A plan by the administration of President Donald Trump will cut the wages of farmworkers by $5 to $7 per hour, warns the United Farm Workers (UFW).
This follows the Department of Labor (DOL), led by Lori Chavez DeRemer, publishing a rule to modify its regulations governing the certification of agricultural labor or services and corresponding pay.
“Trump’s wage cut is a catastrophe for U.S. farmworkers, whom growers intend to replace with cheap, exploitable foreign guest workers,” warns Teresa Romero, president of the UFW.
While the document refers to farmworkers with H-2A visas, the UFW warns that the plan published in the Federal Register on October 2 will affect all farmworkers in the United States.
“When guest workers’ wages are cut, U.S. jobs are lost. Since the H-2A visa has no cap, and since H-2A visa fraud is already leading workers to take jobs in construction and other industries, Trump’s wage cuts open the door to a potentially unlimited loss of U.S. jobs,” Romero explains.
The estimated impact on wages is $2.46 billion annually and $17.29 billion over the next ten years.
“Farmworkers should be paid more, not less. This regulation is a victory for corporate greed; a handout to big agribusinesses that transfer millions of dollars through wage cuts and housing deductions from workers to employers,” said Erica Lomeli Corcoran, executive director of the UFW Foundation. “The farmworkers who feed us every day deserve much more, and we remain committed to ensuring their work and dignity are respected.”
What does the change entail?
The DOL announced it is revising the methodology for determining Adverse Effect Wage Rates (AEWR) per hour for out-of-range occupations, using wage data reported for each U.S. state and territory by the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey.
“These AEWRs will be divided into two skill-based categories to account for wage differences stemming from qualifications included in the employer’s job offer,” the plan states. “To address compensation differences between most U.S. workers and H-2A workers who receive free employer-provided housing, the Department will implement a standard adjustment factor to the AEWR to account for this non-monetary compensation, which employers will apply when compensating H-2A workers under temporary agricultural labor certifications.”
The UFW warns that the housing right for H-2A employees would be transferred to foreign workers, who could have rent deducted from their wages.
“The new regulations also cut wages for certain higher-skilled and more desirable positions, such as tractor drivers, resulting in lower pay for tasks that previously paid more,” the organization notes. “By reducing H-2A visa workers’ wages, the Trump administration is driving down wages for U.S. workers and ultimately displacing many American citizens from their jobs in agriculture.”
State-by-state impacts
The proposed wage cut will have varying impacts by state, forcing reductions in pay for farmworkers, the UFW indicates.
California, Georgia, Missouri, and Michigan will be the hardest hit, with workers in the first losing $3.52 per hour—without accounting for housing costs—and wages dropping to $13.45, below the state’s minimum wage.
The regulation takes effect immediately without offering an opportunity for public comment.
The following table shows examples of mostly agricultural states:
– California: from $19.97 to $16.45 per hour.
– Georgia: from $16.08 to $12.27.
– Michigan: from $18.15 to $13.78.
– New York: from $18.83 to $15.68.
– Washington: from $19.82 to $16.53.
– Missouri: from $18.65 to $14.56.
– Arizona: from $17.04 to $15.32.
Image: Opinion
