Corkyskog comments on Just Another 20 Million, Bro

[–] Corkyskog@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 year ago* (3 children)

Haha, you think they are keeping the rules the same? https://www.fisherphillips.com/en/news-insights/dol-issues-game-changer-rule-for-h-2a-farmworker-wages.html

In my state undocumented farm workers make a little more than minimum wage. After this rule change they will be able to legally pay them less.

These are the two most important points of the blog or article I posted:

DOL’s Reasoning. The DOL estimates that agricultural employers will save over $24 billion over the next 10 years as a result of these changes.
AEWR Examples. For some states, these AEWR changes will mean that the state minimum wage will become the highest applicable wage rate for H-2A workers. For other states, the new AEWRs will be lower than the state’s minimum wage. For example, California’s statewide hourly minimum wage for most employers for 2025 is $16.50. However, the new hourly AEWR in California after applying the state’s $3.00 downward adjustment for nonmonetary compensation is $13.45 for entry-level H-2A workers in the Skill I category and $15.71 for experienced H-2A workers in the Skill Level II category.

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[–] ricecake@sh.itjust.works 1 point 1 year ago (2 children)

I feel like what you're missing is that this is lowering the floor for what you can pay visa holders, but saying that will make them preferable to people where there is no floor doesn't follow.

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[–] Corkyskog@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 year ago* (1 child)

I feel like you are still missing a piece of this puzzle.

It turns the migrant farm workers into almost an indentured servitude type class. Right now they demand free market wages which is often above minimum wage in that state. Once their immigration status is tied to their employer they have no ability to shop around for better pay.

So sure there is no "floor" right now, but the free market is the floor. This change might benefit some migrants who are getting bad deals currently, but overall it will harm the migrant workforce and drive labor costs down.

Without this migrant labor would get more and more expensive, as more and more people are deported.

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[–] ricecake@sh.itjust.works 0 points 1 year ago

Once their immigration status is tied to their employer they have no ability to shop around for better pay.

So why would they enter the program? They currently have demonstrated that they have no problem not having an immigration status, so why would they switch to having something that doesn't benefit them, that they don't want, and that costs them money?

Their goal is to make the legal path cheaper to appeal to farmers, but farmers aren't the ones driving the price. As you said: market rate is higher than this guarantees people. If there's a growing shortage of labor you can expect labor wages to rise. Why would you agree to work for less if you can just go to a different farm and make more?

I understand your point and the situation perfectly well.

migrant labor would get more and more expensive, as more and more people are deported.

I believe this is why you're wrong, and farmers aren't hoping it goes faster, but rather voted again their own interests like so many have, and just didn't think they would specifically target their livelihoods.

A racist administration deporting people aggressively, lowering the incentives to come here legally, and not caring about the consequences, while farmers scramble to control damage they didn't think was actually going to happen is a way simpler story. Also fits nicely with "America first" burning the ability of those farmers to sell to a global market, canceling programs that gave them money, and canceling food aid orders that mostly existed as back handed subsidies.

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