Worker ‘Self-Advocacy’ Key to Labor Department’s H-2A Proposal

The US Department of Labor is leaning on unions and collective action to improve protections for foreign farmworkers, with the idea that their increased ability to advocate for better working conditions is essential to helping US workers as well.

The DOL’s proposed rule, released Tuesday, would provide various protections such as allowing farmworkers on H-2A visas to invite union representatives onto employer-provided housing, banning coercive captive audience meetings, and requiring that employers provide a list of workers to labor organizations that request them.

It follows a new policy from the Department of Homeland Security that streamlines the process for immigrant ...