ClS—Lancaster Fannins, Saturday, February 9,1980 Farm labor urges changes WASHINGTON, D.C. - Give federal bureaucrats a Congressional mandate to regulate farm labor relations and they will turn it into an excuse for harassment and intervention in growers’ rights to run their own farms, stated the Farm Labor Research Committee. That’s the clear lesson to be learned from recent experience under the-Farm Labor Contractor Registration Act. Part of the problem is that U.S. Department of Labor of ficials do not understand how a farm works. Another part of the problem is that DOL officials are not serving labor, but rather the special interest of union officials, they pointed out. As if to prove that point, DOL officials have ruled that FLCRA does not cover union-operated hiring halls even though the act is supposed to cover any “person who recruits, solicits, hires, furnishes or transports, for a fee, migrant workers for agricultural employment. ’ ’ In 1977, Department of Labor inspectors in both California and Florida charged the UFW with failure to register under FLCRA. Union officials protested that they should not be subject to the same bur densome reporting and expensive insurance requirements as professional farm labor contractors, growers and grower associations. Higher- WEDNESDAY IS DAIRY (Hz DAY AT NEW HOLLAND SALES STABLES, INC. New Holland, PA If you need 1 cow or a truck load, we have from 100 to 200 cows to sell every week at your price. Mostly fresh and close springing hols tems. Cows from local farmers and our regular ship pers including Marvin Eshleman, Glenn Fite. Kelly boser, bill Lang, Blame Hoffer, Dale Hostetter, H.D. Matz, and Jerry Miller. SALE STARTS -12:00 SHARP Also Every Wednesday, Hay, Straw & Ear Corn Sale -12:00 Noon ah uairy & Heifers must be eligible for Pennsylvania Health Charts. For arrangements for special sales or herd dispersals at our barn or on your farm, contact Horam Orffenbach, Mgr. 717-354-4341 Norman Kolb 717-397-5538 ups in the Department of Labor agreed, and overruled their own inspectors. One official was quoted m the press as saying that in cluding unions under FLCRA would violate the Department’s “policy ob jectives.” Apparently those “policy objectives” are to drive independent farm labor contractors out of business, forcing growers to rely on the United Farm Workers union hiring hall which places workers in farm jobs only if they are members of the union, noted the research committee. The Farm Labor Con tractor Registration Act was intended to cover crew leades who recruited and transported migrant workers from farm to farm and acted as middlemen between growers and the workers. Under the act, no “farmer, processor, canner, gmner, packing shed operator, or nurseryman who personally engages in any such activity for the purpose of supplying migrant workers solely for his own operation, or any # full-time or regular em ployee of such entity...who engages in such activity for his employer on no more than an incidental basis” is required to register as a farm labor contractor. Problems have arisen because of DOL’s in terpretation of the terms “migrant worker”, “per sonally” and “on no more than an incidental basis.” GIGANTIC SELECTION IN Lancaster Farming's CLASSIFIEDS “Migrant worker” has been interpreted to cover all farm workers whether permanent or truly migrant. “Personally” has been in terpreted to mean that in corporated farms and associations of growers must register. The interpretation of “incidental basis” could be characterized as ‘ac cidential basis” since DOL has required supervisors and personnel officers to register. Congress is finally getting fed up with this misin terpretation. Fifty-two Senators recently wrote to Labor Secretary Ray Marshall protesting that “the Department’s ac tions...are completely contrary to Congressional intent and purpose and have only served to impose an undue penalty and economic burden on those speci ically exempted by Congress... Moreover, these actions have resulted in a misdirection of the Department’s limited resources at the expense of those the law was intended to protect.” ANNOUNCING NEW MILK GUARD PROTECTION Dear Dairy Farmer, Agway has designed a new maintenance program for your complete milking system to insure your energy savings, top performance, and a drastic cut-back on costly repair bills. The name of this new maintenance program is MILK GUARD PROTECTION! You ask, “What is MILK GUARD PROTECTION?” It is your opportunity for a complete milking system maintenance check-up affording you top efficiency on a regular basis. We, here at the Agway Service Department, have assigned one of our trained Service Technicians to provide you our MILK GUARD PRO TECTION program. Just tear off the bottom section of this letter and mail to Agway or call me collect at 717-394-0541 and we will be happy to perform MILK GUARD PROTECTION on your complete milking system. Wilmer Martin 215-445-5652 I Send to: Agway Inc. 1140 Dilierviile Rd., Lancaster, Pa. 17601 NAME ADDRESS PHONE I _ | ! . Yes, I would like this service called MILK GUARD PROTECTION Contact me with more information about MILK GUARD PROTECTION in .Registration Act Dissatisfied with the reponse they received from Secretary Marshall, several of the Senators led by Agricultural Committee Chairman Herman Talmadge (D-Ga.) and rankmg Republican Jesse Helms (R-N.C.) plan to introduce amendments clarifying the FLCRA exemptions and forcing DOL to stop punishing growers who choose to contract for their own employees rather than going through the union hiring hall. Whatever the outcome of the proposed legislative changes, the FLCRA ex perience provides only a taste of the kind of heavy handed federal intervention growers could expect if agriculture were brought under the National Labor Relations Act. All the so called “protections” of federal labor law go to union officials at the expense of individual workers, em ployers and consumers. The Farm Labor Research Committee believes the nation cannot afford such a one-sided system in agriculture. BY AGWAY - Sales Representatives - Melvin Stoltzfus 717-392-0066 BULK BINS A Good Investment. I We know your bulk feeding problems, and I we know that Read systems can solve them I We stand behind Read quality because Read I engineers design for adaptability, economy and I long-life It makes good sense to invest in strength H and experience I Let us show you Read Reliability# I THOMAS FARM SYSTEMS, INC. I 2025 Horseshoe Road I Lancaster, PA 17601 I j PH; (717)299-1706 I [YOUR LOCAL Products DEALER I Serviceably yours, Ed Koncle, Service Manager —I I I I
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