H-2A Rule Suspension Alert
Dear Nancy,
The GIC is informing our members on the proposed H-2A rule suspension and potential issues surrounding this move.
On Tuesday, March 17, 2009, the U.S. Department of Labor released a proposal to suspend for nine months the recent changes to the H-2A agriculture guest worker program made by the Bush Administration.
According to USDOL, the proposed suspension will give the Department time to review and reconsider the Bush Administration’s rule, “while minimizing the disruption to the Department, State Workforce Agencies (SWA), employers and workers.” The proposal established a 10 day comment period that began on Tuesday and closes on Friday, March 27, 2009. After the comment period is completed, USDOL will decide to either suspend the Bush H-2A rule or allow it to remain in place. If the Bush H-2A rule is suspended, the H-2A regulations that preceded the Bush regulations will be re-instated on an interim basis. At the end of the nine month suspension period, USDOL will either 1) lift the suspension on the Bush H-2A rule or 2) promulgate new H-2A regulations.
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
U.S. Department of Labor
200 Constitution Avenue, NW, Room N-5641
Washington, DC 20210
Below is a sample comment letter text from the NCFB.
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 North Carolina, which has the largest number of H-2A users in the nation, at precisely the wrong time.
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.
Sincerely,
Sheryl Bynum
Executive Director, NC GIC