Big Business Complains of Labor Shortage While 22M Out of Work

Big business and Big Agriculture is complaining of labor shortages and high wages while the Chinese coronavirus crisis has spurred mass unemployment with at least 22 million Americans out of work.While unemployment among Americans climbs to record levels, with now at least 22 million out of work in the last four weeks, employers who hire H-2A and H-2B foreign visa workers continue to complain that the United States is facing a labor shortage and that wages are too high.Executives with the American Farm Bureau Federation, one of the leading cheap labor lobbying organizations, are backing a reported plan to federally lower wage rates for imported H-2A foreign visa workers that are brought into the U.S. to work on farms:Paul Schlegel, vice president of public affairs at the American Farm Bureau Federation, said it’s important to address the [Adverse Effect Wage Rate] at a time when labor-intensive produce farms have lost much of their markets due to COVID-19. “Asking farmers to pay artificially high wages at a time when their own income has largely evaporated due to the COVID-19 pandemic is not right.” [Emphasis added]The plan under consideration by the Agriculture Department would allow farmers to pay H-2A foreign visa workers wages below existing rates. In a Bloomberg News report, an attorney for H-2B visa employers said that while millions are out of work, his clients still need imported foreign labor:The holding pattern “shows the lack of understanding the government has of how the H-2B program is essential to the economy,” said Jeff Joseph, an attorney with Joseph & Hall in Aurora, Colo., who represents companies that employ H-2B workers.