----- Original Message ----- From: National Network <nnirr at nnirr.org> To: <nnirr-news at nnirr.org> Sent: Wednesday, 23 June 1999 8:17 Subject: ACTION ALERT: MIGRANT FARMWORKERS
>
> URGENT ACTION ALERT--STOP THE GUESTWORKER PROGRAM!
> CALL YOUR SENATORS IMMEDIATELY TO DEMAND THAT THE MCCONNELL AMMENDMENT
> BE STRIPPED FROM THE AGRICULTURAL APPROPRIATIONS BILL
> URGE THEM TO SUPPORT THE WELLSTONE MOTION TO STRIKE THE AMENDMENT
>
>
> McConnell "Reform" of H-2A Temporary Foreign Worker Program
> in FY 2000 Agricultural Appropriations Bill
> Would Harm Migrant Farmworkers
>
> ***Note: We have received word from the Mexican American Legal Defense
> and Education Fund that Sen. Paul Wellstone is planning to introduce a
> motion to strike the McConnell Amendment. That vote could happen as
> early as the evening of June 22. CALL YOUR SENATORS NOW! For more
> information, contact the Farmworker Justice Fund at <fjf at nclr.org>
> -- NNIRR
>
>
> On June 18, 1999, Senator Mitch McConnell successfully slipped into the
> agricultural appropriations bill an amendment to eliminate United States
> farmworkers' access to jobs and make it easier for growers to hire
> foreign
> guestworkers without guaranteeing their basic rights. The bill, S.
> 1233,
> will
> come to the Senate floor shortly, possibly on the evening of Monday,
> June 22, or on June 23.
>
>
> The McConnell amendment would amend the H-2A temporary foreign
> agricultural
> worker program, 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(a), § 1188. The amendment
> is
> brief but would be devastating in its impact on migrant farmworkers.
> Farmworker advocates vigorously oppose this proposal because:
> McConnell's
> amendment would drastically shorten the period of recruitment of
> U.S. workers prior to the time that the Department of Labor determines
> whether there is a shortage of farmworkers available for the job.
>
> McConnell's amendment would push the recruitment period for U.S. workers
> closer to the first day of work.
>
> Current Law: 28 to 33 days of recruitment of US migrant farmworkers
> before
> certification of labor shortage and permission to obtain visas for
> temporary
> foreign workers
> Proposed McConnell Amendment: 3 to 8 days of interstate recruitment of
> US
> migrant farmworkers.
>
> Once H-2A employers receive approval to hire temporary foreign workers,
> the
> employers are more likely to disregard their obligation to recruit and
> hire
> U.S. workers, many of whom will be rejected or discouraged from applying
> for
> the job. Employers prefer guestworkers due to the control they possess
> over
> such workers. Guestworkers may only work for the one employer that
> secured
> the visas and must leave the country when the job ends. In addition,
> employers do not pay Social Security on unemployment taxes on
> guestworkers' wages.
>
> Sen. McConnell's staff person said that the Senator is working with the
> growers on a broader guestworker legislative effort but because it is
> not
> clear that it will be enacted this year, he wanted to ensure that
> demands of H-2A
> growers in Kentucky would be met by a legislative action that could be
> passed this
> year.
>