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