A judge has blocked a federal ruling that would’ve allowed foreign h-2a workers from unionizing.
In April, the Department of Labor announced changes to the visa program which would reinforce labor protections by preventing employers from retaliating against h-2a workers who engage in organizing. It would also allow them to decline attending employer-sponsored anti-union meetings.
In June, 17 states including Idaho, sued the Administration saying the new protections would give rights to foreign workers currently denied to American farmworkers. Under the National Labor Act passed in 1935, Congress established the right to collective bargaining for most employees, but specifically excluded agricultural laborers.
On Monday, a Georgia judge agreed with the plaintiffs and issued an injunction blocking the new rule from going into effect while the lawsuit works its way through the courts. H-2a visas allow companies to hire foreign workers to fill temporary agricultural jobs. In 2024, Idaho issued roughly 6500 H-2a visas to foreign workers.
In an email, State Attorney General Raúl Labrador said he was pleased by the injunction, calling the ruling to expand visa holders’ rights “bad policy.”
“It would grant temporary foreign migrant workers collective bargaining protections when American agricultural workers are statutorily denied the same. To prioritize temporary foreign workers over those of American agricultural workers is simply unfair,” he wrote.
The Federal Government argued the new protections are necessary because H-2a workers are particularly vulnerable to labor rights violations. The judge said only Congress had the authority to allow agricultural workers to organize.
