Hopes for labor reform

摘要

It is an indisputable fact that a grower cannot remain in business without access to a legal, stable and affordable workforce. With an aging workforce and few new domestic workers entering the field, the Pacific Northwest tree fruit industry has become increasingly reliant on the costly H-2A program to grow and harvest their crops.H-2A wages have escalated at a staggering rate over the last decade, averaging 5.4 percent per year in Washington and Oregon. Since non-H-2A growers must compete with H-2A employers (paying H-2A wages) for the dwindling number of domestic agricultural workers available, labor costs are driven up for all. This has already contributed to some growers going out of business.