Labor
Grower finishes 17 years of labor advocacy in capital
For the better part of two decades, tomato grower Fred Leitz has regularly left the family farm in Sodus, Michigan to advocate in the nation's capital for reform of agricultural labor laws. Leitz this spring... more »
Western Growers sponsors immigration event
On October 5, Western Growers President and CEO Tom Nassif will participate in the National Immigration Forum’s event, Leading the Way: A New Approach to American Immigration. The event will bring together faith, law enforcement,... more »
New bill would create H-2C guest-worker program
Congressman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, has unveiled a bill to create a new agricultural guest-worker program for farmers and ranchers. The Agricultural Guestworker... more »
WMU gets $2 million grant to assist farmworkers
Western Michigan University has been awarded more than $2 million over the next five years to support first-year, first-generation undergraduate students who are migrant or seasonal farmworkers, or the children of such workers. The U.S. Department... more »
Western Growers releases 2017 compensation, HR data
Western Growers has released its 2017 Professional Compensation and HR Practices Surveys, exclusive data on base pay, incentive pay, merit increases and health plan coverages of the California and Arizona produce industry. Information from the... more »
Bill protecting against ICE raids in California advances
The Immigrant Worker Protection Act, a bill authored by California State Assembly member David Chiu, D-San Francisco, that "affirmatively protects workers from immigration enforcement through disruptive workplace raids," passed the California Senate Appropriations Committee on... more »
Soaring labor costs confront produce growers
Anti-immigrant sentiment, a decline in illegal immigration and an aging population among existing migrant workers are all feeding into a growing labor crisis. High-value fruit and vegetable production is moving out out of states like... more »
Effective management boosts employee retention
In an era that finds farms struggling to find and maintain an adequate workforce, effective management goes a long way in retaining the workers they do have, according to Stan Moore, senior educator for Michigan... more »