The United Farm Workers, along with more than a dozen farmworkers, are suing the Trump administration in California over a new Labor Department rule they argue will “undercut and adversely affect” wages paid to U.S. workers.
Eighteen farmworkers across the nation, along with the United Farm Workers of America and the UFW Foundation, filed the lawsuit Friday to reverse the rule, which makes it cheaper for farmers to hire foreign workers through the H-2A program by lowering wages.
The union argued in the lawsuit that the rule — which cuts wages of H-2A workers between $5 to $7 per hour — is “unlawful” and will “put downward pressure on the wages of U.S. workers” who are in similar jobs, often on the same contracts as those with visas.
“There is nothing ‘America First’ about expanding exploitative guest worker programs that undercut and displace American workers,” Teresa Romero, President of the United Farm Workers, said in a news release. “Farm workers, and the rural communities across America they sustain, need and deserve fair wages and job security, not a race to the bottom with an endless supply of cheap foreign labor. If this President will not fight for American farm workers, then we will.”
The White House referred questions on the lawsuit to the Department of Labor, which referred questions to the Department of Justice. The Department of Justice did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Department of Labor previously estimated that the rule, which went into effect on Oct. 2, would save employers $2.46 billion yearly. The union argued in the lawsuit that it constitutes “a transfer of wealth from the workers to their employers.”
“The Trump administration’s attempt to cut farmworker wages without due process represents what we believe is both illegal action and an improper transfer of money to the wealthiest,” one of the lawyers on the case, Mario Martinez, President at Martinez Aguilasocho Law, Inc, said in a statement.
In the news release, the union said the rule would “also immediately lower the wages of any U.S. citizen workers sharing job sites with H-2A workers, and make it financially easier to hire foreign H-2A guest workers over U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents.”
The rule was released without an opportunity for the public to give feedback, as required by the Administrative Procedure Act, according to the union.
In 2020, the Trump administration attempted to implement a similar rule but was blocked by a UFW and UFW Foundation lawsuit.
Plaintiffs in the lawsuit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California, include farmworkers from Michigan, Georgia, California, Washington, Texas and Missouri.
Among them is Isabel Panfilo, a 23-year-old U.S. citizen who harvests strawberries in Ventura County. According to the lawsuit, Panfilo has received as high as $19.35 per hour under a piece wage rate, but with the new rule her wage per hour could be cut to $16.50, signifying a wage cut of $2.85.
That wage cut “would limit her ability to cover expenses like food, rent, childcare, and the support that she provides to her family,” the lawsuit states.
“The threat of guest workers is really concerning because they are planning to replace local workers with H-2A workers that will make finding work more difficult,” Panfilo said in a statement. “Although I work very hard, it is difficult to cover everyday expenses.”
The post Farmworkers sue Trump administration in California over threat to wages appeared first on Los Angeles Times.
