How to Get Farm Labor

Western growers have sounded unnecessary alarms over labor shortages since the Immigration Reform Act went into force last May. These farmers’ time would be better spent if they paid more attention to meeting basic standards of pay, housing and working conditions for the employees.

Throughout the summer, for example, Western growers complained that the new law was drying up the supply of migrant farm workers. In June, growers in Washington and Oregon panicked as their abundant crops of strawberries, cherries and asparagus ripened weeks early and the normal supply of migrant farm workers was not to be found. Within weeks, however, enough workers arrived and the crops were harvested without serious loss.

As the summer progressed, a few California growers reported minor labor shortages. And recently Washington apple growers, fearful of a labor shortage, conducted such a vigorous recruitment program that it resulted in more workers than job openings. Meanwhile, an enterprising New Yorker, K. K. Soo, announced plans to ease the farm-labor shortage by importing Chinese workers--not a new concept in California.

Despite the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service’s announcement last week that 1987 illegal migration was 30% below that of 1986, officials at INS, the U.S. Department of Labor and the California Farm Bureau say that there is no labor shortage now, nor should there be in the future.

The steep decline in illegal migration early in the fiscal year was created by fear and misconception of the new law by Mexican workers. But, last May, growers launched a massive recruitment program to reassure workers that agricultural jobs remained plentiful, and illegal migration returned to normal levels, according to the INS.

Growers, especially those in the West who are heavily dependent on illegal laborers, have already been granted several concessions under the new immigration law. Although non-agricultural employers are subject to severe penalties if they hire illegal workers, the agricultural industry is exempt from the law’s sanctions until Dec. 1, 1988.

In addition, amnesty requirements are less restrictive for illegal seasonal farm workers than for their non-agricultural counterparts. Seasonal perishable-crop workers need prove only that they have worked in the United States for at least 90 days between May 1, 1985, and May 1, 1986, while all other illegal aliens must prove, with few exceptions, that they have been continuously in the United States since before Jan. 1, 1982. But even with these relaxed restrictions fewer than 60,000 field workers have applied for amnesty so far--again causing growers to question the adequacy of the farm-labor pool.

Unfortunately, this debate has obscured the essential issue--fair wages and benefits. For more than 40 year Eastern growers have imported seasonal crop workers through a government alien-worker program--the same program that would import Chinese farm workers. Under its regulations, farmers who have a verifiable labor shortage may hire foreign seasonal crop workers, but the employer appropriately must provide the worker with fair wages, temporary housing, transportation and tools. Historically, Western growers have refused to use this program, opting for less expensive illegal labor.

The solution to the underlying labor problem is simpler than Western growers would have us believe it is. All evidence suggests that fair wages and benefits would adequately guarantee a bountiful supply of workers.