Thread: Changes make guest-worker program more costly for employers

Changes make guest-worker program more costly for employers

By Mary Sell, Montgomery (Ala.)
Updated 1h 43m ago

Just a few months after Alabama's anti-illegal immigration law went into effect, some industries may soon be priced out of a legal guest-worker program.

A change by the U.S. Department of Labor to the federal H-2B program will force employers who use the program to get temporary, seasonal workers to pay higher hourly wages -- more than 50% more in some cases.

Exact fees vary depending on the industry and county, but the result may be the same.

"The changes that are proposed virtually make the program unusable," said Larry Fidel, president of the Alabama Restaurant Association.

The biggest wage increase may be in the forestry industry, which uses the H-2B program to hire seasonal workers to do reforesting work.

"Based on what we've seen, our planting cost is going to increase 50 to 60%," said Jim King, vice president of natural resources for the Westervelt Co., which manages about 500,000 acres of forest land in the Southeastern U.S.

Westervelt uses contractors with H-2B employees to plant trees. King said that, currently, the hourly wage ranges from $7.25 to $8.37. Under the Labor Department increase, it will vary from $13.06 to $21.16.

"We are, quite frankly, having a very difficult time figuring out how they're coming up with this (formula)," King said

Protecting U.S. workers

The Department of Labor approved the changes in January, but challenges have delayed the implementation until the end of this month.

"The Department of Labor's primary responsibility in administering portions of the H-2B program are to ensure that businesses have access to the temporary workers they say they need, without adversely impacting U.S. workers," Jane Oates, assistant secretary for Employment and Training Administration, said in a written statement.

"The proposed improvements to the H-2B program focus on enhancing employee recruitment efforts for U.S. workers and strengthening the necessary protections for foreign workers brought here under this temporary program. Both help to ensure the Department's mandate from Congress that U.S. workers not be adversely affected by the H-2B program."

The number of H-2B visas issued each year is capped at 66,000. And the number of requests is on the decline, officials say. There was a 48% decrease overall in the number of H-2B temporary program positions requested in fiscal year 2010 compared with fiscal year 2009, and a 39% decrease in the number of positions certified over the previous fiscal year.

But as more states toughen their immigration laws, such as Alabama did this year, H-2B will become more important, some say.

"With new immigration laws being passed, I think it is even more important that we have a legal work program that works," said Angelo Amador, vice president of labor and workforce policy for the National Restaurant Association. The association is opposed to the legislation -- and it's not alone.

Legislative solution

In September, a bipartisan group of nearly 50 U.S. senators and representatives sent a letter to Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis, urging the department to rescind the wage rule.

"Seasonal businesses rely on the H-2B program to fill temporary vacancies in seafood processing, horse training, hospitality, landscaping, carnivals, agriculture support positions and other occupations," the lawmakers wrote. "The seasonal nature of these businesses and industries means that they routinely face shortages of local workers during their peak work periods. By filling temporary jobs, H-2B workers not only keep these businesses open; they contribute to the creation of additional, year-round jobs for local workers."

Changes to the program "will negatively affect the viability of companies using the H-2B program and could possibly lead to full-time job losses," the lawmakers said.

A bill in the House of Representatives would block the wage changes.

But the Labor Department says American workers may not know about these available jobs.

"Employers using the H-2B program have consistently noted that U.S. workers do not seek out these jobs and that they must then turn toward foreign labor," Oates said. "It follows then that particularly given persistently high unemployment rates around the country, more of these jobs could be filled by U.S. workers if they were aware of the opportunity and paid prevailing wages."

But opponents of the changes say these jobs must be advertised locally first.

"We did a survey and have done studies," Amador said. "This is not an issue where someone is coming in and taking an American's job."

Amador said the changes would essentially end the program without officially dissolving it.

Impact already being felt

Meanwhile, King, from the forest management company, said work has already slowed down because contractors are unsure about wage amounts.

"We should be busier than we are," he said. Westervelt replants about 12,000 acres of forest each year in Alabama.

Because wages will be determined county-by-county, planning will be a logistical nightmare. Westervelt has land in 17 Alabama counties.

Having to hold the jobs for American workers who may want them, but then may quit, is another challenge of the program, King said.

"Let's say (a contractor) needs 50 workers," he said. "If 10 Americans apply for it, (the contractor) can only apply for 40 visas. But if the Americans don't like the jobs and quit, they're 10 people short."

And it is hard work; that's why the H-2B program is needed.

"The (Department of Labor's) perspective is that there are enough Alabamians to do these jobs," King said. "Our experience is that that is not the case."

Chris Isaacson, executive vice president of the Alabama Forestry Association, called the work "grueling." Still, he was amazed by the $21.16 an hour wage put on it by the Labor Department.

"Right now, if these numbers remain, you're driving up the cost of replanting to the point where we believe many landowners will chose not to plant," he said.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/companies ... 51093080/1

More Government run amok. A MIGRANT WORKER GETS $21 AN HR WHILE AN AMERICAN CAN BE PAID MIN WAGE? Is this not reverse exploitation?
Just an attempt by the Administration to throw a wrench into the works to keep the status quo , while telling us they are doing it to HELP US.