- In California, over 200 H-2A guestworkers were fired when they did not meet an undisclosed production requirement. The workers were also subjected to unsafe and unsanitary housing conditions, denied meals that the employer was required by law to provide, and denied wages for travel time and other work hours required by state and federal law.
- In Michigan, Vreba Hoff Farms engaged in a “bait and switch” scam. The employer told the DOL that workers would be housed at a local Ramada Inn and the hotel was certified as the official housing. When the H-2A workers were not found at the Ramada, state officials conducted an investigation. They discovered not only that no H-2A workers had ever stayed at the Ramada, but that the employer never intended them to.
- In Arizona, over 200 hundred U.S.workers lost their jobs when their employer decided to apply for H-2A workers instead. A federal lawsuit alleging discrimination and violation of the employer’s H-2A job offer is pending.
- In Georgia, 80 H-2A workers sued their employer for violating the Fair Labor Standards Act by routinely underpaying them and not paying them regularly. The employer prepared back-dated checks to hide late payments and false checks to hide non-payments. The employer also required workers to endorse blank checks.
- In Texas, three agricultural employers misclassified their jobs as being non-agricultural in order to bring workers in under the H-2B visa program instead of the H-2A program, as the H-2B program has even fewer labor protections than the H-2A program.
- In Tennessee, six H-2A guestworkers sued their employer for failing to pay the contract wage mandated by the guestworker program over several years, for failing to pay them for all the time that they worked, and for not reimbursing them for their transportation costs as required by both the Fair Labor Standards Act and their contracts.
So, assuming that one cares about work conditions and fair labor practices, how does one make informed decisions to support businesses that have good labor practices? One approach is to try to patronize local businesses for which you can speak with the owners and/or directly observe the operation (think, day on the farm events). Another approach is to use guides or rating systems such as the Good Guide (app available), which rates businesses on measures such as environmental and social responsibility. Are there other approaches that you use to check or ensure that your food is being produced in a socially just manner?