H2A Archives - Northwest Public Broadcasting

U.S. Department of Labor updates prevailing wage rates for agricultural workers

By Johanna Bejarano July 16, 2024

Farmworkers pick organic strawberries at Stehly Farms Organics in Valley Center, Calif., on March 25. CREDIT: Ariana Drehsler/AFP via Getty Images

The U.S. Department of Labor updated the prevailing wage rates for temporary agricultural workers in Washington state. The move came after Familias Unidas por la Justicia, a farmworker’s union in Skagit County, sued the department last May for failing to protect local workers’ wages and labor conditions.Read More

Bunk Beds And Working Conditions For Washington H-2A Farmworkers Prompt Lawsuits

By Enrique Pérez de la Rosa July 20, 2020

Stemilt Growers, based in Wenatchee, Wash., adopted a ladybug in its logos as part of a "Responsible Choice" campaign in 1989. Courtesy Stemilt Growers

In a lawsuit against fruit-growing giant Stemilt, workers say allegations stemmed from a change in production standards set forth in the company's guest worker contract. A separate case involved a challenge to Washington's rules on farmworker housing and sleeping quarters during the pandemic.Read More

President Trump Says He’ll Suspend Immigration For 60 Days Over Coronavirus Fears

By NPR News April 22, 2020

President Trump said he plans to "temporarily suspend immigration into the United States," in an attempt to protect American workers from the coronavirus' economic toll. Read More

Immigrant Farmworkers Face Unique Challenges As Coronavirus Continues To Spread

By Monica Samayoa April 12, 2020

Migrant farmer Martin Zavala-Martinez prunes a pear tree at Avalon Orchards in Parkdale, Ore., Thursday, April 2, 2020. People needing H-2A work visas are facing delays at the U.S.-Mexico border due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

One of the most vulnerable groups currently working through the coronavirus pandemic is made up of immigrant farmworkers. As this population works through some of the unique challenges they face due to the coronavirus, one Tri-Cities radio station is trying to help.Read More

White House Seeks To Lower Foreign Guest Farmworker Pay To Help U.S. Farm Owners

By NPR News April 10, 2020

Farmworkers work at a winery in Clarksburg, Calif., on March 24. Farms continue to operate as essential businesses even as the coronavirus has hurt the agriculture industry. CREDIT: Rich Pedroncelli/AP

White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows is working with Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue to see how wage rates for immigrant farmworkers can be reduced. Critics say it will hurt all workers.Read More

Stumbling Toward Spring: Northwest Growers Scramble To Start During Coronavirus Crisis

By Anna King April 3, 2020

Freshly planted furrows span out across the Columbia Basin as farmers get ready for the coming season as worries of COVID-19 spread in central and eastern Washington.

Spring work starts up, ready or not. And Northwest growers are scrambling to figure out how to work around the global coronavirus pandemic and still bring in the coming harvest. Read More

Coronavirus Threatens Food Supply Chain As Farms Worry About Workers Getting Sick

By NPR News March 18, 2020

Workers pick apples in a Wapato, Wash., orchard last October. U.S. farms employ hundreds of thousands of seasonal workers, mostly from Mexico, who enter the country on H-2A visas. The potential impact of the coronavirus on seasonal workers has the food industry on edge. CREDIT: Elaine Thompson/AP

About 250,000 workers came to the U.S. on H-2A visas last year, the majority of them from Mexico. They've become an increasingly important piece of America's food industry.Read More

Cámara de Representantes Vota A Favor De Dar Estatus Legal A Campesinos Indocumentados

By Enrique Pérez de la Rosa December 13, 2019

Sarbanand Farms farmworkers demonstrate after coworker's death in August 2017.

El miércoles 11 de diciembre, la Cámara de Representantes aprobó un proyecto de ley bipartidista que podría darle un camino hacia la residencia legal a miles de trabajadores agrícolas indocumentados. Read More

U.S. House Passes Bipartisan Bill For Relief To Undocumented Farmworkers, Farmers Short On Labor

By Enrique Pérez de la Rosa December 13, 2019

The possible impeachment of President Donald Trump is not the only thing moving through the U.S. House of Representatives. On Wednesday, the House passed a bipartisan bill that could give undocumented farmworkers a path to legal residence and relief to farmers short on labor. Read More

They Came To Central Washington To Work, Then They Got The Mumps

By NWPB News May 8, 2019

Carlos Perez Carillo walks amid a fruit orchard outside of Mattawa in central Washington. He’s not far from where the workers who’ve been exposed to mumps are being quarantined at King Fuji Ranch. He says he’s been warned to stay away. CREDIT: ANNA KING/N3

H2A workers tend to be pretty isolated already. Housing is often tucked away in the orchards, away from towns, and getting sick can complicate things. Farmworker advocates criticize the H2A program can leave workers vulnerable. The exposed workers in Mattawa, near Vantage, Wash., are now stuck on the farm until the disease passes. It’s a long period of isolation, which Read More