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H-2A wage methodology severally flawed & needs to be modernized

The Great Lakes Ag Labor Services says mandated H-2A guest worker wages contradict other Department of Labor programs.

Sarah Black tells Brownfield a Michigan farm using the H-2A program participated in a prevailing wage survey this spring to enroll in the H-2B program for seasonal non-agricultural employees.

“And it came back at $14.25 on the same farm in the same location where their H-2A workers then had to be paid $18.50.”

Michigan’s minimum wage is only $10.33 per hour.

Black says increases in H-2A wages caused farmers in the state to reduce the number of filings for workers this year.

She says there is a lack of transparency in how the Adverse Effect Wage Rate is determined and a pause is needed to reevaluate its methodology.  

“In the meantime, if we don’t pause it and it continues to escalate, what you just are going to see is more farms getting out of growing fresh food,” she shares.

Seven out of the top 10 states with the largest growth in H-2A usage this year were in the Midwest and Upper Plains.

“North Dakota actually had the highest H-2A growth in the country, over 20 percent, and I think what it illustrates is that this is no longer a specialty crop industry program,” she explains. “Every type of farm needs help, needs reliable skilled labor.”

Black says the H-2A program has not been modernized since 1986.

Brownfield interviewed Black during the recent Michigan Farm Bureau State Annual Meeting in Grand Rapids.

The Protect Our Produce Coalition, which includes Michigan Farm Bureau, has launched a petition calling on President-Elect Trump and other elected officials to act now.

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