Attorneys general oppose pay cut for foreign farmworkers

By Dave Mason | The Center Square
The Center Square

Editor’s note: This story has been updated since its initial publication to include a response from the U.S. Department of Labor.

(The Center Square) – A coalition of 17 Democratic attorneys general is opposing a U.S. Department of Labor rule that would reduce wages for temporary foreign farmworkers.

The attorneys general, who include Rob Bonta of California, Aaron Ford of Nevada and Phil Weiser of Colorado, wrote a letter to U.S. Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer to oppose the reduction in the Adverse Effect Wage Rate for workers in the H-2A program.

H-2A allows farmers to bring nonimmigrant foreign workers to the U.S. to perform seasonal or temporary work when there aren’t enough domestic workers, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

The attorneys general say the department is reducing wages through several ways: creating a new rate methodology that ignores agricultural data, starting a two-tiered wage determination that cuts pay for entry level workers, recategorizing higher paying jobs and deducting wages to pay for workers’ housing.

H-2A requires employers to provide housing at no cost to workers, the attorneys general wrote in their letter, dated Monday.

“The State AGs urge the DOL to withdraw the IFR [Interim Final Rule] as it is arbitrary and runs antithetical to the DOL’s statutory mission to promote and develop the welfare of wage earners,” the attorneys general wrote.

“The IFR rolls back without good cause wage protections instituted since 1986 for farm laborers who bring food to homes across the nation,” according to the letter.

The Center Square reached out Tuesday to the U.S. Department of Labor. Spokesperson Grant Vaught pointed to a Federal Register report on the wage rate methodology for H-2A nonimmigrants. According to the report, the department is using Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey data to establish Adverse Effect Wage Rates. The department said it is applying those rates to five codes combining the most common field and livestock occupations.

The Federal Register report goes on to say the department is adjusting the Adverse Effect Wage Rate to adjust for the differences in compensation between most U.S. workers and H-2A workers who get employer-provided housing at no cost.

But the attorneys general argue the wage reductions will mean farmworkers will be paid less than or close to the federal poverty line.

“As the son of parents who joined Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta to defend farmworkers, I’m driven by the same commitment to protect these often-exploited workers, including those in the H-2A program,” Bonta said in a news release.

The attorneys general’s letter to the labor secretary notes her department found agriculture suffers from wage theft and poor housing conditions. “State AGs are concerned that despite these findings, the DOL shifts monetary gains to employers and away from workers rather than protect employees from continuous substandard treatment.”

The letter also expresses concern that the new rule will affect the states’ budgets because state agencies administer the H-2A program. And the attorneys general accuse the Department of Labor of evading the notice-and-comment process of the federal Administrative Procedure Act.

Besides California, Nevada and Colorado, the states in the coalition opposing the wage rule are Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island and Washington.