The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1951-03-22
Do Not Import Farm Labor When
Americans Are JobIess, AFL Soys

Washington (LPA) - Importing
foreign farm labor represents a
dangerous trend which has been
taking place in recent years toward
the subsidization of large farm
operators at the expense of Ameri-
can farm workers who have tradi-
tionally been the most neglected
group in our population" Walter
J. Mason of the AFL's National
Legislative Committee so told. the
Senate Committee on Agriculture.
Mason was testifying on three
bills which have been offered as
control measures over the import
alton of agricultural workers. He
said the AFL wasn't actually op-
posed to bringing in "limited num-
bers of foreign workers if and
when there is a proven need for
such labor importation" But none
of the bills under consideration
fully met the AFL's requirements,
he Indicated.
In general, he declared that when
there exists a genuine need for i'm
ported labor, the domestic market
should be exhausted first. Then
American farm operators should
turn to Puerto Rico, Hawaii and
perhaps the Virgin Islands whose
inhabitants are American citizens,
before trying to bring in foreign
nationals who threaten our wages
and conditions.
Two of the bills, S. 984 and S.
1106, were defective because they
included workers in canning, freez-
ing and other processing industries
under the definition of agricul-
tural workers, Mason said He
pointed out that the Teamsters and
Meat Cutters, representing 100000
workers in these fields, felt auth
ority to import foreign workers
into processing plants would weak
en- their bargaining powers. The
definition in the third bill, S. 949,
NOilllut lfhpOl " W ldOCi iiNNNoso
ary for operating farms.
In the matter Of recruitment,
the AFL found S. 949 the best bill
because it set up a board of repre-
sentatives of employers, farm
workers and the public to deter
mine the need for importing labor
and to regulate wages for workers
recruited and transported at public
expense, Mason said. The otherl
two bills, giving the Secretary ofl
Labor authority to permit import
alton under certain conditions,
lacked sufficient protection forl
the interests Of US workers, he
explained.
S. 949 gave preference to domes-
tic labor, Mason said, gave second
preference to the Western Hemis- |
phere but failed to spell out the
position of Puerto Rico and
Hawaii. S. 984 made no provision
at all for domestic labor and put
Puerto Rican, Hawaiian and for
eign labor on equal terms, he add
ed. S. 1l06 specifically included
workers in Puerto Rico and Hawaii
in a provision for recruiting do
mestic labor.
In the matter of caring for the
workers and providing such bene-
fits as transportation, M son
found both S. 949 and S. l106 sup
erior to S. 984 because they cover
ed domestic workers as well as
foreign ones. But he thought the
cost of caring for imported labor
should rest more heavily on the
farmers who actually hire the
workers than on taxpayers gener-
ally.
The AFL "is willing to do what
ever it can TO meet the require
ments for farm labor in order TO
provide the agricultural products
needed in this country and the rest
Of the world" Mason said. How
ever, we urge that a real effort be
made to recruit American workers