US hunts more agriculture workers from Jamaica
CONSULAR OFFICIALS from the United States (US) Embassy in Kingston have taken to TikTok to encourage Jamaicans to apply for its agricultural worker’s programme.
The US consular team also recently hosted a live discussion on the H-2 Worker Programme, done in partnership with the Ministry of Labour and Social Security (MLSS), which manages the farm work programme in the island.
The MLSS indicates that it is seeking to increase the number of workers for the US by 10 per cent this year, sharing with Wednesday Business that new requests from recruiters indicate areas of emerging need for workers. However, this is usually seasonal; that is, determined by the weather patterns.
It was stated: “The new season for the US agricultural programme is just beginning. Most states are experiencing low temperatures at this time. Most employers are therefore seeking workers to prune apple trees in preparation for warmer weather, as the temperature increases towards late March/April 2024.
“Others are seeking workers to pack apples for distribution to retailers. As April 2024 approaches, it is expected that more employers will be seeking workers to cultivate vegetables,” it added.
The MLSS noted that just over 40 per cent of the Jamaican workers who travel to the US to work on farms are destined for New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts. Washington state also employs several hundred Jamaican workers.
It advised of several avenues through which interested persons can access the US agricultural programme: through their member of parliament, mayor, councillor, MLSS parish offices, trade union organisations, churches and agricultural schools.
The ministry noted that over 4,300 farm workers were dispatched to the US in 2023, and that their duties included mainly cultivating; harvesting; packing apples, cherries and other fruits and vegetables. States to which workers were dispatched in 2023 were New York, Washington state, Vermont, Maine, New Hampshire and Florida.
Farmworkers also travel to Canada for employment. Nearly 10,000 were dispatched to Canada in 2023, more than double the numbers sent to the United States. Asked why Canada has used more farmworkers, the MLSS commented,“Research conducted indicates that during the 1950s to the 1970s, some 7,000-10,000 Jamaican workers travelled to the US each year to the states of Florida and Louisiana under contractual arrangements to reap sugar cane and tobacco.
NUMBERS DECLINED
“Due to a reduction in the cultivation of tobacco and mechanisation of sugar in those states, the numbers declined in the ensuing years.”
The ministry said that differences in hourly rates between both countries are not a critical factor when workers are being dispatched to the US and Canada.
“The duration of the contracts and, eventually, the number of hours that the workers are able to work is more important,” it said.
In an update released in December, the US Embassy says temporary agricultural and non-agricultural workers are among applicants, particularly those who are going to work in the United States for the first time, noting that they will no longer need to attend an interview in order to secure a visa.
“Consular officers now have the authority and discretion to waive the in-person interview for first-time H-2 visa applicants (temporary agricultural and non-agricultural workers),” it stated.
The United States Department of Agriculture notes that while hired farmworkers make up less than one per cent of all US wage and salary workers,“they play an essential role in US agriculture”.
According to data from the 2017 Census of Agriculture, wages and salaries plus contract labour costs represented just 12 per cent of production expenses for all farms, but 43 per cent for greenhouse and nursery operations, and 39 per cent for fruit and tree nut operations.
Hired farmworkers are found in a variety of occupations, including field crop workers, nursery workers, livestock workers, graders and sorters, agricultural inspectors, supervisors, and hired farm managers.
It was noted that the number of young, recent immigrants working in agriculture has also fallen, and as a result the farm workforce is ageing.