February 2020 - 29

AG LABOR REVIEW
Wearing a white hat works against negative claims
MICHAEL MARSH
President & CEO
National Council of
Agricultural Employers
Michael@ncaeonline.org
meals and lodging, creating situations
of debt-peonage. "
Obviously, the activist organization is
The National Council of Agricultural
Employers recently wrapped its sixth
annual Ag Labor Forum at the M Resort
Spa Casino near Las Vegas, Nevada.
The event was a tremendous success
with speakers and attendees from across
the country. The Guatemalan minister
of labor and a representative of the
Barbados Ministry of Labor were also on
hand. Year over year attendance was up
almost 30%.
U.S. agricultural employers
displayed once again their
commitment to educating themselves
around ag labor compliance.
One of the attorneys who spoke
to the audience made a point during
her presentation that I think is
very important in today's litigious
environment. She admonished the
assemblage to always " wear a white hat "
when it comes to agricultural labor.
Last April 22, an anti-farmer
activist organization updated a widely
disseminated memorandum containing
inflammatory rhetoric regarding
U.S. agricultural employers and their
relationship with the workers they employ.
The activists stated, " The H-2A
guest-worker visa program is fraught
with abuse and fraud. For example,
recruiters often illegally charge Mexican
workers exorbitant recruitment and
transportation fees. Then, once on
farms, workers are often victims of
abusive labor practices and are, again,
charged exorbitant prices for things like
attempting to raise funds while defaming
employers. They must feel if they cast
outrageous aspersions upon American
farmers and ranchers, it will somehow
advance their cause and boost their
income statement. Perhaps they desire to
so incense their fact-free target audience
that, unwittingly duped by this slander,
the targets will reach into their pockets
and shower the activists with cash to
assist in their dark, malevolent scheme.
Farmers and ranchers can turn this
back on the bad guys. We can uncover
their deceit and remove incentives for the
unknowing to be duplicitous with them.
We can do this by always " wearing a
white hat. "
Agricultural employers are some of the
best people I have ever met. And when
it comes to dealing with their workers,
employers recognize explicitly the
exceptional value workers bring to their
businesses. And the workers recognize
this truth as well.
Every couple of years, the U.S.
Department of Labor performs the
National Agricultural Workers Survey
(NAWS). Contrary to the anti-farmer
activists' claims, the 2018 NAWS found
that, " Farmworkers in 2015-2016
worked for an average of one U.S. farm
employer in the 12 months prior to
being interviewed. Eighty percent of
workers reported having worked for only
one farm employer in the previous 12
months, 13% worked for two employers,
and 7% had three or more farm
employers. At the time of the interviews,
farmworkers had been employed by their
current farm employer for an average of
seven years. The majority of farmworkers
interviewed in 2015-2016 expected to
continue doing farm work for more than
five years (76%). "
So, not only did the farmworkers
typically return to their current employer
year after year, the workers intended to
continue in the vocation. So much for the
activists' slanderous claims. Facts matter.
However, there is a lesson to be learned
from this. Agricultural employers should
always " wear a white hat. " Activists are
going to continue to push their false
narrative. By agricultural employers'
continued positive performance, even the
most gullible of the anti-farmer activists'
low hanging targets, will grow weary of
their nonsense. No matter how often they
repeat it.
The takeaway for agricultural
employers from this is straightforward.
Always deal with workers ethically
and with integrity. Constantly strive
to ensure compliance with laws and
regulations. In addition to cultivating
crops in your operation, cultivate
the culture within the workplace to
be the one for which farmers and
ranchers are known - a culture of
decency and respect.
Agriculture can be " as a city upon a
hill, the eyes of all people are upon us. "
We must lead by example through our
work and through our values, in how
we feed the world and in how we care
for our workers. VGN
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VGN | FEBRUARY 2020 | 27
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February 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of February 2020
