The USDA
Sep. 10, 2012
The USDA is accepting applications for technical assistance grants to develop domestic and migrant farm labor housing.
The deadline for submitting applications is November 5, 2012.
.Advertisement.The USDA is accepting applications for technical
assistance grants to develop domestic and migrant farm labor housing.
"These grants will help communities submit quality applications to
increase their chances of getting funding to build much-needed
affordable housing for farm workers," said Agriculture Secretary Tom
Vilsack. "Increasing the supply of affordable housing in rural
communities not only helps the residents, it helps the entire
community."
Grants are available to organizations that will help housing
authorities, state and local governments, Indian tribes, non-profit
organizations, and community- and faith-based groups apply for loans and
grants to build farmworker housing. The purpose of the grants is to
increase the number of high-quality applications USDA receives. Vilsack
announced on July 18 the Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) for loans
and grants to build or preserve affordable rental farm worker housing.
This technical assistance funding is to organizations that assist
potential borrowers under that NOFA.
Technical assistance grantees must have the knowledge, ability,
expertise or practical experience necessary to develop and package farm
labor housing loan and grant applications. They also will be required to
submit a minimum number of applications to USDA, based on their
location.
For additional information, see page 54877 of the September 6 Federal
Register. The deadline for submitting applications is November 5, 2012.
Go to http://tinyurl.com/9yon3l8
Showing posts with label labor. Show all posts
Showing posts with label labor. Show all posts
Monday, September 17, 2012
Monday, May 21, 2012
The Law Of Unintended Consequences: Georgia's Immigration Law Backfires
Benjamin Powell
Forbes
5/17/2012
To forgo a repeat of last year, when labor shortages triggered an estimated $140 million in agricultural losses, as crops rotted in the fields, officials in Georgia are now dispatching prisoners to the state’s farms to help harvest fruit and vegetables.
The labor shortages, which also have affected the hotel and restaurant industries, are a consequence of Georgia’s immigration enforcement law, HB 87, which was passed last year. As State Rep. Matt Ramsey, one of the bill’s authors, said at the time, “Our goal is … to eliminate incentives for illegal
aliens to cross into our state.”
Now he and others are learning: Be careful what you wish for, because you may get more than you bargained for.
Georgia’s law, similar to those in Alabama, Arizona and a few other states, gives police the authority to demand immigration documentation from suspects when they detain them for other possible violations. The law also makes it more difficult for businesses to hire workers and creates harsher punishments for those who employ or harbor illegal immigrants.
The Pew Hispanic Center estimated that some 425,000 illegal immigrants lived in Georgia when the legislation was passed – seventh highest in the nation. Those numbers are now down, as hoped for, but the state’s economy is paying a heavy price.
The dirty secret that everybody knew was that most of the state’s agricultural workers were immigrants, many of them illegal. Some lived in the state; others migrated with the harvest from southern Florida up to New York and back. Some of the former have moved away, while many of the latter are bypassing Georgia. Without them, according to a University of Georgia study, farmers were about 40 percent short of the number of workers they needed to harvest last year’s crop.
Despite high unemployment in the state, most Georgians don’t want such back-breaking jobs, nor do they have the necessary skills. According to Dick Minor, president of the Georgia Fruit and Vegetable Grower’s Association, immigrants “are pretty much professional harvesters” with many specializing in particular crops.
Workers are paid by volume, with skilled workers typically earning $15 to $20 an hour. Unskilled workers earn much less, which is why most locals don’t want the jobs.
Georgia’s experience is consistent with economic research on immigration. Although many Americans believe immigrants “steal” our jobs and push down our wages, economists find little evidence of that.
Since 1950 the U.S. labor force has roughly doubled in size, but there has been no long-run increase in unemployment. Most economic studies also find little evidence that increased immigration depresses the wages of U.S. workers. At worst, it might push down the wages of high school dropouts, but even there the effect is small.
Simple supply and demand analysis would seem to indicate if you increase the supply of labor, wages will decline. But immigrants don’t simply increase the supply of labor. They supply skills that most Americans don’t have. As such, they don’t replace American workers so much as free them up to do other, typically more-skilled, things. This symbiotic relationship benefits immigrants and native-born alike.
Georgia’s immigration law has had precisely the effect the economic studies could have predicted. Farmers are having a hard time finding workers with the right skills to harvest their crops. As a result, Minor says, “A lot of the smaller growers have elected not to plant as many crops or to plant any crops.” These reductions cascade through the state economy and everybody loses.
Georgia’s immigration law wasn’t motivated solely by economic concerns, of course. Many Georgians also had concerns about the high cost of providing public services to illegal residents: schooling, medical care, law enforcement and other publicly funded services.
But there are better ways to handle such problems than by chasing away needed workers.
Georgia’s immigration law is a blunt instrument that is doing unnecessary harm to immigrants and native Georgians alike, making everyone poorer. Both Georgia, and any other state that’s considering a similar law, should reconsider.
Original Link: http://www.forbes.com/sites/realspin/2012/05/17/the-law-of-unintended-consequences-georgias-immigration-law-backfires/
Forbes
5/17/2012
To forgo a repeat of last year, when labor shortages triggered an estimated $140 million in agricultural losses, as crops rotted in the fields, officials in Georgia are now dispatching prisoners to the state’s farms to help harvest fruit and vegetables.
The labor shortages, which also have affected the hotel and restaurant industries, are a consequence of Georgia’s immigration enforcement law, HB 87, which was passed last year. As State Rep. Matt Ramsey, one of the bill’s authors, said at the time, “Our goal is … to eliminate incentives for illegal
aliens to cross into our state.”
Now he and others are learning: Be careful what you wish for, because you may get more than you bargained for.
Georgia’s law, similar to those in Alabama, Arizona and a few other states, gives police the authority to demand immigration documentation from suspects when they detain them for other possible violations. The law also makes it more difficult for businesses to hire workers and creates harsher punishments for those who employ or harbor illegal immigrants.
The Pew Hispanic Center estimated that some 425,000 illegal immigrants lived in Georgia when the legislation was passed – seventh highest in the nation. Those numbers are now down, as hoped for, but the state’s economy is paying a heavy price.
The dirty secret that everybody knew was that most of the state’s agricultural workers were immigrants, many of them illegal. Some lived in the state; others migrated with the harvest from southern Florida up to New York and back. Some of the former have moved away, while many of the latter are bypassing Georgia. Without them, according to a University of Georgia study, farmers were about 40 percent short of the number of workers they needed to harvest last year’s crop.
Despite high unemployment in the state, most Georgians don’t want such back-breaking jobs, nor do they have the necessary skills. According to Dick Minor, president of the Georgia Fruit and Vegetable Grower’s Association, immigrants “are pretty much professional harvesters” with many specializing in particular crops.
Workers are paid by volume, with skilled workers typically earning $15 to $20 an hour. Unskilled workers earn much less, which is why most locals don’t want the jobs.
Georgia’s experience is consistent with economic research on immigration. Although many Americans believe immigrants “steal” our jobs and push down our wages, economists find little evidence of that.
Since 1950 the U.S. labor force has roughly doubled in size, but there has been no long-run increase in unemployment. Most economic studies also find little evidence that increased immigration depresses the wages of U.S. workers. At worst, it might push down the wages of high school dropouts, but even there the effect is small.
Simple supply and demand analysis would seem to indicate if you increase the supply of labor, wages will decline. But immigrants don’t simply increase the supply of labor. They supply skills that most Americans don’t have. As such, they don’t replace American workers so much as free them up to do other, typically more-skilled, things. This symbiotic relationship benefits immigrants and native-born alike.
Georgia’s immigration law has had precisely the effect the economic studies could have predicted. Farmers are having a hard time finding workers with the right skills to harvest their crops. As a result, Minor says, “A lot of the smaller growers have elected not to plant as many crops or to plant any crops.” These reductions cascade through the state economy and everybody loses.
Georgia’s immigration law wasn’t motivated solely by economic concerns, of course. Many Georgians also had concerns about the high cost of providing public services to illegal residents: schooling, medical care, law enforcement and other publicly funded services.
But there are better ways to handle such problems than by chasing away needed workers.
Georgia’s immigration law is a blunt instrument that is doing unnecessary harm to immigrants and native Georgians alike, making everyone poorer. Both Georgia, and any other state that’s considering a similar law, should reconsider.
Original Link: http://www.forbes.com/sites/realspin/2012/05/17/the-law-of-unintended-consequences-georgias-immigration-law-backfires/
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Department of Labor in WNC Investigating Tomato Harvest
FYI-
The Mountain Xpress has just published an article 'Dept of Labor "Strike Force" Coming to WNC to Investigate Working Conditions on Farms'.
The Mountain Xpress has just published an article 'Dept of Labor "Strike Force" Coming to WNC to Investigate Working Conditions on Farms'.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Action Needed For Those Employing H2-A Workers
Last Monday I blogged about the Suspension of the H2-A Program. Here are a few bullet points relating to this important issue. Following the bullet points there is an opportunity to let your voice be heard. Must be done by March 27!
- On Tuesday, March 17th the Obama Administration’s Department of Labor (DOL) released a proposal to suspend the Bush Administration’s recent changes to the H-2A program
- If adopted, the suspension would last for 9 months
- DOL is proposing the suspension so it may “review and reconsider” the Bush H-2A Rule “while minimizing the disruption to the Department, State Workforce Agencies (SWAs), employers and workers.”
- DOL established a 10 day comment period for the proposal
- The short duration of the comment period is unusual, but not unprecedented
- DOL argues the 10 day comment period is sufficient because a longer time period would stretch too far into the growing season
- If DOL decides to suspend the Bush H-2A Rule, it will “re-instate verbatim” the H-2A regulations that were in place immediately before the Bush H-2A took effect
- Assuming DOL decides to suspend the Bush Rule, two possible regulatory outcomes could occur at the end of the 9 month suspension period:
- DOL will lift the suspension and allow the Bush Rule to stand
- DOL will write new H-2A regulations
- If the suspension takes effect, H-2A users who have engaged in “pre-filing positive recruitment” before the start of the suspension period will be governed under the Bush H-2A Rule
- H-2A users who have not begun “pre-filing positive recruitment” before the start of the suspension period will be governed under the previous H-2A regulatory scheme
If you use H-2A workers and want to submit comments, you can do so until Friday, March 27th. Comments must be limited to whether USDOL should suspend the Bush H-2A rule.
You can send by e-mail to: http://www.regulations.gov and follow website instructions for submitting comments.
You can also mail them to:
Thomas Dowd
Administrator, Office of Policy Development and Research
Employment and Training Administration
Below is a sample comment letter text from the NC Farm Bureau:
Sample Comment Letter Text
I am writing to express my opposition to the Department’s proposal to suspend the H-2A Final Rule for nine months. As a farmer, I urge the Department to withdraw this proposal.
Suspending the H-2A Final Rule will increase confusion regarding the program and frustrate farm budgets and business plans. It could also result in some farmers who use the H-2A program becoming vulnerable to wage discrimination lawsuits. The Final Rule was adopted using proper rulemaking procedures and H-2A users relied on this regulatory framework as they made plans for the 2009 growing season. The Department’s proposal will disrupt many farming operations in
Again, I urge the Department to withdraw this misguided proposal to suspend the H-2A Final Rule. Thank you for your attention to my comments.
Note: Due to security concerns postal delivery to
On Thursday, Commissioner Troxler and representatives from the Agriculture Council and the NC Vegetable Growers Association will travel to
Monday, March 16, 2009
U.S. Department of Labor proposes to suspend H-2A rule
WASHINGTON, March 13 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The U.S. Department of Labor's Employment and Training Administration (ETA) today announced the proposed suspension for nine months of a final rule implementing changes to the H-2A program, which allows U.S. agricultural businesses to employ foreign workers in temporary or seasonal agricultural jobs. The department's proposed action is open for public comment for 10 days.
"Because many stakeholders have raised concerns about the H-2A regulations, this proposed suspension is the prudent and responsible action to take," said Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis. "Suspending the rule would allow the department to review and reconsider the regulation, while minimizing disruption to state workforce agencies, employers and workers."
The proposed suspension of the final rule will appear in the Federal Register on March 17. The final rule appeared in the Federal Register on Dec. 18, 2008, and took effect on Jan. 17, 2009.
The H-2A nonimmigrant program is designed to provide agricultural businesses with short-term foreign agricultural labor when there are not enough domestic workers. Receiving an H-2A labor certification is the first step in the employment-based immigration process to work on a farm.
In 2008, the department granted North Carolina, Georgia and Florida the largest numbers of H-2A labor certifications.
The Labor Department's Office of Foreign Labor Certification will continue to accept and process H-2A applications during the proposed suspension period. Any final action on today's proposed suspension will appear in a future Federal Register notice.
"Because many stakeholders have raised concerns about the H-2A regulations, this proposed suspension is the prudent and responsible action to take," said Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis. "Suspending the rule would allow the department to review and reconsider the regulation, while minimizing disruption to state workforce agencies, employers and workers."
The proposed suspension of the final rule will appear in the Federal Register on March 17. The final rule appeared in the Federal Register on Dec. 18, 2008, and took effect on Jan. 17, 2009.
The H-2A nonimmigrant program is designed to provide agricultural businesses with short-term foreign agricultural labor when there are not enough domestic workers. Receiving an H-2A labor certification is the first step in the employment-based immigration process to work on a farm.
In 2008, the department granted North Carolina, Georgia and Florida the largest numbers of H-2A labor certifications.
The Labor Department's Office of Foreign Labor Certification will continue to accept and process H-2A applications during the proposed suspension period. Any final action on today's proposed suspension will appear in a future Federal Register notice.
Posted by
Sue Colucci
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