Farm labor groups align to promote ethical employment practices

Five organizations involved in bringing seasonal foreign farmworkers to the U.S. have formed an alliance to promote ethical recruiting and employment practices. Trusted Recruiter Alliance members intend to exceed regulatory standards set by the government, said Enrique Gastelum, CEO of the Worker and Farmer Labor Association in Lacey, Wash. “We don’t need the government coming in and telling us what’s morally right,” he said. The alliance’s other members are Western Growers in California; Oakland, Calif.-based CIERTO; Austin, Texas-based LaborMex, and másLabor, which has offices in Virginia and Georgia. U.S agriculture, particularly in states with labor-intensive crops, such as Florida, Georgia, California and Washington, rely on the H-2A program to fill jobs. The Labor Department certified 398,258 job openings for H-2A workers last year. Some 16% of all farmworkers were foreign workers, according to the Congressional Research Service.

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