U.S. Labor Department About To Reverse Some Bush Regulations

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.laborradio.org/node/11886

Farm workers could have new protections under the Obama Administration's Labor Department. Jesse Russell reports:

On Thursday, the Department of Labor said it was looking at and preparing to reverse some regulations passed under the Bush Administration. Lifting the regulations would push U.S. growers to utilize American workers to fill seasonal job positions. The Bush regulations made it easier for the hiring of workers from outside the United States on a temporary basis. The new rules would also strengthen the rights of farm workers by making it harder for growers to commit abuse. The growers argue that a change in the regulations will make hiring workers more expensive because most Americans don’t want the jobs they are offering. The growers will be required to submit documents that show they tried to fill jobs with U.S. workers before taking on foreigners. Open job positions will need to be posted in an electronic job registry. The rules could also see farm worker wages increase by $1.44 per hour.

[cap]

1. American workers don't want agricultural jobs below the subsistence level

Now, if McCain's offer is still good for $50/hr to pick lettuce. I think there's more than a few people who will take them.

[fasttense]

2. But this will make my lettuce cost 2 cents more.

Better that people work at slave wages than I have to pay more for my tasteless, nutrition-free iceberg lettuce.

:sarcasm:

But maybe if the farmer pays the picker a little more, the picker might take the time to ensure the lettuce doesn't fall into the cow dung.

[leveymg]

3. The regs were FUBAR. Even the UFW joined the grower's suit to block these rules

DOL ESA was so screwed up, understaffed, and mismanaged that an injunction was issued in US District Ct. for the ED PA. If these regs had gone into effect as planned earlier this year, all agreed, it would have been chaos. DOL wouldn't/couldn't issue timely certifications, crops wouldn't have gone into the ground, US workers and H-2A, alike, wouldn't have had jobs planting and harvesting. The UFW and several other Latino agricultural groups joined the suit. See, http://www.splcenter.org/pdf/dynamic/legal/H-2B_Complaint_Filing_2009-01-18.pdf

Not so sure the agency has gotten its act together, yet. Same for the Bush-era H-2B regs. See, http://www.friendsfw.org/h-2B/DOL_H-2b_2008-07-07.pdf.