Immigration Bill May Keep Wage Exemption For Foreign Herders
When Patrick and Sharon O'Toole began their ranching business on the Wyoming-Colorado border, they tended the sheep themselves. But eventually, the O'Tooles wanted to settle down and have kids, so they hired foreign ranch hands with H-2A, or guest worker, visas to work on the ranch for $750 a month.
Peruvian shepherds on guest worker visas tend thousands of sheep in Wyoming, but they only make about half of what agricultural workers elsewhere are paid.
Under the U.S. Senate's newest immigration proposal, these guest workers would receive a special exemption from minimum wage rules. The proposal has stirred disagreements between ranch owners and workers' rights advocates.
These exemptions from minimum wage and other standards help keep the lamb and wool industry in the U.S. alive, says Peter Orwick, executive director of the American Sheep Industry Association.
"Lamb is one of the very few meats that are free traded in America," Orwick says. "A lot of agriculture either has price supports or protections from imports. The U.S. sheep industry is successful without either of those."
But labor rights advocates insist that paying workers less than minimum wage is a form of government price support that comes at the expense of the workers.
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