Fresh Produce Discussion Blog

Created by The Packer's National Editor Tom Karst

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Public Citizen Argues Challenge to Labor Rules That Set Unfair Employment Standards for Sheep and Cattle Herders


WASHINGTON, D.C. ― U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) rules that allow herders to be paid far less than other agricultural workers and live in unsanitary conditions are illegal and should be invalidated, Public Citizen told the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

Through the H-2A visa program, foreign agricultural workers may come to the U.S. to work as herders if the government certifies that qualified U.S. workers are not available and that the employment of foreign workers will not adversely affect similar U.S. workers’ wages and working conditions. In 2011, the DOL announced “special procedures” that exempt herder employers who wish to participate in the H-2A program from requirements that they offer important workplace benefits and protections to U.S. workers before being allowed to hire H-2A workers under those same employment terms. The DOL’s rules permit herders to be on call 24 hours a day, seven days per week and to earn as little as $750 a month (or the equivalent of $2.34 per hour in many cases). The rules also require employers to offer only the most basic housing accommodation for herders living on the range. Those accommodations do not need to include electricity, running water, refrigeration or toilets.

Public Citizen attorneys are lead counsel for three herders who seek herding positions at wages and working conditions that have not been depressed as a result of the DOL’s rules. The workers maintain that the agency’s rules were illegally adopted because they were issued without notice and an opportunity for the public to comment on them, in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act. The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia dismissed the case in February 2013 on the ground that the workers lacked standing to challenge the rules. Public Citizen is asking the appellate court to reinstate the case and hold that the DOL violated the law when it issued the rules.

“The DOL’s unlawful rules for the treatment of herders are just the most recent example of the government’s abject failure to protect this vulnerable set of workers from exploitation,” said Julie Murray, the Public Citizen attorney arguing the case. “At a minimum, the government owes the public an opportunity to comment on and to receive an official explanation for the abysmal wages and working conditions that the DOL has permitted in the herding industry.”

Based on a survey with H-2A herders in Colorado, a distressing report by the Migrant Farm Worker Division of Colorado Legal Services documents herders’ low pay, poor housing and widespread exploitation. Of those herders surveyed, more than 60 percent worked 80 or more hours per week, 70 percent never had access to a functioning toilet and more than 70 percent had no access to a refrigerator to store food.

“All herders ‒ U.S. and H-2A alike ‒ deserve a fair wage and clean, decent housing,” said Murray. “The government’s unlawful rules fail to deliver, and it is past time for their invalidation.”

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

New Report: Wall Street Banks Eye American Farmland, Threaten Future of U.S. Agriculture



Oakland, Calif. (Feb. 18) -- The wolves of Wall Street are eyeing millions of acres of U.S. farmland that will soon come up for sale, much of which has been in the hands of family farmers for generations, according to Down on the Farm, a new study from The Oakland Institute.

"Institutional investors -- including hedge funds, private equity, pension funds, and university endowments -- have trained their sights on America's agricultural infrastructure," said Lukas Ross, an Oakland Institute Fellow and author of the report. "If they succeed in consolidating control over our land and infrastructure, this new class of land barons could imperil our nation's food supply."

Investors are increasingly interested in capitalizing on the run-up in the value of private-equity assets. So they're lining up to purchase some 400 million acres that will become available over the next two decades. That's half of all U.S. farmland.

These would-be owners see $1.8 trillion in land that could be exploited for industrial farming as well as fracking and fossil-fuel production. But their pursuit of a quick buck is driving land prices up, imperils farmers' economic future, the viability of the farm and rural economy, and jeopardizes the long-term health of the land.

Relying on material from the Freedom of Information Act, the report exposes shocking details of unsafe and environmentally irresponsible practices of absentee investor-owners -- as well as legal battles over major labor violations.

Down on the Farm also profiles several farmers who are struggling to get or hold onto land of their own, thanks in part to the Wall-Street-driven run-up in farmland prices.

Initiatives like the Agrarian Trust and California FarmLink are providing critical support to U.S. farmers. But more must be done.

"We must act to ensure that farmers -- not non-operational owners with decidedly less noble intentions -- remain in control of our nation's farmland," said Anuradha Mittal, Executive Director of the Oakland Institute. "If we don't, America's agricultural heritage -- not to mention our ability to produce enough food to feed our people -- could disintegrate."