Links and information on the Farm Workers Rights petition

https://www.change.org/p/jay-inslee-demand-enforcement-of-labor-rights-for-farm-workers-end-employer-retaliation
https://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs77d.htm
Fact Sheet #77D: Retaliation Prohibited under the H-2A Temporary Visa Program
This fact sheet provides general information concerning the prohibition against retaliating against an individual for exercising his or her rights or participating in matters protected under the H-2A nonimmigrant temporary visa program.
The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) authorizes the admission into the United States of temporary, non-immigrant alien workers to perform agricultural labor or services that are temporary or seasonal in nature (H-2A workers). Employers of such workers and of U.S. workers in corresponding employment (workers who perform work included in the job order or agricultural work performed by the H-2A workers) are obligated to comply with the terms and conditions specified in the job order/contract, and all applicable statutory and regulatory requirements, including the prohibition against retaliation.
Prohibitions
29 CFR § 501.4 prohibits discrimination and states that a person may not “intimidate, threaten, restrain, coerce, blacklist, discharge, or in any manner discriminate against any person who has” engaged in any of the following actions in relation to protections under the H-2A program or the INA:
  • Filed, instituted, or caused to be instituted any complaint or proceeding;
  • Testified or is about to testify in any such proceedings;
  • Consulted with an attorney or legal assistance program;
  • Exercised or asserted, on behalf of himself or others, any right or protection.
Coverage
“Persons” who are precluded from engaging in prohibited discrimination includes, but is not limited to, agricultural associations, agricultural employers, agents, recruiters, and H-2A labor contractors.
The prohibited actions may not be taken against “any person,” which includes, but is not limited to, H-2A visa workers and workers in corresponding employment. An employment relationship is not required.
For additional general information on the obligations of H-2A program, please visit Fact Sheet #26 at http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs26.htm.
Retaliation Prohibited under the H-2A Temporary Visa Program
https://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs77d.pdf



https://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs26.htm
In addition to meeting the same assurances and obligations as any other H-2A employer, H-2ALCs must fulfill the following requirements:
  • list the name and location of each fixed-site agricultural business to which they expect to provide H-2A workers, the dates of each employment opportunity, and a description of the crops and activities the workers are expected to perform at each area of intended employment;
  • submit a copy of each work contract agreement between the H-2ALC and the agricultural business to which they expect to provide workers;
  • provide proof that all housing and transportation if provided or secured by the fixed-site employer complies with applicable safety and health standards; and
  • obtain and submit the original surety bond with the H-2A Application.
https://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs26.htm



https://icert.doleta.gov/
https://www.wafla.org/resources/Documents/Press%20Releases/2017/Econ.%20Contrib.%20of%20WA%20H-2A%20Workers%205-2017.pdf



http://www.capitalpress.com/Washington/20170915/washington-court-ponders-scope-of-piece-rate-work



https://medium.com/race-law-a-critical-analysis/farmwork-facts-and-outreach-in-washington-state-9bb39b18f822



http://ufw.org/



http://www.99calor.org/for-employers/



http://www.99calor.org/.../Employer.../poster_english_ag.pdf

http://www.99calor.org/.../Employer.../poster_spanish_ag.pdf



http://www.99calor.org/espanol/



http://www.99calor.org/english.html



http://ufw.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/BautistaSettlementSummary.pdf



http://ufw.org/ab-1066-phase-overtime-agricultural-workers-act-2016/



https://www.pri.org/stories/2016-07-18/workers-who-pick-your-summer-berries-are-asking-you-not-buy-them









Fair Labor Standards Act



H-2A workers are often valued over US workers because they can be treated as a commodity: a captive workforce that will work to the limits of human endurance to please their employers, that can be returned home if they do not meet expectations.



Water availability__ Washington WAC 296-307 WAC 296-307-095 •
Within ¼ mile Suitably cool ( 60°F or less)
Sufficient amounts (3 gallons per worker on hot day) Applies to employers of 1+ workers



http://www.lni.wa.gov/WorkplaceRights/files/policies/esa1.pdf
6. Which employees are excluded from the protections of the MWA? The following exemptions are found in RCW 49.46.010(3). Application of these exemptions depends on the facts, which must be carefully evaluated on a case-by-case basis: (a) Certain agricultural employees: An individual who is employed as a hand harvest pieceworker in the region of employment, and who commutes daily from his or her permanent residence to the farm upon which he or she is employed and who has been employed in agriculture less than thirteen weeks during the preceding calendar year. Each of the elements listed above must be met in order for the exemption to apply.
If you see a worker in immediate danger, contact L&I at 1-800-423-7233
http://www.lni.wa.gov/Safety/TrainingPrevention/Help/ReportHazards/complaints.asp
http://www.lni.wa.gov/Safety/TrainingPrevention/Help/ReportHazards/complaints.asp
http://www.lni.wa.gov/Main/ContactInfo/OfficeLocations/default.asp
filing a complaint__ http://www.lni.wa.gov/WorkplaceRights/ComplainDiscrim/WRComplaint/
minimum wage act __ http://www.lni.wa.gov/WorkplaceRights/files/policies/esa1.pdf
http://www.lni.wa.gov/WorkplaceRights/Agriculture/Breaks/PaidBreaks.asp
http://www.lni.wa.gov/WorkplaceRights/Agriculture/Breaks/PaidAgriculturalRestBreaks.pdf
http://www.lni.wa.gov/WorkplaceRights/files/policies/esc62.pdf
http://sd17.senate.ca.gov/news/2014-09-29-governor-signs-farmworker-sexual-harassment-prevention-legislation
http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201320140SB1087&version=20130SB108793CHP
https://consulmex.sre.gob.mx/sacramento/images/PDFs/MexicoEnCapitolio/sb_1087.pdf
overtime pay__ http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article101400142.html
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/labor-laws-left-farm-workers-behind-vulnerable-abuse/
https://blog.dol.gov/2015/05/21/cutting-corners-puts-farmworkers-at-risk
https://www.dol.gov/whd/howtofilecomplaint.htm

AB 1066 – Wages, Hours and Working Conditions for Agricultural Workers (Effective January 1, 2017)

Currently, agricultural workers who work more than 10 hours per day are to receive overtime pay at one-and-half times the regular rate of pay. This Bill, known as the Phase-In Overtime for Agricultural Workers Act of 2016, amends Labor Code Section 554[3] and provides that a gradual phase-in of overtime to agricultural workers. For employers with 26 or more employees,[4] beginning on January 1, 2019, and continuing until January 1, 2022, the phase-in provides for a reduction of half-hour per day per year until reaching 8 hours (or 40 hours per week). As such, beginning on January 1, 2019, agricultural workers working more than 9 ½ hours per day or in excess of 55 hours in any one workweek are to receive overtime pay at one-and-half times their regular rate of pay. And so on until January 1, 2022, agricultural workers working more than 8 hours per day or in excess of 40 hours in any one workweek are to receive overtime pay at one-and-half times their regular rate of pay. Further, beginning on January 1, 2022, agricultural workers working more than 12 hours per day are to receive overtime pay at twice their regular rate of pay. Finally, this Bill authorizes California to delay the implementation of the foregoing phase-in schedule if the governor also suspends the implementation of the scheduled increase in the California minimum wage.




http://www.drinkerbiddle.com/insights/publications/2016/10/summary-of-key-new-california-laws-for-2017
https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB1066
(a) Agricultural employees engage in back-breaking work every day.
(b) Few occupations in today’s America are as physically demanding and exhausting as agricultural work.
(c) In 1938, the United States Congress enacted the federal Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. Sec. 201 et seq.), which excluded agricultural workers from wage protections and overtime compensation requirements.

https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB1066
https://causenow.org/article/local-farmworkers-stand-their-rights
https://causenow.org/sites/default/files/files/DLSE%20OSHA%20Report.pdf
https://ia600205.us.archive.org/31/items/TheStruggleOfTheTexasFarmWorkersUnion/TFWU3.pdf
http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2016/01/28/464453958/guest-workers-legal-yet-not-quite-free-pick-floridas-oranges
http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2016/05/28/479633481/farmers-wait-and-wait-for-guest-workers-amid-h-2a-visa-delays
http://www.npr.org/2016/08/11/488428558/in-south-texas-fair-wages-elude-farmworkers-50-years-after-historic-strike
https://www.farmworkerjustice.org/sites/default/files/NAWS%20data%20factsht%201-13-15FINAL.pdf
http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/02/26/387698016/do-your-veggies-depend-on-workers-who-lack-legal-rights
Workers with visa #h2a exploited and abused in Salinas, California. These fellow strawberry harvest workers in the fields of California are enslaved and legally exploited, because they are brought under cheating by those who hire them. For those who write to us and say that nobody here is a slave, I invite all of them to come at least one day to the fields to live in
their own flesh what the testimonies of this video spend day by day.
https://www.facebook.com/pg/FamiliasUnidas/community/
http://www.elsoldeyakima.com/noticias/trabajadores-con-visa-h--a-en-huelga-en-larson/article_9e21d4fc-97de-11e7-b6c0-ffc1f8aed79e.html#utm_campaign=blox&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social
https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Topics/Human-Trafficking-Series
https://www.csmonitor.com/World/2015/1123/How-to-free-modern-slaves-Three-tech-solutions-that-are-working
https://www.csmonitor.com/World/2015/1026/Modern-slavery-Labor-trafficking-is-everywhere-and-nowhere
https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/2016/0104/Why-Seattle-is-scoring-victories-against-labor-traffickers
There are several steps we can take to slow this scourge. Education
and outreach are critical — not just for women working in the
industry, but also for consumers who can put pressure on the industry
to crack down. At the same time, employers themselves often don’t know
what’s going on in their own fields.
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/19/opinion/how-to-protect-female-farmworkers.html?mcubz=1
http://www.lni.wa.gov/WorkplaceRights/Agriculture/FarmLabor/default.asp
https://voicesforciviljustice.org/pub/12315/how-protect-female-farmworkers/
https://www.aclu.org/other/amparo-defending-rights-women-farmworkers
http://www.thestranger.com/slog/2017/08/07/25333857/northern-washington-farmworkers-hospitalization-sparks-protest-this-weekend-he-died
https://www.facebook.com/
http://www.hortifrut.com/
https://www.naturipefarms.com/
http://www.mungerfarms.com/


http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/dozens-of-mexican-workers-left-in-limbo-after-whatcom-county-farm-walkout/
http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/many-farmworkers-in-whatcom-county-standoff-are-headed-back-to-mexico-this-week/ ******
https://www.facebook.com/wwustudentsforfarmworkerjustice/ *****
Also please call the farm labor contractor who has been mistreating these workers and demand than no reprisals be taken against the workers and that this activity cannot affect their status to work in the US
Nidia Perez: 661 725 8458
https://www.facebook.com/Community2Community/


By H. Nelson Goodson
Hispanic News Network U.S.A.

August 7, 2017

Sumas, Washington - On Sunday, Familias Unidas por la Justicia and Xolotl Edgar FranX posted on Facebook several videos showing H-2A guest workers from Mexico in dilemma and seeking help from multiple non-profit organizations after being dismissed from the Sarbanand Farms. The owner and operators of the Sarbanand Farms, where blueberries are picked dismissed the H-2A workers simply for complaining about the unsafe working conditions at the farms, after Ernesto Silva Ibarra, 28, a guest worker became sick about four days ago working in the field in hot temperatures. Ibarra was given some medical attention, but was later forced to go back to work and collapsed from a heat stroke and was taken to Harborview Medical Center where he went into coma, was in life supports, but died from brain damage, according to some of the workers. An H-2A worker contacted Ramon Torres from Familias Unidas por la Justicia who began to organize fellow farmworker rights activists to help the guest workers in need.
Torres confirmed that four other H-2A guest workers are in the hospital as well and that one side of their bodies is paralyzed and once released from the hospital, they would need medical care and medicine.
Ibarra's death was confirmed by the King County Medical Examiner's office on Monday.
The H-2A workers were given about an hour to vacate the cabins where they stayed. An encampment was set nearby by the Community to Community Development to temporarily provide shelter, tents, portable bathrooms and food for the H-2A workers who have been threatened for deportation. Apparently a private California contractor, Nidia Pérez who works for Munger Brothers LLC managed to transfer most of the guest workers to Sumas from a California farm associated with Munger farms when their visas had expired (including work permits) and had been working in Sumas at the Sarbanand Farms for about a month without valid visas, according to the H-2A guest workers. They were given work contracts in English only by the contractor and were promised that they would get the contracts in Spanish, but they haven't gotten the translated contracts, according to the H-2A guest workers.
Edgar Frank posted on his Facebook account, "H2A workers from Mexico got fired today after they found out that one of their compañeros, who had been telling the company for 4 days that he was not feeling well, is now at Harborview Hospital in Seattle and in a coma. They refused to work because they wanted to improve the overall safety of the farm by having onsite medical attention, shaded areas, and food. After they were fired the company told them they had one hour to leave the property, so they packed their suitcases and backpacks and walked for miles until they found a friendly family to help them. They worked for Sarbanand Farms in Sumas..."
Community to Community Development (C2C) posted on their FB account that "on Saturday, August 5, 2017, C2C marches with H2a workers from Sarabanan Farms in Sumas WA to the company's offices to protest the unsafe working conditions that caused the collapse of their 28 yr old co-worker that is now on life support at Harborview Hospital in Seattle. The workers have been picking blueberries under harsh production standards in high heat and smoke from the fires in BC.  They have been complaining for days of health issues; including their co-worker who finally collapsed in the blueberry field. Only then did company management act."
Other groups also helping the H-2A guest workers are WWU Students for Farmworkers Justice and Old School Boycott Committee.
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, "The H-2A temporary agricultural program allows agricultural employers who anticipate a shortage of domestic workers to bring nonimmigrant foreign workers to the U.S. to perform agricultural labor or services of a temporary or seasonal nature. Employment is of a seasonal nature where it is tied to a certain time of year by an event or pattern, such as a short annual growing cycle, and requires labor levels above what is necessary for ongoing operations. Employment is of a temporary nature when the employer's need to fill the position with a temporary worker will, except in extraordinary circumstances, last no longer than 1 year."




















EXTENSIONS OF AN H-2A VISA

If your boss wants to extend the amount of time you are working in the United States, your boss must request permission from U.S. Immigration before your visa expires.  If the extension is approved, then your boss must give you a copy of the extension.

If you and your boss do not follow these rules, and you stay in the U.S. longer than your visa allows, you may be denied a future visa to come to the United States. Do not stay longer than your visa allows. You may call one of our offices if you have questions.
http://ptla.org/h-2a-your-rights






Comments

  1. UnknownSeptember 16, 2017 at 12:53 PM

    Si ve a un trabajador en peligro inmediato, comuníquese con L & I al 1-800-423-7233

    ReplyDelete

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