Washington state hoping to lure farm workers

YAKIMA – A new video produced by Washington state’s employment agency aims to recruit farm workers from California, Texas and beyond in hopes of alleviating any potential labor shortage that growers fear could leave acres of fruit unpicked this season.

To the background twang of an acoustic guitar, a woman’s voice boosts Washington state’s beautiful scenery, mild summer weather and the money to be made picking apples in the state that produces more than half the U.S. crop.

But also included in the video: a map touting Washington’s short distance – and a likely traveling route – from the Mexican border at California and Texas.

“We depend on workers from other states and Mexico to come for the picking season. We want you to know why it’s worth making the long trip to Washington, and what you’ll find when you get here,” the woman says.

The video simply acknowledges that many of the state’s agricultural workers come from Mexico, but doesn’t attempt to entice illegal workers across the border, said Sheryl Hutchison, spokeswoman for the Washington state Employment Security Department.

“Let’s face it, these jobs are not jobs many Americans want these days,” Hutchison said. “We’re simply looking for more ways to get more people into these jobs legally, temporarily.”

The video is featured on the agency’s Web site and agency officials are working with their counterparts in other states to help spread the word.

For years, farmers across the West have complained about a labor shortage to harvest their fruits, vegetables and other crops. Critics have always discounted those claims, saying farmers who pay higher wages have plenty of help.

But concerns about a labor shortage are mounting in Washington state, where timing is everything for tree fruit growers. Last year, some growers complained that acres of fruit went unpicked or were harvested too late and were less valuable, due to a worker shortage.

Already, 22 growers have applied to bring in more than 1,000 workers from outside the United States this year under a federal guest-worker program. Most come from Mexico.

“It only helps the rest of the industry, because we relieve the pressure on other growers, who can then rely on the workers who are already here,” said Rob Valicoff, who expects about 60 workers to arrive from Mexico in the next 10 days to help harvest his cherries, nectarines, peaches and apples.

Growers worry that any immigration reform approved by Congress will require them to immediately check the identity of everyone they hire. More than half of the nation’s 1.8 million farm workers are here illegally, though growers in Washington estimate the figure here is as high as 80 percent.

Under the guest-worker program, workers earn a minimum of $9.77 an hour, up from $9.01 last year. Washington state also has the highest minimum wage in the country at $7.93 – a point noted in the video.

“There is good money to be made picking apples, especially for quick workers,” the woman says.

“We will enforce the law, video or not,” said Lorie Dankers, spokeswoman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. “That’s a risk that people who are in the country illegally take.”