Thread: Ag union seeks ban on labor contractor

http://www.yakima-herald.com/page/dis/284297816723074

Published on Thursday, September 22, 2005

Ag union seeks ban on labor contractor
By LEAH BETH WARD
YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC


Farm-worker advocates are criticizing Gov. Christine Gregoire for trying to settle charges of wage and working-condition violations against a California labor contractor that has brought temporary Thai agricultural workers to the Yakima Valley.

The United Farm Workers of America union said Wednesday that Global Horizons of Los Angeles should be banned from the state. For the second summer, the company has imported more than 100 Thai workers under a federal guest-worker program designed to help with what employers say is a local labor shortage.

"They violated just about every regulation in the book," Erik Nicholson, the union's Pacific Northwest regional director, said in a telephone interview.

For the state to reach a financial settlement with Global Horizons would "send the wrong message to workers that their rights are not going to be protected," Nicholson said.

While settlement talks are under way in advance of a hearing on the company's case next week, a spokesman for the governor's office said no agreement has been reached.

"If we reach a settlement, I think it will address the issues and concerns out there," said Steve Pierce of the Department of Labor & Industries.

Last March, Gregoire, in a strongly worded letter to U.S. Labor Secretary Elaine Chao, said implementation of the federal H-2A guest-worker program in the state "has resulted in the mistreatment of both our domestic and foreign workers, and should raise questions by your department."

L&I and the Employment Security Department both have actions pending against Global Horizons, which has appealed all of the charges to a state hearings board. A combined hearing is tentatively set for Wednesday.

Mordechai Orian, president of the company, said the settlement talks are a positive development.

"I believe we can come to an agreement and resolve the issues of the past," Orian said.

He added that there were "some things the company didn't know that we needed to do," but declined to elaborate.

L&I, which was seeking to deny a renewal of the company's license, assessed Global $216,650 in back wages it said are owed to 136 Thai workers. The company was also accused of violating 11 state codes for a total of $10,250 in fines, and not paying industrial insurance taxes of $57,423.

Employment Security officials said the company didn't comply with "basic requirements of state laws designed to protect workers," such as providing adequate housing. Gregoire previously described the housing as overcrowded and without cooking or laundry facilities.

The agency also said sufficient numbers of local workers were available through its job-referral system.

The U.S. Department of Labor is also investigating complaints against the company but has declined comment, saying the probe is still pending.

In July, three Yakima Valley farm workers sued Global and two local growers in federal court, alleging they violated state and federal laws by illegally and intentionally displacing them last year with workers from Thailand.

Humm sounds like http://www.awcorg.us but were all full of it. Our wages are bloated, and we are incompetent compared to 3rd world nations. Doesn’t that seem like an oxy-moron?

They specialize in a special technique in pulling a carrot with every root intact! Put that in your pipe and smoke it.

I wonder if the UFW Pacific Northwest bothers to screen to make sure that they are not hiring illegal immigrants.

United Farm Workers of America

Now cry me a river, a group that is linked to the Brown Berets.

http://www.brownberets.info/links/

"They violated just about every regulation in the book," Erik Nicholson, the union's Pacific Northwest regional director, said in a telephone interview.

With just a quote from UFW's page.. Now who is breaking laws, may I ask? With the following quote that is on there page.

We need real, bipartisan and comprehensive solutions that include the following principles: A path to hard-earned legalization for undocumented immigrants already contributing to this country; reunification of families; and protections for workers in this nation

http://www.ufw.org/

This orginazation, doesn't like to follow Immigration laws and then complains when Thai's are brought here, to do there Jobs.

In July, three Yakima Valley farm workers sued Global and two local growers in federal court, alleging they violated state and federal laws by illegally and intentionally displacing them last year with workers from Thailand.

Here again, They don't care about federal laws, unless. It helps them. There should be action taking against this union.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com

Thursday, September 22, 2005 · Last updated 5:39 p.m. PT

State agencies reach settlement with farm labor contractor

By SHANNON DININNY
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

YAKIMA, Wash. -- Two state agencies reached a joint settlement Thursday with a California labor contractor accused of violating state wage and labor regulations when it brought temporary agricultural workers from Thailand to the Yakima Valley last year.

The announcement came one day after farmworker advocates urged Gov. Christine Gregoire to bar Global Horizons of Los Angeles from operating in Washington state.

Global Horizons has brought more than 100 temporary agricultural workers from Thailand to the Yakima Valley each of the past two summers under the federal H-2A guest-worker program. The program allows a labor contractor to bring in foreign workers if it can prove workers can't be found locally.

Area farmers have said the program is needed to ease a local labor shortage. Farmworker advocates contend no such shortage exists.

State agencies charged Global Horizons with violating state wage and labor regulations last year.

Specifically the state's Labor and Industries and Employment Security departments faulted the company for failing to pay back wages to 136 Thai workers, violating 11 state codes and failing to comply with basic requirements of state laws designed to protect workers, such as providing adequate housing.

The state also said sufficient numbers of workers were available locally last year through its job-referral system.

A hearing on the charges had been scheduled for Wednesday. The settlement provides Global a "limited opportunity" to continue operating in the state, but leaves the door open for the state to immediately revoke its state license if the company violates terms of the agreement, according to a news release.

"If this case continued through the court system and appeals, it could have stretched out two or three years while Global continued to operate in this state as it had been," L&I Director Gary Weeks said in the release.

"This settlement provides immediate and certain relief by requiring Global to provide restitution, and it provides important long-term protections to domestic and foreign workers and to farmers who need assurances of a labor supply to pick their crops," Weeks said.

Under the agreement, Global Horizons must pay penalties, back wages and taxes owed to workers and the state - more than $230,000 in all.

The company also must identify housing for workers and specify workers' rights in their preferred languages, among other things.

On Wednesday, the United Farm Workers of America union criticized Gregoire for trying to reach a settlement. The group expressed disappointment with the decision Thursday.

"For a company, in essence, to cut a check and continue to do business in the state of Washington after so many egregious violations last year shows it's open season on farmworkers," said Erik Nicholson, the union's Pacific Northwest regional director.

Nicholson also faulted the state for agreeing to a settlement as it conducts a separate investigation into allegations lodged this year against Global.

Steve Pierce, an L&I spokesman, confirmed the state was investigating a new complaint. An initial investigation did not corroborate the complaint, he said, but the review will continue.

Mordechai Orian, president of Global Horizons, did not return a telephone message seeking comment Thursday.

In an interview Wednesday with the Yakima Herald-Republic newspaper, Orian said the settlement discussions were a positive step.

"I believe we can come to an agreement and resolve the issues of the past," Orian said.

Company officials were unaware of some requirements to operate in Washington state, he said, though he declined to elaborate.

The U.S. Department of Labor is also investigating complaints against the company but has declined comment, saying the probe is still pending.

In July, three Yakima Valley farmworkers sued Global and two local growers in federal court, alleging the defendants violated state and federal laws by illegally and intentionally displacing the plaintiffs last year with workers from Thailand.