Arizona agricultural worker visas have doubled in last 5 years
The Department of Labor certified 5,391 H-2A workers in the state in fiscal 2016, compared to just 2,110 that were certified in fiscal 2011, according to department data. Nationally, the number jumped from 77,246 workers to 165,741 in the same period.
Farmers say the workers are vital to their operations and that the program is working well and providing a badly needed source of labor. But labor advocates say the visa program is growing for all the wrong reasons: Keeping wages low and workers powerless.
Bruce Goldstein, the president of Farmworker Justice, said one of the biggest problems with the program from the worker’s point of view is that “the grower controls the visa.”
“It is often a way to control the labor force and suppress improvement in wages and working conditions,” Goldstein said. He said the visa program is expanding because it is a “relief valve” for farmers to find cheap labor outside the United States.
“If the worker wants to come back following the next season, they have to hope the employer applies for a visa, for that worker, for the next season,” Goldstein said.
source: tucson.com
