Farmworkers sue Trump administration in California over threat to wages

"The United Farm Workers, along with more than a dozen farmworkers, are suing the Trump administration in California over a new Labor Department rule they argue will "undercut and adversely affect" wages paid to U.S. workers. Eighteen farmworkers across the nation, along with the United Farm Workers of America and the UFW Foundation, filed the lawsuit Friday to reverse the rule, which makes it cheaper for farmers to hire foreign workers through the H-2A program by lowering wages."

""There is nothing 'America First' about expanding exploitative guest worker programs that undercut and displace American workers," Teresa Romero, President of the United Farm Workers, said in a news release. "Farm workers, and the rural communities across America they sustain, need and deserve fair wages and job security, not a race to the bottom with an endless supply of cheap foreign labor. If this President will not fight for American farm workers, then we will.""

United Farm Workers, the UFW Foundation and eighteen farmworkers filed suit in California to block a Labor Department rule that lowers H-2A wages. The rule reduces H-2A pay by $5 to $7 per hour and is estimated to save employers $2.46 billion annually while placing downward pressure on American farmworker wages and job security. The union asserts the rule is unlawful, transfers wealth from workers to employers, and will undercut wages for U.S. workers in similar jobs and contracts. The White House referred questions to the Department of Labor, which referred them to the Department of Justice.

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