New York Farmers fear they’ll be short of workers

New York farmers say a shift in state policy is making it harder for them to hire experienced seasonal workers through federal guest-worker contracts.
During a meeting with Gov. David Paterson Monday, farmers said the state Labor Department is forcing less experienced domestic workers from Puerto Rico and elsewhere upon them by rejecting growers’ applications to hire foreign workers on H-2A visas.

“There’s been kind of a shift in the Department of Labor’s response to growers trying to get certified for the H-2A workers, and it’s been a shift from previous administrations,” Oswego apple grower Eric Behling said. “Other states have applied through the H-2A program and haven’t met the resistance.”

The H-2A program allows employers to hire foreign workers temporarily if they show that they were not able to find U.S. workers for the jobs.”*

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