immigration,  the  farmers  this  year face  excruciatingly  long  odds  as  they  seek  a  guest-­worker  goal  that's  eluded  them  since  at  least  1995.  Still,  they lobby  on. "You  have  to  be  optimistic,  don't  you?"  says  Modesto,  Calif-­area  farmer  Paul  Wenger,  president  of  the  California Farm  Bureau  Federation.  "Stranger  things  have  happened."   Wenger  joined  H.  Lee  Wicker,  deputy  director  of  the  North  Carolina  Growers  Association,  and  Georgia Agriculture  Commissioner  Gary  Black  in  urging  a  House  panel  to  overhaul  an  existing  worker  visa  program  and boost  farmers'  access  to  foreign  labor.  Without  the  fix,  they  say,  growers'  problems  will  proliferate. "Experience  shows  us  there  is  no  realistic  prospect  of  a  domestic  work  force  for  agriculture,"  Wenger  told  the House  subcommittee  on  immigration  policy  and  enforcement.  "We  in  California  have  learned  the  hard  way  that  few Americans  seek  agricultural  jobs." Nationwide,  farmers  are  estimated  to  employ  somewhere  between  900,000  and  1.2  million  illegal  immigrants. Farmers  widely  denounce  the  current  program,  called  H-­2A,  which  enables  farmers  to  legally  hire  foreign  workers. Although  North  Carolina  growers  this  year  will  legally  employ  more  than  7,000  foreign  workers  with  H-­2A  visas, Wicker  called  the  program  "costly,  unpredictable  and  administratively  flawed." In  California,  the  nation's  biggest  farm  state,  farmers  only  secure  about  3,500  workers  annually  through  H-­2A.  In Florida  and  Texas  combined,  the  visa  program  provides  a  total  of  only  about  8,600  workers  annually. The  chairman  of  the  House  Judiciary  Committee,  Rep.  Lamar  Smith,  R-­Texas,  agreed  Feb.  9  that  the  current  visa program  is  "plagued  with  problems."  That's  about  where  the  consensus  stops. Citizenship  path  Following  fits  and  starts  in  the  1990s,  advocates  for  farmers  and  farm  workers  in  2003  unveiled  a grand  political  compromise  they  dubbed  Ag  Jobs.  The  measure  would  have  streamlined  H-­2A  and  granted  legal status  to  upward  of  1.5  million  illegal  farm  workers,  potentially  putting  them  on  the  path  toward  U.S.  citizenship. At  one  point,  as  many  as  63  senators  publicly  supported  the  Ag  Jobs  proposal.  In  2007,  though,  congressional https://www.nexis.com/search/homesubmitForm.do#0 26 BOOLEAN search.common.threshold.off 6/15 12/20/2015   efforts  to  move  a  broader  immigration  bill  that  included  Ag  Jobs  collapsed,  in  part  under  weight  of  the  claims  that the  bill  offered  "amnesty." "We  don't  use  the  term  Ag  Jobs'  anymore,"  Wenger  says.  "It  became  so  tainted." For  now,  the  former  Ag  Jobs  alliance  between  farmer  and  farm-­worker  groups  has  broken  apart,  as  farmers  seek H-­2A  reforms  without  the  tradeoff  of  accepting  legalization  and  a  pathway  toward  U.S.  citizenship.  In  turn,  Bruce Goldstein,  who  leads  the  Farmworker  Justice  Fund,  denounced  these  worker  visa  proposals  Feb.  9  as  leading  to "diminished  working  conditions  and  protections  because  ofreduced  government  oversight." This  broken  alliance  significantly  complicates  the  prospects  for  legislation  getting  through  both  the  House  and Senate. Nonetheless,  instead  of  adding  a  guest-­worker  visa  proposal  to  a  larger  but  dormant  immigration  reform  bill, proponents  now  hope  to  add  something  to  a  bill  mandating  the  use  of  the  electronic  E-­Verify  employment verification  system. "Without  something  to  address  agriculture's  needs,  mandatory  E-­Verify  would  simply  destroy  the  agricultural industry,"  warns  Rep.  Zoe  Lofgren,  D-­Calif. In  the  House,  Rep.  Dan  Lungren,  R-­Calif,  has  authored  one  guest-­worker  proposal  that  he  wants  to  add  to  the  E-­ Verify  bill.  Its  prospects  are  uncertain,  as  farm-­worker  advocates  dislike  it  and  committee  head  Smith  has  his  own competing  proposal. Lungren,  in  turn,  has  said  that  a  mandatory  employee  verification  effort  cannot  survive  politically  unless  it  includes satisfactory  guest-­worker  protections  for  agriculture. LOAD-­DATE:  July  11,  2013 LANGUAGE:  ENGLISH PUBLICATION-­TYPE:  Newspaper Copyright  2012  Grand  Forks  Herald. Distributed  by  Newsbank,  Inc.  All  Rights  Reserved Return  to  List 4  of  7  DOCUMENTS Congressional  Documents  and  Publications February  9,  2012 House  Judiciary  Subcommittee  on  Immigration  Policy  and  Enforcement Hearing;;   "Regional  Perspectives  on  Agricultural  Guestworker  Programs.";;   Testimony  by  Lee  Wicker,  Deputy  Director,  North  Caolina  Grower's Association SECTION:  U.S.  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES  DOCUMENTS LENGTH:  1131  words https://www.nexis.com/search/homesubmitForm.do#0 26 BOOLEAN search.common.threshold.off 7/15 12/20/2015   Good  morning  Mr.  Chairman  and  Committee  members  I'm  Lee  Wicker,  Deputy  Director  of  the  North  Carolina Growers  Association.  Thank  you  for  holding  this  hearing  on  a  critical  issue  for  labor  intensive  agriculture. As  the  largest  H-­2A  Program  user  in  the  nation,  NCGA  has  over  700  farmer  members  that  will  employ  more  than 7,000  H-­2A  workers  and  many  thousand  more  U.S.  workers  in  2012.  I  am  extremely  proud  of  the  farmers  and farmworkers  of  NCGA  because,  working  together,  they  have  refused  to  succumb  to  the  conventional  wisdom  that  it is  impossible  to  comply  with  labor,  immigration  and  worker  protection  laws.  Instead,  the  farmers  and  workers  of NCGA  have  committed  themselves  to  compliance  and  intend  to  continue  promoting  compliance  and  working towards  a  level  playing  field  for  all  agricultural  employers.  With  the  dogged  determination  of  the  American  farmer, labor-­intensive  agriculture  can  comply,  compete,  survive  and  thrive  if  the  federal  government  would  institute common  sense  agriculture  labor  policy  reforms. Americans  are  fortunate  to  enjoy  a  safe,  abundant,  and  affordable  food  supply  produced  on  our  nation's  farms.  So fortunate,  in  fact,  that  many  Americans  never  give  a  second  thought  to  the  food  they  consume,  where  it  comes from,  or  what  life  would  be  like  if  our  food  security  and  independence  were  lost.  We  MUST  NEVER  take  farmers, farm  workers  or  our  food  supply  for  granted.   In  order  to  thrive  and  continue  delivering  for  the  U.S.  consumer,  American  farmers  need  a  reasonable,  rational, predictable  and  workable  guestworker  program  that  supplies  a  legal,  available,  and  fairly  compensated  farm workforce.  A  guestworker  program  that  actually  works  in  a  reasonable  and  rational  manner  is  absolutely  critical  if our  nation  intends  to  secure  the  future  viability  of  our  farms,  especially  those  that  grow  our  fresh  fruits  and vegetables. In  previous  testimony  before  this  Committee  I  described  in  detail  the  most  onerous  and  chronic  problems  with  the current  H-­2A  program.  The  current  H-­2A  program  is  costly,  unpredictable,  and  administratively  flawed.  It  is  too expensive,  too  litigious,  and  too  cumbersome.  Most  farmers  lack  confidence  that  the  federal  agencies  running  the program  will  make  the  required  decisions  on  time  even  when  the  farmers  execute  their  responsibilities  perfectly and  well  in  advance  of  the  deadlines. In  my  prior  testimony  I  also  recommended  to  this  Committee  some  practical  and  sustainable  solutions  that agricultural  employers  across  the  nation  agree  will  give  farmers  and  farm  workers  confidence  that  an  agricultural guestworker  program  can  work,  be  predictable,  and  treat  all  parties  fairly.  The  solutions  include:  a  rational  wage rate  linked  to  the  FLSA  minimum  wage  plus  10%  -­-­  15%  to  help  preclude  wage  stagnation;;  binding  mediation  and arbitration  to  streamline  resolution  of  worker  grievances  and  avoid  costly  lawsuits  that  end  up  enriching  lawyers;; having  farmers  and  workers  who  share  in  the  benefits  of  the  program  also  share  some  of  the  fixed  costs  associated with  the  program;;  simplifying  the  overly  bureaucratic  processes  required  to  participate  in  the  program,  which  serves as  a  disincentive  to  participation;;  and  including  all  sectors  of  agriculture  in  the  program  to  encourage  wider participation,  and  provide  a  path  for  farmers  and  farmworkers  to  comply  with  immigration  law.  In  addition,  any reforms  must  include  clear  statutory  language  that  explicitly  defines  the  role  and  reach  of  administrative  agencies so  that  farmers  are  not  continually  whipsawed  and  subjected  to  different  legal  interpretations  and  regulations  with every  change  in  the  White  House. Legislation  to  reform  the  agricultural  guestworker  program  has  been  introduced  in  both  the  House  and  the  Senate in  the  112  th  Congress  by  members  from  both  political  parties.  Chairman  Smith's  ag  guestworker  measure,  the American  Specialty  Agriculture  Act,  adopts  many  of  the  important  and  meaningful  reforms  sought  by  agricultural employers  and  would  be  a  substantial  improvement  over  the  current  program.  For  that  reason,  NCGA  proudly endorsed  that  bill  last  fall. Some  of  the  other  legislative  proposals  being  considered  would  also  make  improvements  to  current  law.  For example,  the  BARN  Act  introduced  by  Representatives  Kingston  and  Westmoreland  of  Georgia  includes  several  of the  improvements  agriculture  employers  have  suggested.  In  addition,  Senator  Chambliss  of  Georgia  has introduced  the  HARVEST  Act  which  also  incorporates  many  of  the  improvements  needed  in  the  guestworker program.  Other  proposals  are  more  narrow  in  scope  and  in  a  very  limited  way  open  the  existing  program  to  specific ag  sectors  like  dairy,  sheep  and  goat  herding.  While  this  in  an  important  reform,  those  narrow  bills  alone  are insufficient  to  deal  with  the  larger  systemic  problems  of  the  current  program. Finally,  there  is  the  current  version  of  the  more  than  12-­year  old  AgJobs  bill  that  seeks  to  legalize  the  current undocumented  farm  workforce  without  adding  a  single  worker  to  an  already  inadequate  agriculture  labor  force  and without  creating  a  sustainable  and  workable  guestworker  program  for  the  future.  Rather  than  improve  the  problems with  the  current  agricultural  guestworker  program,  AgJobs  would  actually  make  many  of  them  worse.  AgJobs,  on https://www.nexis.com/search/homesubmitForm.do#0 26 BOOLEAN search.common.threshold.off 8/15 12/20/2015   balance,  is  a  net  loss  and  certainly  does  not  solve  our  problem.  In  fact,  many  ag  groups  who  have  supported  the AgJobs  proposal  in  the  past  are  not  supporting  it  now. I  applaud  this  Committee  for  their  focus  and  deliberate  work  to  solve  this  crisis.  Your  continued  focus  on  this  issue is  critical.  Unfortunately,  the  issue  of  farm  labor  has  become  linked  to  the  broader  immigration  debate  and  the agriculture  industry  is  being  held  hostage.  It  is  clear  that  amnesty  alone  for  undocumented  workers  did  not  work well  for  farmers  after  it  was  last  granted  in  1986,  and  it  will  not  solve  the  problem  in  the  years  ahead.  Only  a workable  and  predictable  guestworker  program  will  enable  farmers  to  continue  to  plant  and  harvest  crops  and provide  wholesome  food  for  our  nation. This  Congress  has  an  opportunity  and  an  obligation  to  fix  this  problem  or  we  will  continue  to  lose  our  food production  to  foreign  competitors.  NCGA  agrees  with  Representative  Kingston  and  Senator  Chambliss'  efforts  to reform  the  ag  guestworker  program.  NCGA  also  supports  and  appreciates  Chairman  Smith's  efforts  to  level  the playing  field  for  all  agriculture  employers  and  we  endorse  his  approach  to  providing  America's  farmers  with  a practical  and  predictable  guestworker  program. Farmers  and  farmworkers  want  to  comply  with  labor  and  immigration  laws.  Now  is  the  time  for  Congress  to  take strong  action  so  that  they  can. Thank  you  and  I  look  forward  to  your  questions. Read  this  original  document  at:  http://judiciary.house.gov/hearings/Hearings%202012/Wicker%2002092012.pdf LOAD-­DATE:  February  10,  2012 LANGUAGE:  ENGLISH PUBLICATION-­TYPE:  Report JOURNAL-­CODE:  COSHC Copyright  2012  Federal  Information  and  News  Dispatch,  Inc. Return  to  List 5  of  7  DOCUMENTS Congressional  Documents  and  Publications September  8,  2011 House  Judiciary  Subcommittee  on  Immigration  Policy  and  Enforcement Hearing;;   "American  Specialty  Agriculture  Act.";;   Testimony  by  Lee  Wicker,  Deputy  Director,  North  Carolina  Growers Association SECTION:  U.S.  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES  DOCUMENTS LENGTH:  1671  words Good  morning  Mr.  Chairman  and  Committee  Members,  I'm  Lee  Wicker,  Deputy  Director  of  the  North https://www.nexis.com/search/homesubmitForm.do#0 26 BOOLEAN search.common.threshold.off 9/15 12/20/2015   Carolina  Growers  Association.  Thank  you  for  holding  this  hearing  regarding  employment  in  labor  intensive agriculture. Jobs,  Jobs,  Jobs  -­-­  you  hear  it  every  day....we  need  more  jobs  in  America.  We  need  to  create  more  jobs  and protect  the  jobs  we  currently  have.  Not  all  jobs  are  equal.  It  must  be  understood,  that  in  order  to  plant,  tend  and harvest  crops,  farmers  need  temporary,  seasonal  (mostly  unskilled)  labor.  And  for  most  Americans  -­-­  a  temporary, seasonal  job,  paying  under  $10  an  hour,  out  in  the  elements,  performing  physically  demanding  labor  -­-­  these  low skilled  jobs  aren't  what  our  citizens  want  in  order  to  provide  for  themselves  and  their  families.  Americans  want  full time,  permanent  jobs.  And  Agriculture  provides  these  kinds  of  jobs  to  Americans,  too.  In  fact,  H-­2A  has  the potential  to  be  a  great  jobs  program  saving  and  creating  full-­time,  permanent   PO  Box  399  *  Vass,  North  Carolina  28394  *  General@ncgrowers.org  *  (910)  245-­2969  *  Fax  (910)  245-­3891  jobs for  Americans.  We've  seen  in  North  Carolina  how  this  can  work.  The  NC  Growers  Association  is  the  largest  H-­2A program  participant  in  the  country  -­-­  we  currently  have  over  600  farmers  who  employ  over  6000  H-­2A  workers  who perform  seasonal,  temporary  tasks  -­-­  which  then  enables  these  same  600  farmers  to  hire  several  thousand  Legal US  workers  on  their  farms  to  do  permanent,  full-­time,  higher  skills  jobs.  Another  18,000  jobs  can  be  attributed  both upstream  and  downstream  from  the  farm  gate  through  the  economic  impact  of  the  600  NCGA  farmers.  But  in  order for  these  20  to  25  thousand  full  time  permanent  jobs  to  exist,  farmers  need  temporary  seasonal  farm  workers  as well  -­-­  and  for  those  jobs,  farmers  have  two  realistic  options,  navigating H-­2A  or  hiring  illegals. When  it  was  originally  created,  the  H-­2A  program  was  a  great  concept.  But  unfortunately,  unintentionally  vague statutory  language  has  resulted  in  politically  motivated  and  ideologically  based  litigation  and  allowed  bureaucrats  to change  the  intent  of  Congress  -­-­  making  H-­2A  a  program  that  is  too  litigious,  too  expensive  and  too  difficult  to navigate  for  most  farmers.  In  2008,  new  rules  written  under  USDOL  Secretary  Elaine  Chao  made  real improvements  to  the  H-­2A  program  -­-­  and  more  new  farmers  signed  up  to  use  the  program.  But  in  2010,  the  H-­2A rules  were  re-­written  by  current  USDOL  Secretary  Hilda  Solis  -­-­  creating  rules  and  regulations  that  are  absolutely horrendous  for  farmers  -­-­  causing  farmers  to  flee  from  the  program  and  return  to  hiring  illegal  workers.  H-­2A  has great  potential  -­-­  but  only  if  Congress  will  fix  it  once  and  for  all  so  that  it  is  a  workable  and  predictable  program  for farmers.  This  has  the  potential  to  improve  wages  and  working  conditions  on  all  labor  intensive  farms. The  four  biggest  problems  that  preclude  farmers  from  participating:  H-­2A  is  currently  too  expensive,  too bureaucratic,  too  unlikely  to  deliver  a  workforce  to  the  farm  on  time  to  perform  time  sensitive  crop  activities,  and  too likely  to  draw  attacks  from  ideologues  and  bureaucrats.  These  problems  undermine  farmer  confidence  and  make illegal  workers  a  more  attractive  option. Farmers  need  relief  from  the  fluctuating,  arbitrary  wage  rate  of  the  Adverse  Effect  Wage  Rate.  This  year,  the Adverse  Effect  Wage  Rate  in  North  Carolina  is  $9.30  an  hour.  When  you  add  in  the  benefits  package  of  free transportation,  free  government-­inspected  housing,  workers  compensation  insurance  -­-­  that  is  a  total  H-­2A  cost  of $12  -­  $14  per  hour.  That  is  much  higher  than  what  most  family  farmers  can  afford  to  pay  for  labor  costs  -­-­ especially  when  they  see  their  competitors,  who  are  employing  illegal  workers,  are  paying  only  $7.25  an  hour  with no  benefits -­-­  it  is  not  hard  to  see  why  most  farmers  in  America  don't  use  the  H-­2A  program.  When  the  public  policy  debate heats  up  about  farm  labor,  we  frequently  hear  worker  advocates  scream  about  the  past  and  cite  what  the  60  year old  Bracero  program  was  like  and  insist  that  all  guestworker  programs  are  the  same.  The  fact  is  there  is  no legitimate  comparison.  One  last  point  on  wages  -­-­  according  to  NC  State  University  economists  Dr.  Mike  Walden and  Dr.  Blake  Brown  -­every  10%  increase  in  the  H-­2A  wage  rate  above  the  Federal  minimum  wage  results  in  about a  4%  decrease  in  employment  of  full-­time,  permanent  higher  skilled  US  jobs.  The  American  Specialty  Agriculture Act  provides  a  more  realistic  market  based  prevailing  wage  as  a  floor  -­which  incidentally  surpasses  the  Federal minimum  by  approximately  10%  in  NC,  on  average.  Under  the  current  program  H-­2A  wages  are  nearly  30%  higher than  Federal  minimum.  This  is  not  sustainable.  If  the  15  year  trend  in  AEWR  increases  holds,  in  a  few  years  we could  be  at  150%  of  Federal  minimum  wage.  Wage  improvements  will  make  H-­2A  a  more  viable  alternative  to employing  illegal  aliens  and  will  give  farmers  confidence  they  can  participate  in  the  program  successfully. Farmers  who  use  H-­2A  are  plagued  by  lawsuits  from  ideologues.  The  complex,  constantly  changing  rules  are  a boon  for  plaintiff  lawyers  -­-­  many  of  whom  are  ideologically  opposed  to  the  H-­2A  program.  In  North  Carolina  for example,  Legal  Aid  has  dedicated  itself  to  filing  harassing  lawsuits  on  farmers  who  are  merely  trying  to  obey  the law  and  hire  LEGAL  H-­2A  workers.  Since  1989,  NCGA  has  been  sued  over  30  times  and  has  paid  over  $5  million https://www.nexis.com/search/homesubmitForm.do#0 26 BOOLEAN search.common.threshold.off 10/15 12/20/2015   dollars  in  attorneys  fees  and  settlement  costs.  This  is  a  common  experience  among  H-­2A  employers.  This harassment  should  be  stopped.  Farmers  have  to  sign  contracts  with  arbitration/mediation  clauses  every  day  -­-­  they should  be  allowed  to  have  these  same  agreements  with  their  workers. U.S.  Citizen  Preference.  The  American  Specialty  Agriculture  Act  continues  a  long  standing  principal  of  giving American  workers  preferential  consideration  in  obtaining  these  jobs  by  requiring  farmers  to  first  solicit  U.S.  workers through  the  local  employment  service  and  prescriptive  newspaper  advertisements  before  foreign  workers  may  be employed.  Obviously  if  an  American  worker  wants  these  jobs,  then  they  should  be  hired  first. Farmers  need  a  simplified  program  that  is  not  so  bureaucratic.  The  American  Specialty  Agriculture  Act  allows farmers  and  farm  workers  who  benefit  from  working  together  in  this  program  to  share  in  the  costs,  offers  structured portability,  encourages  a  streamlined  legal  dispute  resolution  system  to  solve  farm  worker  complaints  quickly  and efficiently,  provides  authority  to  USDA  for  streamlined  administration  of  the  program  that  make  farmer  obligations clear  and  understandable. While  the  American  Specialty  Agriculture  Act  is  not  perfect  in  all  areas,  from  the  perspective  of  a  group  of  long  term H-­2A  program  users  this  bill  is  close  enough.  The  reforms  to  the  agricultural  guestworker  program  proposed  in  the American  Specialty  Agriculture  Act  go  a  long  way  towards  solving  the  four  most  onerous  flaws  with  the  program. This  bill  is  also  evidence  that  the  U.S.  can  have  a  workable  farmworker  program  that  treats  workers  well  and carefully  balances  all  the  critical  elements,  worker  protections  and  economic  viability.  The  American  Specialty Agriculture  Act  maintains  valuable  economic  benefits  and  critical  worker  protections  for  domestic  and  foreign workers  like:  the  3/4  guarantee,  mandatory  workers  compensation  insurance  coverage  for  work  place  illnesses  and injuries,  and  conditional  prospective  in  and  outbound  transportation  and  subsistence  reimbursement  that  are articulated  clearly  in  the  legislative  language.  It  continues  the  requirement  to  provide  free  inspected  on  farm housing  and  offering  a  housing  voucher  provision  that  will  allow  farmers  without  on  farm  housing  to  participate.  The bill  requires  comprehensive  recordkeeping  and  reporting  obligations  identical  to  current  law.  And  the  bill  imposes  a robust  enforcement  regime  and  maintains  a  strong  penalty  structure  for  violations  with  severe  penalties  for  gross material  violations.  All  the  economic  benefits  and  worker  protections  in  the  American  Specialty  Agriculture  Act  will provide  workers  assurances  that  if  they  accept  these  jobs  they  will  enjoy  a  higher  wage,  benefit  package,  a  safer work  environment,  and  quick  resolution  of  their  grievances  when  compared  to  non  H-­2A  workers. The  NCGA  Board  of  Directors,  who  are  all  farmers  who  have  participated  in  H-­2A  for  at  least  twenty  years  have voted  unanimously  to  endorse  and  support  the  American  Specialty  Agriculture  Act.  This  legislation  offers  great employment  opportunities  and  provides  growers  with  a  program  that  is  substantially  more  predictable.  On  behalf  of the  members  of  NCGA  and  program  users  throughout  the  nation  I  applaud  Chairman  Smith's  leadership  on  this issue.  There  is  no  time  to  waste;;  the  House  should  pass  this  agricultural  guestworker  reform  legislation  as  quickly as  possible. The  NCGA  Board  of  Directors  also  voted  unanimously  to  join  the  U.S.  Chamber  of  Commerce  in  supporting  H.R. 2164,  the  Legal  Workforce  Act  because  it  is  time  to  level  the  playing  field  for  all  employers.  More  than  twenty  states have  already  enacted  some  version  of  E-­Verify  in  the  vacuum  of  Federal  inaction.  Recent  decisions  from  the Supreme  Court  are  signals  that  it  is  time  for  Congress  to  lead  and  pass  a  national  standard  so  that  employers, including  farmers,  operating  in  multiple  states  can  more  easily  comply  with  the  law.  Some  in  agriculture  are  ringing the  alarm  bell  in  an  effort  to  scare  farmers  into  opposing  H.R.  2164.  Companion  passage  of  the  American  Specialty Agriculture  Act  will  certainly  help  to  make  the  transition  even  easier  for  our  industry. In  closing,  farmers  need  an  agricultural  guestworker  program  that  provides  a  predictable,  efficient  and  affordable process  for  hiring  workers  for  temporary,  seasonal  jobs.  Farmers  and  farm  workers  want  to  comply  with  labor  and immigration  laws.  Congress  should  pass  the  American  Specialty  Agriculture  Act  so  they  can. Read  this  original  document  at:  http://judiciary.house.gov/hearings/pdf/Wicker09082011.pdf LOAD-­DATE:  September  12,  2011 LANGUAGE:  ENGLISH PUBLICATION-­TYPE:  Report JOURNAL-­CODE:  COSHC https://www.nexis.com/search/homesubmitForm.do#0 26 BOOLEAN search.common.threshold.off 11/15 12/20/2015   Copyright  2011  Federal  Information  and  News  Dispatch,  Inc. Return  to  List 6  of  7  DOCUMENTS Congressional  Documents  and  Publications April  13,  2011 House  Judiciary  Subcommittee  on  Immigration  Policy  and  Enforcement Hearing;;   "The  H-­2A  Visa  Program:  Meeting  the  Growing  Needs  of  American Agriculture?";;   Testimony  by  Lee  Wicker,  Deputy  Director,  North  Carolina  Growers Association SECTION:  U.S.  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES  DOCUMENTS LENGTH:  1327  words Good  morning  Mr.  Chairman  and  Committee  members  I'm  Lee  Wicker,  Deputy  Director  of  the  North  Carolina Growers  Association.  Thank  you  for  holding  this  hearing  on  a  critical  issue  for  labor  intensive  Agriculture. As  the  largest  H-­2A  Program  user  in  the  nation,  NCGA  currently  has  600  grower/members  that  will  employ  nearly 6000  H-­2A  workers  and  many  thousand  more  U.S.  workers  this  season.  I  am  extremely  proud  of  the  growers  I represent  because  they  are  the  most  compliant  farmers  in  the  nation  when  it  comes  to  the  various  state  and  federal immigration,  labor,  housing,  field  sanitation,  pesticide,  and  wage  and  hour  laws. Without  farm  workers,  crops  will  rot  in  the  fields,  farmers  will  lose  their  farms  and  grocery  store  shelves  across America  will  be  void  of  fresh  local  produce.  It  is  that  simple.  We  must  never  take  farmers,  farmworkers  or  our  food supply  for  granted  -­but  if  farmers  don't  have  Farmworkers,  then  our  food  supply  is  in  jeopardy.   Farmers  need  a  legal,  available,  affordable  workforce  and  the  H-­2A  Temporary  Agricultural  Visa  program  has  the potential  to  fill  that  need.  Presently,  the  H-­2A  program  is  the  ONLY  option  for  farmers  if  they  want  to  ensure  they employ  a  legal  workforce.  Unfortunately,  the  H-­2A  process  is  not  working  well.  For  years,  farmers  have  had  to  deal with  participating  in  a  costly,  time-­consuming,  and  flawed  program.  Employers  have  to  complete  a  lengthy  labor certification  process  that  is  slow,  bureaucratic,  and  frustrating.  In  addition,  they  are  forced  to  pay  an  artificially inflated  wage  rate  called  the  Adverse  Effect  Wage  Rate.  Many  producers simply  have  no  confidence  they  can  successfully  navigate,  afford  or  comply  with  the  onerous H-­2A  Program  requirements. The  H-­2A  rules  that  were  written  in  1987  were  in  desperate  need  of  reform  because  the  program  had  become  too expensive  and  bureaucratic  for  farmers  to  use.  In  2008,  new  H-­2A  rules  were  written  under  Secretary  of  Labor Elaine  Chao.  These  Chao  regulations  were  a  mixed  bag  -­both  good  and  bad  -­but,  on  balance,  the  2008  Chao regulations  made  real  improvements  to  important  areas  and  more  new  growers  signed  up  to  use  the  program.  But in  2010,  the  H-­2A  rules  were  re-­written  by  current  Secretary  of  Labor  Hilda  Solis,  who  took  the  worst  from  the  1987 rules,  combined  with  the  bad  from  the  2008  rules,  maintained  harsh  penalties,  added  unnecessary  barriers  and unwarranted  burdens  -­and  created  the  current  regulations,  which  are  completely  horrendous  for  farmers  -­making https://www.nexis.com/search/homesubmitForm.do#0 26 BOOLEAN search.common.threshold.off 12/15 12/20/2015   the  program  harder  than  ever  to  use. Currently  H-­2A  is  too  litigious,  too  expensive,  and  too  much  of  a  bureaucratic  morass  at  the  three  Federal  agencies that  oversee  the  program.  And  not  surprising  to  us,  since  the  Solis  regulations  took  effect,  the  number  of  farmers using  the  program  has  declined.  Those  farmers  haven't  stopped  farming  -­they've  merely  switched  to  using  illegal workers  -­which  the  current  administration  hopes  will  build  pressure  and  increase  the  chances  of  success  for amnesty  bills  like  AgJobs. Farmers  need  workers,  not  amnesty,  to  grow  crops.  To  ensure  that  growers  have  an  adequate  and  legal  labor force.  the  solution  is  not  amnesty  bills  like  AgJobs  but  rather permanent  statutory  reform  of  the  broken  H-­2A  Program  so  that  growers  can  and  will  use  it. Farmers  want  to  comply  with  the  law  -­but  to  do  so,  the  program  must  be  viable,  sustainable,  and  predictable. Having  endured  the  regulatory  exercise  twice  in  24  months  -­a  process  which  included  expensive  (not  to  mention ongoing)  litigation  demonstrates  clearly  that  improvements  to  the  H-­2A  program  must  be  put  into  statute  to  avoid the  regulatory  whipsawing  of  the  regulated  community  where  farmers  lose  confidence  in  the  program,  when administrations,  agendas,  and  priorities  change. In  order  to  fix  H-­2A  so  that  it  is  workable  for  farmers,  there  are  four  crucial  areas  of  the  program  that  must  be corrected  in  statute. 1.  Reform  the  wage  rate;;  link  it  to  the  statutory  minimum  wage  -­State  or  federal,  whichever  is  higher  in  each  state, an  H2A  wage  rate  of  110%  of  minimum  wage  is  a  fair  wage  rate  (for  both  farmers  and  workers)  that  will  prevent  an adverse  effect  on  US  Farmworkers.  Farmers  would  still  use  "piece-­rates"  to  create  incentive,  the  110%  would  be the  absolute  minimum  wage.  It  is  important  to  remember,  unlike  American  citizens  who  earn  only  a  wage,  H2A workers  get  free  housing,  free  utilities,  and  free  transportation  each  day  to  the  job,  all  of  which  is  provided  by  the farmers.  If  you  add  the  additional  acquisition  costs  to  obtain  H-­2A  workers  through  NCGA  using  the  economic model  developed  in  2006  by  Phillips  and  Brown,  Ag  Economists  at  NC  State,  the  expense  equals,  on  average,  an additional  $2.06  per  hour. 2.  Mandate  binding  mediation  and  arbitration.  Growers  and  workers  should  be  required  to  resolve  legal  issues through  mediation  and  arbitration.  Growers  sign  contracts  all  the  time  that  contain  mandatory  mediation agreements.  If  it  is  okay  for  farmers,  then  it  should  be  okay  for  farm  workers.  Since  1989,  the  growers  of  NCGA have  been  sued  over  30  times  and  have  paid  over  $5  million  in  attorneys'  fees  and  settlement  costs.  This  is  a common  experience  among  H-­2A  Program  users  around  the  country.  I  believe  that  you  can  protect  farm  workers without  being  sued  by  an  attorney  with  a  political  and  social  agenda. 3:  Visa  cost  and  transportation  reimbursement.  Cost  associated  with  the  worker  applying  for  the  visa  should  be borne  by  the  worker.  Inbound  transportation  should  be  reimbursed  to  the  worker  upon  completion  of  50  percent  of the  contract.  If  the  money  is  reimbursed  upon  arrival,  the  financial  incentive  for  the  worker  to  remain  on  the  farm  is reduced  -­and  workers  who  quit  leave  the  farmer  short-­handed. 4:  Streamline  and  simplify  the  H-­2A  process.  There  are  many  delays  with  the  U.S.  Departments  of  Labor, Homeland  Security,  and  most  problematic  has  been  the  issue  of  getting  enough  appointments  from  the  State Department  contractor  for  the  one-­on-­one  interviews  and  background  checks.  The  entire  system  needs  to  be streamlined  and  simplified,  eliminating  redundant  needless  rubber  stamping  by  bureaucrats.  We  would  like  to  see statutory  language  that  describes  in  detail  the  labor  market  tesUcertification  criteria  to  avoid  regulatory  whipsawing with  executive  branch  changes.  We've  learned  the  hard  way  that  when  the  statutory  language  is  ambiguous, administrators  and  courts  with  an  agenda  can  interpret  legislation  in  ways  that  expanded  to  allow  greater participation  from  farmers  -­with  an  11  month  standard  visa  and  a  3  year  special  visa,  which  will  allow  certain sectors  of  Agriculture  and  year-­round  farms  to  continue  to  thrive. In  summary,  without  these  four  changes,  the  H-­2A  Program  is  simply  too  expensive,  too  litigious  and  to  onerous  for most  growers  to  use.  Most  farmers  prefer  to  employ  illegals  because  it  is  cheaper,  and  they  remain  off  the  Federal and  legal  radar  screens  -­even  high  profile  farmers  can  use  illegal  workers  with  impunity  because  they  have  been told  by  ICE  agents  they  will  not  be  investigated.  But  on  the  flip  side,  if  you  employ  legal  H-­2A  workers,  you  can expect  to  have  investigations  by  the  U.S.  Departments  of  Labor,  Homeland  Security,  Justice,  State,  the  OIG,  the GAO,  the  FBI,  the  IRS,  multiple  state  regulators,  reporters,  attorneys,  and  farm  worker  advocates. https://www.nexis.com/search/homesubmitForm.do#0 26 BOOLEAN search.common.threshold.off 13/15 12/20/2015   As  members  of  the  House  Judiciary,  Immigration,  Policy  and  Enforcement  Subcommittee,  you  have  the  forum  and the  ability  to  articulate  the  problem  and  offer  policy  solutions  that  will  ensure  American  agriculture  has  an  adequate and  legal  labor  force.  The  H-­2A  program  is  not  about  immigration.  H-­2A  reform  should  be  decoupled  from  the  CIR debate.  Please  remember  our  growers  need  a  workable  H-­2A  Program,  not  amnesty.  Amnesty  did  not  work  in 1986,  and  so-­called  comprehensive  immigration  reform  bills  like  AgJOBS,  with  its  amnesty  provisions,  will  not  work today.  It  will  only  make  matters  worse. Thank  you  for  your  attention  and  I  look  forward  to  answering  any  questions  you  have. LOAD-­DATE:  April  14,  2011 LANGUAGE:  ENGLISH PUBLICATION-­TYPE:  Report JOURNAL-­CODE:  COSHC Copyright  2011  Federal  Information  and  News  Dispatch,  Inc. Return  to  List 7  of  7  DOCUMENTS National  Journal's  CongressDaily October  05,  2007  Friday  10:30  am  Eastern  Time House  Committee  Ponders  Options  On  Farm  Labor  Needs SECTION:  AGRICULTURE LENGTH:  433  words The  needs  of  farmers  should  come  first  when  considering  changes  to  labor  laws  in  agriculture,  rather  than  those  of illegal  workers,  House  Agriculture  ranking  member  Bob  Goodlatte,  R.-­Va,  said  Thursday. Yet  as  legislators  heard  testimony  from  labor  economists,  farmers,  and  workers'  advocates  to  review  the  labor needs  of  U.S.  agriculture,  Agriculture  Chairman  Peterson  said  there  was  no  easy  solution  to  address  the  shortage in  farm  labor,  particularly  since  the  issue  went  beyond  the  scope  of  the  committee. An  estimated  three-­quarters  of  the  2.5  million  seasonal  agricultural  workers  in  the  United  States  are  in  the  country illegally,  and  there  was  broad  agreement  among  committee  members  that  the  current  H-­2A  temporary  agricultural worker  visa  program  dating  from  1986  was  inadequate  to  meet  today's  needs  in  the  industry.   Only  about  1  percent  of  the  hired  farm  work  force  holds  H-­2A  visas. Some  lawmakers  remained  vehemently  opposed  to  the  proposed  Agricultural  Jobs  Opportunity  and  Benefits  Act, which  would  allow  long-­time  illegal  farm  workers  to  apply  for  citizenship  eventually,  after  paying  a  fee  and  meeting certain  requirements. Granting  legal  status  to  illegal  farm  hands,  however  much  their  work  is  crucial  for  getting  food  on  the  table  across the  United  States,  would  simply  "reward  them  for  their  crimes,"  said  Rep.  Steve  King,  R-­Iowa. Rep.  Tim  Mahoney,  D-­Fla.,  argued  that  AgJobs  could  be  abused,  as  those  workers  who  do  become  legal  could  opt out  of  the  program  and  "go  work  somewhere  else  illegally,"  instead  of  staying  in  a  farming  job  as  would  be  required https://www.nexis.com/search/homesubmitForm.do#0 26 BOOLEAN search.common.threshold.off 14/15 12/20/2015   under  the  legislation. Another  concern  was  how  the  new  visa  program  could  increase  labor  costs  for  farmers.  Lee  Wicker,  deputy director  of  the  North  Carolina  Growers  Association,  testified  that  while  all  of  his  group's  members  only  used workers  with  H-­2A  visas,  the  choice  was  an  "extremely  expensive"  business  decision. Similarly,  the  bill  could  become  a  "hidden  tax  on  businesses"  without  any  real  long-­term  benefit  for  the  country  as  a whole,  Mahoney  said. Nevertheless,  there  are  "millions  more  jobs  in  our  economy  than  there  are  American  workers  to  fill  them,"  and  large numbers  of  people  are  needed  to  keep  the  U.S.  economy  running,  warned  James  Holt,  an  agricultural  labor economist. "No  one  has  advocated  negative  [economic]  growth  as  a  solution,"  Holt  said,  and  pointed  out  that  while  technology is  being  rapidly  adopted  by  the  agricultural  sector,  even  extensive  mechanization  of  farming  will  never  eliminate  the need  for  large  numbers  of  cheaper  workers  to  work  the  fields.  By  Shihoko  Goto LOAD-­DATE:  October  5,  2007 LANGUAGE:  ENGLISH Copyright  2007  National  Journal  Group,  Inc. https://www.nexis.com/search/homesubmitForm.do#0 26 BOOLEAN search.common.threshold.off 15/15