• Ensuring an adequate, qualified and legal workforce; and
• Advocating for decent, safe and sanitary housing; and
• Encouraging ongoing worker education programs; and

WHEREAS, all three areas are of equal importance and interwoven; and

WHEREAS, the United States Legislature is currently considering amendments to raise the Federal minimum wage, such as H.R. 5787, which proposes to incrementally raise the federal minimum wage to $7.15 per hour over a period of one year and sixty days; and

WHEREAS, the significant increase as to the State’s minimum wage has put New Jersey agriculture at a competitive disadvantage with agriculture operators in other states and passage of H.R. 5787, or a similar bill increasing the Federal minimum wage would greatly reduce New Jersey’s competitive disadvantage; and

WHEREAS, many workers on farms are guest workers; and

WHEREAS, in addition to increasing the federal minimum wage, ensuring the availability of an adequate, legal farm labor workforce must be addressed on the Federal level; and the federal government must create a counterfeit-resistant identification system, establish an earned adjustment of status program, and reform the current practices for obtaining temporary agricultural worker visas; and

WHEREAS, all farm laborers have the right to live and work in a safe environment and earn a fair wage, yet we cannot support legislation that would result in New Jersey farmers suffering a competitive disadvantage with neighboring states; and

WHEREAS, workers have the right to decent, safe and sanitary housing; and

WHEREAS, zoning restrictions and restrictions on farmland in the Pinelands and Highlands have significantly reduced the availability of on-farm labor housing by restricting or prohibiting the agricultural landowner from constructing such housing on-farm; and

WHEREAS, as a result of the lack of available on-farm labor housing, many agricultural workers are forced to live in apartments and other housing miles away from the agricultural operation, and many such workers lack vehicles and other modes of personal transportation to and from their job sites; and

WHEREAS, because public transportation is severely lacking in many, if not all of the rural neighborhoods where agricultural operations are located, agricultural workers also cannot rely on public transportation to reach their job sites; and

WHEREAS, although many agricultural operations have provided private bus transportation for agricultural workers who do not live in on-farm labor housing and who otherwise lack transportation, issues have arisen pertaining to omnibus licensing requirements that threaten the continued availability of this mode of transportation for agricultural laborers; and

WHEREAS, the Department is currently working with the Motor Vehicle Commission to ensure that employer provided bus transportation will remain available to agricultural workers who otherwise lack access to public and private modes of transportation; and

WHEREAS, labor supply and training are key for sustaining and growing the agricultural industry in New Jersey; as such, programs that support worker training, health and safety, and address issues such as housing, will be part of the Department’s outreach and education efforts. 

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that we, the delegates to the 92^nd State Agriculture Convention, assembled in Atlantic City, New Jersey, on February 14, 2007, support the efforts of the New Jersey Department of Agriculture to ensure a stable source of well-trained and legal farm workers, and that we support efforts to ensure the proper training and education of the farm work force, especially as it relates to worker health and safety.    

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we support the immediate adoption and implementation of federal legislation which reforms the policies and procedures surrounding temporary agricultural worker visas, creates counterfeit-resistant identification and establishes an earned adjustment of status program.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we support the immediate adoption and implementation of a Federal minimum wage increase to levels similar to that set forth in H.R. 5787 to level the playing field for agricultural operations and agricultural workers across the country.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we urge the New Jersey Department of Agriculture, New Jersey Farm Bureau and New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station to work cooperatively with the Governor and the Legislature to develop an agricultural assistance program to offset the economic impact of the State minimum wage increase on labor costs.  Absent such assistance New Jersey farmers will suffer a competitive disadvantage in the marketplace, severely impacting farm viability.  Any such program must include components that directly address the additional labor costs to farmers that result from the scheduled minimum wage increase.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we support the use of USDA Farm Labor Housing Programs to address the housing requirements needed to provide decent, safe and sanitary living conditions for the agricultural workforce.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we urge the Pinelands Commission to streamline the processes for the construction of on-farm labor housing.  Likewise, we urge rural municipalities to review and amend their zoning ordinances to remove any impediments to the construction of on-farm labor housing on farms within the municipality.  Finally, we urge COAH to allow municipalities to count on-farm labor housing towards COAH credits for municipalities to not only stimulate the provision of low to moderate income housing for agricultural workers but to incentivize municipalities who may otherwise discourage the construction and provision of on-farm labor housing.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we request that the U.S. Congress and the U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL) streamline the process for obtaining temporary visas for farm workers under the H2A certification process, or establish a streamlined guest worker certification process for agricultural workers that is separate from the H2A certification process.  In addition, we urge Congress and USDOL to streamline the guest worker program and permanently lift the 66,000 per year cap on H2B workers.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we support the efforts of the New Jersey Department of Agriculture to work with the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development and Rutgers University through the Agricultural Development Initiative to develop labor training programs that help increase farm productivity, literacy, fluency in English, worker health and safety, and labor’s overall contribution to the bottom line.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we encourage and support the Department of Agriculture’s cooperation with the Motor Vehicle Commission (MVC) to ensure that producer provided transportation for agricultural workers can continue to exist and we applaud the MVC for their efforts to collaboratively resolve this critical agriculture labor issue.