The North Carolina Growers Association (NCGA) is a growers' cooperative based in the United States state of North Carolina that coordinates seasonal farm workers by utilizing the guest worker program.[1]
History
editNCGA was founded by Craig Stanford "Stan" Eury, Jr in 1989. Eury was familiar with the H-2A guest worker program, formalized in 1986, from his previous work as a former state labor department official,[2] a job he lost due to illicit cannabis cultivation. Eury has been described as the largest importer of H-2 guest workers, with other companies copying NCGA's model.[3]
In 1990, NCGA facilitated their first cohort of 400 visa holders, which more than doubled the previous year's number of guest workers in North Carolina. By 1990, they received approval for more than 10,000 workers.[3]
In 2001, investigations of 24 NCGA members found workplace safety violations affecting 215 workers. More than 90 workers died at Walker Farms between 2005-2015.[3]
In 2004, the NCGA signed its first union contract covering 8,500 guest workers from Mexico.[4] A Department of Labor audit found that NCGA had requested more visas than the number of workers requested by growers, and that the whereabouts of almost 30% visa holders was unknown.[3]
Reception and controversy
editReception as a stakeholder in liberalizing agricultural guest worker programs
editThe NCGA has often been quoted in news media articles on the claimed need for foreign temporary agricultural labor in the United States, and the importance of expanding the H-2A visa, with farm worker unions such as United Farm Workers cited for counterpoint.[5][6][7] The H-2A program, and the way the NCGA uses it, have also been critiqued in publications such as Mother Jones.[8]
Economist Michael Clemens at the Center for Global Development cited data from the NCGA, and also spoke with the association, while doing research on the H-2A visa for a policy paper. In a blog post, Clemens cited NCGA numbers: 250 Americans applied for the 7000 agricultural job openings of the NCGA, of whom 70 showed up for work and five completed the season.[9] Clemens' paper was released by the Partnership for a New American Economy[10] and blogged about by Michael Bloomberg[11] and separately by Dylan Matthews for the Washington Post.[12] The study was critiqued by North Carolina Policy Watch, that claimed that the reason the NCGA failed to hire Americans was because the state agencies they went through were apathetic to the process, rather than due to a genuine shortage of American workers.[13]
Clashes with labor unions and migrant rights groups
editThe NCGA has had an acrimonious relationships with labor unions[14] as well as some migrant rights and worker rights organizations, including Human Rights Watch and Legal Services Corporation.[15][16] In the 1990's, the Farm Labor Organizing Committee criticized clauses in the NCGA contract restricting worker access to legal advocacy and making it possible for farm ownership to restrict visitors from worker housing. Workers reported being told in a NCGA orientation that Legal Services were "the enemy" and discard the 'Know your rights' booklet, with threats of retaliation if Legal Services materials were found in a worker's possession.[2]
A 2024 investigation by The Guardian found that NCGA contracts include vague guidelines around kitchen access, with H-2A workers often required to pay for "forced meal plans" with substandard food at excessive prices following their placement at a farm.[17]
Media coverage
editNCGA has been covered in the New York Times,[4][15] Wall Street Journal,[5][16] Forbes,[6] and Time Magazine.[7]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "About". North Carolina Growers Association. Retrieved February 12, 2015.
- ^ a b Compa, Lance A. (2000). Unfair advantage: workers' freedom of association in the United States under international human rights standards (PDF). Human Rights Watch. New York: Human Rights Watch. ISBN 978-1-56432-251-7.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link) - ^ a b c d Bensinger, Ken; Garrison, Jessica; Singer-Vine, Jeremy (December 29, 2015). "The Pied Piper Of North Carolina". BuzzFeed News. Retrieved 2024-10-14.
- ^ a b Greenhouse, Steven (September 17, 2004). "Growers' Group Signs the First Union Contract for Guest Workers". New York Times. Retrieved February 12, 2015.
- ^ a b Jordan, Miriam; Peters, Mark (February 19, 2013). "Tight Market for Farmhands: Growers Press for Immigration Bill to Ensure a Steady Flow of Migrant Workers". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved February 12, 2015.
- ^ a b Wingfield, Brian (July 13, 2009). "Obama Era No Slam Dunk For Labor". Forbes. Retrieved February 12, 2015.
- ^ a b Nathan Thornburgh/Vass (May 24, 2007). "Can a Guest Worker Program Work? The new immigration bill aims to revamp the guest worker program. A look at North Carolina shows what needs fixing". Time Magazine. Retrieved February 12, 2015.
- ^ Yeoman, Barry (January–February 2001). "Silence in the Fields. The U.S. government is allowing farmers to fill thousands of jobs with foreign 'guestworkers.' The conditions are hardly hospitable -- but those who speak out can be sent straight back home". Mother Jones. Retrieved February 12, 2015.
- ^ Clemens, Michael (February 28, 2012). "Do Farm Workers from Developing Countries Take Jobs from Americans?". Retrieved February 12, 2015.
- ^ Clemens, Michael (May 15, 2013). "INTERNATIONAL HARVEST: A Case Study of How Foreign Workers Help American Farms Grow Crops – and the Economy" (PDF). Partnership for a New American Economy and Center for Global Development. Retrieved February 12, 2015.
- ^ Bloomberg, Michael (May 15, 2013). "U.S. Agriculture Industry Depends on Foreign Agriculture Workers". MileBloomberg.com. Retrieved February 12, 2015.
- ^ Matthews, Dylan (May 15, 2013). "North Carolina needed 6,500 farm workers. Only 7 Americans stuck it out". Washington Post. Retrieved February 12, 2015.
- ^ "Flawed study seeks to justify discrimination against U.S. workers". NC Policy Watch. June 3, 2013. Retrieved February 12, 2015.
- ^ Fischler, Jacob (July 18, 2014). "Watch A Farm Representative Punch A Union Organizer Right In The Face". BuzzFeed. Retrieved February 12, 2015.
- ^ a b Sengupta, Somini (October 26, 2000). "Farm Union Takes Aim At a Big Pickle Maker". New York Times. Retrieved February 12, 2015.
- ^ a b Brooks, Jason (August 24, 1998). "Taxpayers Shouldn't Fund Migrant Legal Labor". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved February 12, 2015.
- ^ Vasquez, Tina (2024-10-02). "US farms are forcing workers to buy inedible, expensive meals: 'It makes you feel enslaved'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-10-03.