Embargoed until: April 11, 2006
11:30 a.m. Tuesday in Seattle
Breakthrough nationwide UFW pact protecting foreign farm workers remedies abuses plaguing guest worker program
With proposed guest worker programs a key part of the immigration reform debate, the first nationwide union contract protecting agricultural guest workers announced Tuesday in Seattle provides a practical remedy to the long history of abuse and lax enforcement of legal guarantees for imported foreign farm workers.
“From the Bracero Program of the 1940s, ‘50s and ‘60s to the present-day H-2A program, the use of agricultural guest workers has been beset by violations of legal protections and the difficulty state and federal agencies have had enforcing the law among hundreds of employers spread across the nation,” says Arturo Rodriguez, president of the United Farm Workers, a member of the Change to Win Federation. The UFW pact with Global Horizons, one of America’s largest suppliers of agricultural guest workers, is “an historic breakthrough for farm workers that would not have happened without Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire and her administration aggressively holding the company accountable for observing state laws over the past two years,” Rodriguez says.
For the first time, the union contract will provide agricultural guest workers with:
• Enforcement of relevant state and federal laws and protection from retaliation for complaining about treatment through the grievance and binding mediation process.
• A 2 percent pay increase over the Adverse Effect Wage Rate required by federal law, which is always higher than the state or federal minimum wage. It is now $9.01 in Washington state.
• Employer-paid medical care while in this country.
• Paid work breaks, which are not legally guaranteed any farm workers in many states.
• Seniority so workers are hired or laid off based on their years of service with the company.
• Paid bereavement leave when a family member dies, paid round-trip transportation to their country of origin plus further leave time if required.
Who: Global Horizons President Mordechai Orian, UFW President Arturo Rodriguez, other farm worker advocates.
What: Signing a breakthrough nationwide union contract protecting ag guest workers.
When: 11:30 a.m., April 11, 2006.
Where: Seattle Labor Temple, 2800 – 1st Ave., Hall 7, Seattle 98121.
– end –
 Global Horizons/UFW Chronology |
| Contract Summary |
| Statement by UFW President Arturo Rodriguez |