April 10, 2004

Impending Shortage of Seasonal Workers

In the midst of the political furore surrounding overseas outsourcing and the lack of employment growth, many employers across the US are raising concerns about an impending shortage of foreign temporary workers this summer.

With this year's H-2B cap of 66,000 already reached, the employers are lobbying Congress to raise the ceiling on the number of visas for seasonal workers. Without that increase, many say their businesses will be jeopardised, along with the jobs of many Americans who also work for those businesses.

Larry Nelson, president of Great Northern Sea Products in Alaska, stands to lose 600 to 700 American jobs if he can't get the six foreign Japanese technicians that he requires to grade and sort salmon roe for sale in Japan.

Members of The Associated Landscape Contractors of America have dispatched form letters explaining that without the foreign labor, "we will not have the workers needed to complete landscaping contracts this spring, summer and fall."

William Hunt, president of National Filter Service, a maker of heating and air-conditioning filters in Fork Union, Va., sent a letter to Senator Jeff Sessions, Republican of Alabama, who has been a leading opponent of lifting the visa limit. "Pulling the rug from under us now,'' Mr. Hunt wrote, "will severely and possibly mortally impact our company, our customers and our employees."

Employers and their Congressional supporters say that Americans often do not want the temporary positions, which provide no benefits and typically last for only a few months.

Those in the opposite camp say that the employers simply want cheaper foreign workers and could get local applicants if they simply paid more.

In recent weeks, three bills have been introduced in Congress to relax the H-2B restrictions, but these measures have encountered strong opposition from some House and Senate members.

Under the H-2B system, before bringing in foreign workers, businesses must demonstrate that they tried to hire local people, for instance by putting ads in newspapers. Once the Department of Labor agrees that an employer has a legitimate need to look abroad, the company must still submit a request to the Department of Homeland Security.
Only after approval at that stage can a worker apply for visa at a United States consulate or an embassy overseas.

Even if Homeland Security puts a case on a fast track - which costs businesses $1,000 an application - the procedure takes about 90 days.

Businesses are not allowed to apply for foreign workers until 120 days before they will need them. Many summer employers found that by the time they could start this year's process, many of the visas had already gone to ski instructors, hockey players and other winter workers. Those left in the lurch included North Carolina crab processors, Virginia hoteliers and helicopter operators working for fire departments across the West.

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