Volume 6, Number 1, Winter-Spring 1997
In 1995 a farm labor contractor asked me to initiate and facilitate an informal forum at which FLCs could discuss issues of common concern, share ideas, and keep up with relevant information from the University. Since then I have arranged five meetings for the group at the Fresno UC Cooperative Extension office, sent invitations to licensed contractors in the Fresno area, and served as moderator and advisor. Attendance so far has ranged from three to seventeen FLCs. Tape recordings of the sessions help in subsequent preparation of written minutes.
Much debate has focused on the determination of equitable and viable commission rates. Among other topics of discussion have been: DIR delays in processing annual license renewals, former licensees working under a relative's license after having their own revoked, competitive disadvantage of complying with employment and safety regulations in relation to contractors who don't, interest in basic business education, and the future of this FLC meeting group itself.
A consensus of farm labor contractors in attendance is that operation in full compliance with labor laws generally requires costs 30 percent or more above gross wages. In the March 1997 meeting, one participant said, "I charge 36 percent in vineyards to cover my costs." Another FLC observed that, "Probably there's very few farmers on the Valley's west side that will pay 36 percent for truck [vegetable] farms. You won't get a job at that rate. There is always someone who is going to do it anyway." Some contractors complained about both their relative share of inspections under the Targeted Industries Partnership Program and how they were are treated during inspections. One told a particularly ironic story:
"We had a case last year where we were working in a field with two other contractors. We had ladders, two toilets for every crew, water, the whole works. The second day, an OSHA inspector comes out. They write us for four violations on four trailers -- one didn't have water, one didn't have toilet paper, one didn't have soap, and one didn't have hand towels. We were hit with four $750 fines. The guy next to us didn't have any facilities at all, not a toilet, nothing! He got a single $750 fine."The contractor sitting next to him had also received multiple $750 fines. He said, "Cal/OSHA wrote me a letter, and I've got the letter. And if I contest it . . . they're actually telling me that it can be a little bit more difficult for me in the future. So I just paid the fine." Another FLC told of overhearing one state inspector say to another, "Remember -- citation, citation, citation."
Barely one month after this a contractor called to say that it was about time for another meeting. This Farm Labor Contractor Advisory Group convened again in Fresno on May 13, 1997.