Maintaining a stable and legal foreign workforce has been a concern for agricultural producers for many years, and a measure to update the guest worker program advanced out of the House Judiciary Committee on Oct. 25.
The Agricultural Guest Worker Act of 2107 (Ag Act) which was drafted by Judiciary Committee Chairmen Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) would replace the current H-2A temporary agricultural worker program and replace it with a new program that would be called H-2C.
The American Sheep Industry Association (ASI) has been watching the progression of this bill and what impact it may have on foreign labor, or guest workers who are employed as sheepherders and are vital to the sheep industry.
ASI Executive Director Peter Orwick told WLJ his organization was interested in establishing a benchmark of the provisions that currently work for the industry. He also said they want to work to protect the provisions that currently exist.
The sheep industry currently hires the majority of herders under the H-2A program, which was reviewed and revised in 2015. The new legislation, Orwick said, will help codify some of the existing provisions. “We had provisions that make our program work but none of them were in law. We have spent years looking for any opportunity to codify the key pieces of our program so that we weren’t at risk during a rulemaking process. For us, it was very close history for us, to go through a rulemaking without our provision locked into statute.”
Wages
When the H-2A measure was discussed earlier the issue of fair wages for sheepherders was top of mind for many lawmakers. Orwick explained that under the H-2C program the wage would be set by the secretary of agriculture.
“Because of the nature of the work, so seasonal impacting number of hours, middle of the winter versus spring is huge difference. It was an indication of the sheep industry being unique so we thought it would be preferential in this legislation to just put the responsibility on the secretary of agriculture to determine a wage rate,” Orwick told WLJ.
He went on, “It says two things: One, we weren’t necessarily so enthralled with our current wage rate that we needed to lock it into law, but yet we wanted a provision that it be set by the secretary of agriculture if this becomes law so that we have an opportunity to do a good wage formula for the herders and one that the industry can handle.
Concerns
Asked about possible concerns with the new rule, Orwick said the provision limiting the number of guest workers could be problematic if there aren’t enough to fill all of the available job openings. “Obviously for us, the important part is making sure there is room for the 2,000 to 3,000 herders that we need every year.”
The H-2C program would also move oversight from the department of labor to USDA. Orwick said this could be good as it brings another layer of compliance. “It should also bring more experience in working with agriculture, so they can match the regulations with the actual work that is being done in agriculture versus labor.
E-Verification of ag workers is also included in the provision, but Orwick said that should not impact the sheepherder workforce. He explained that the sheep industry already has one of the most legal foreign workforces in America. He said that requires a lot of paperwork and the compliant work force is largely due to the efforts of the Mountain Plains Agriculture Service and Western Range Association, which work to match foreign sheepherders with ranchers. Orwick explained this process involves coordinating visas and other requirements for specific workers, eliminating the need for ranchers to hire from a larger pool of generalized foreign workers.
The rules used by the sheep industry are working and are referenced at least six times throughout the Ag Act. “It is a good benchmark; it is not 100 percent for what everybody is looking for. But with half a dozen references to sheep and special procedures it gives us a great start whether it’s this bill or something similar in the Senate,” Orwick said. — Rae Price, WLJ editor
