Labor Agency Rule on H-2A Wage Rate Targeted in Second Suit (1)

The U.S. Labor Department’s regulation changing how the agency calculates wage rates for temporary agricultural guest workers is being challenged for the second time in a federal lawsuit.

Plaintiffs Ricardo Betancourt, Oscar Gutierrez, Severiano Gutierrez, and Olegario Lopez—all of whom are either lawful permanent residents or U.S. citizens—allege that the DOL’s final rule on “adverse effect wage rate” methodology in the H-2A program is inconsistent with the program’s mandate to ensure the admission of agricultural guest workers doesn’t hurt the wages of U.S. farmworkers, including the wages of those filing the complaint.

“DOL acknowledges that the AEWR Rule will result ...