Use of guestworker program drops

By DAN WHEAT

Capital Press

Fewer foreign seasonal agricultural workers were hired in Washington state through the federal H-2A guestworker program in 2009.

Growers hired 1,549 H-2A workers, a 26 percent drop from 2008, according to the state Department of Employment Security. It reversed three years of increase.

State and industry officials believe the decline is mainly due to more workers available domestically because of high unemployment caused by the recession. They expect usage of H-2A workers to remain flat or drop more this year.

The Obama administration is expected to announce new H-2A regulations soon that will increase wages, fees and restrictions on employers using the program, which many already regard as slow and expensive, says Mike Gempler, executive director of the Washington Growers League in Yakima. Some growers are waiting for that before deciding if they will use the program this year, Gempler said.

The H-2A program allows employers to bring foreign workers into the country for several months to work at specified wages with employers providing housing and transportation from and back to the country of origin.

Those who came to Washington in 2009 all came from Mexico, said Sheryl Hutchison, communications director at Employment Security. The vast majority worked in tree fruit orchards in central Washington.

Use of the program increased as growers dealt with labor shortages and the need for legal workers.

The industry typically hires 26,000 seasonal workers for cherry harvest and 42,000 for pear and apple harvest. Industry and government officials have estimated 60 to 70 percent of them are illegal immigrants. H-2A workers are government-certified as legal.

Seasonal agricultural workers were moving into construction jobs but those jobs dried up in the recession and workers moved back into ag jobs last season, Hutchison said.

Kirk Mayer, manager of Washington Growers Clearing House Association in Wenatchee, said growers also hired unemployed people who had no agricultural experience. He said certification that H-2A workers are legal is an incentive for growers to keep using the program, especially with an increase in federal Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) audits of employers to make sure workers are legal.

Gebbers Farms, Brewster, which recently announced the lay off of workers in response to an ICE audit did not respond to questions about its H-2A plans. Gebbers has hired H-2A workers in the past.

Stemilt Growers Inc., Wenatchee, also has used H-2A workers in the past but would not say if it plans to this year.

Scott McDougall, co-owner of McDougall & Sons Inc., Wenatchee, said the company hired 119 foreign and 32 domestic H-2A workers in 2009. He said he expects to hire 160 foreign and about 40 domestic H-2A workers this year. He said that's about 30 percent of his workforce.

"We need to have an assurance we have workers around," he said. "We have well-trained workers coming back."

The program is insurance against losing workers in greater government immigration crackdowns, he said. But, he noted, it's costly at about $10,000 per bed in new construction. The company has built housing for 250 workers in four locations.

Washington H-2A guestworkers

2007 2008 2009

workers requested 1,703 3,257 2,091

workers approved 1,556 2,568 1,872

workers hired 1,140 2,094 1,549

Source: Washington Department of Employment Security