State agency says farm worker survey answers were coached

YAKIMA – State officials say a survey on wage rates for farmworkers appeared to be influenced by a business group’s “recommended answers” in an apparent attempt to keep standard minimum wages low.

The voluntary survey asked growers how and how much they pay workers for different tasks and different crops, such as hourly wages for pruning and piece-rate pay – or how much they produce – for harvest.

The Yakima Herald-Republic reported this week that the data is used by the U.S. Department of Labor to set wage rates for employment contracts, such as those for guest workers or foreign nationals brought to work temporarily through a federal program.

The state Employment Security Department released a report this week that showed distinct differences from previous years, possibly reflecting the guidance provided by the Washington Farm Labor Association to apple, cherry and pear growers.

The Lacey-based association, which provides services to farms that hire seasonal employees, urged growers to report paying hourly rates instead of piece rates, because hourly rates are typically lower. Growers were also instructed to be vague about how often they pay bonuses, and to say that they do not provide free housing for workers’ family members, Employment Security said.

Washington Farm Labor Association is the state’s largest recruiter of guest workers from Mexico under the federal H-2A program, with more than 6,000 contracts in the last few years.

In videos posted on YouTube in September, labor association Executive Director Dan Fazio goes through the survey and recommends answers.

“This question is attempting to force employers to pay high piece rates,” Fazio, an attorney, said about one asking for the piece-rate in the busiest week of the season. “The best answer, in our opinion, is to report your guaranteed hourly rate.”

Officials became aware the association was distributing specific answer suggestions to growers this fall when the survey was conducted, said Cynthia Forland, an analyst for Employment Security.

The agency decided to check the results to see if the guidance biased the answers, and concluded that between 5 percent and 9 percent of apple growers who responded had been “influenced” by WAFLA’s recommendations.

The “influenced” responses changed the average wage for harvest of Fuji, Golden Delicious and Granny Smith apples from more than $20 a bin to $9.47 an hour. Other varieties were not affected and the average remained between $20 and $25 a bin, according to the ESD analysis.

In the YouTube video, Fazio said providing the hourly rate is a fair answer because piece rates can vary widely.

He also recommended answering no to the question about whether free housing is provided to nonworking family members of seasonal workers.

“I’m going to put a big no, because if you check yes, you could be strapped with a requirement to provide housing for all your non-employee family members,” he said in one of the videos.

Forland said it is too soon to say if the survey responses will be used to set wage rates for next season’s guest worker contracts.

“We have already alerted the Department of Labor to the issues raised here concerning the introduction of bias in the survey results stemming from the actions taken by WAFLA,” Forland said.