Catherwood LibraryILR School

A recent successful six-day strike against Larson Fruit in Washington state was notable for showing signs of labor muscle on behalf of foreign guest workers, who are generally reluctant to protest for fear of being sent back home. Foreign guest workers are typically in the U.S. under temporary H-2A visas, and by their numbers are an increasingly important part of the apple industry. Washington farmers want the Trump administration to ease H-2A visa regulations so foreign workers can be brought in quickly and cheaply; even with current restrictions, the number of guest workers has skyrocketed despite a decline in Mexican illegal immigration. In 2017, Washington farmers and growers requested more than 18,550 positions for H-2A foreign workers, a 40 percent increase since last year and more than four times the number from five years ago. Farmworker union Familias Unidas por la Justicia assisted 17 workers at Larson Fruit who were experiencing verbal abuse and the inability to take time off for illness; the union had also assisted more than 90 H-2A berry pickers who walked off their jobs at Sarbanand Farms in August – most of whom wound up losing their jobs. The strike settlement reinstated three fired workers and also bars the blacklisting of those who went on strike should they seek future employment under the H-2A program. Union president Ramon Torres wants to protect both foreign and domestic workers, but is also critical of the H-2A program, saying it has been used by some growers to undermine union organizing efforts of U.S.-based workers - by hiring guest workers to replace U.S.workers who have walked off the job.