HENDERSONVILLE, N.C. (RFD News) — Farmers are praising new legislation aimed at modernizing the H-2A guest worker program.
House Agriculture Committee Chairman G.T. Thompson recently introduced a proposal to update the H-2A foreign guest worker program.
New York dairy farmer Ryan Akin says he’s long been advocating for changes to improve access to agricultural labor.
“We have a great need for the labor,” Akin said. “This bill is a step in the right direction. I’ve been to D.C. many times lobbying to have this labor access, the ability to use the labor. It’s really not a question of whether there are people in our local town who will do this work, because there aren’t.”
North Carolina farmer Linda Pryor says streamlining the H-2A process would benefit both employers and workers.
“When they are delayed, and lots of times they are traveling long distances to be able to go to their appointments before they can come — and if they get there and their appointment’s delayed — they’re forced to either stay in a hotel room or make the travel back to their home and then come back again later, and that’s very hard for them, too,” Pryor said. “Anything that we can do to make communication between the agencies that are involved easier and better, and help everybody know what’s going on, and be on the same page, I think, will be a welcome change to the program.”
The proposal would create multi-year labor and housing certifications, limit annual changes to the Adverse Effect Wage Rate, and allow worker transfers between certified employers. It also includes a limited waiver process for certain current agricultural workers seeking H-2A status but does not include a pathway to citizenship.
