Photo credit: Flickr user kaitlyn rose

Senator Warner and Rep. Rob Wittman (R-VA-01) announced today that a new federal H-2B visa wage requirement set to go into effect on October 1st will be delayed for 60 days. The order was published today in the Federal Register. Sen. Warner, Rep. Wittman, and others in the Virginia and Maryland congressional delegations, strongly urged the federal government to delay this new rule because it would have raised hourly wages for temporary foreign workers as much as 50% at the midpoint of the seafood season, and long after wage agreements and sales contracts had been set.

The H-2B visa program keeps small and seasonal businesses open by guaranteeing needed labor during the peak seasons. Currently, H-2B employers pay the prevailing wage for specific types of work so workers with comparable tasks or skills are paid in the same category. The new regulations would have averaged the pay of different kinds of jobs regardless of the tasks, skills or industry involved, and the regulation was drafted largely without consultation with the seafood industry.

“We need to work for a longer-range solution to this issue that is both fair to workers and employers, and helps to preserve jobs not only in Virginia’s seafood industry but other industries that depend on seasonal labor,” Sen. Warner said. “When Virginia seafood processers alerted us to this issue, Rep. Wittman and I worked together to gather and share the facts with officials at the highest levels in the Labor Department and the White House. I am very pleased we were able to delay this ‘one-size-fits-all’ rule change to allow more time to look for a reasonable solution.”

“This announcement is positive for Virginians concerned about jobs in the Commonwealth,” Rep. Wittman said. “While I am pleased to see this rule’s delay, the rule must be reevaluated for its potential harmful impact on American jobs and small, family businesses. Folks know it’s common sense: every action in Washington, DC, must support job creation and grow our economy, not implement new rules that would put Americans out of work and bankrupt small businesses just trying to survive. Anything less does not deserve our support.”

Last month, the U.S. Department of Labor announced it was arbitrarily accelerating implementation of the rule from January 1, 2012 to October 1, 2011, the middle of the seafood season. Significantly raising wages in the middle of the season would not have allowed companies the time to prepare for the adjustment, which could have led some processors to shut down operations, putting into jeopardy the jobs of those who rely on the seafood industry.

As a result of the intervention by Sen. Warner, Rep. Wittman and others, the Labor Department has agreed to delay implementation of the new wage requirements until Nov. 30, 2011, so the issue can undergo more study and discussion.

“The Virginia seafood industry is pleased that the Department of Labor has decided to implement a 60-day delay in revising the wage calculations for the H-2B program. As certain seafood industries begin the season this short term delay will, at least temporarily, preserve Virginian jobs and our seafood economy,” said A.J. Erskine, President of the Virginia Seafood Council. “We are hopeful that the Department of Labor will recognize the more than $175 million economic loss in just the Virginia seafood industry and that a thorough economic impact assessment will be conducted.”

“The seafood industry very much appreciates all the work that Senator Warner, Congressman Wittman and other members did in order to achieve the 60-day delay in the implementation of the H-2B wage regulation,” said Tommy Kellum, President of the family-owned Kellum Seafood, Inc. in Lancaster County, Va. “Having been faced with an up to 50% wage increase in such short notice, most companies were put in an impossible position to operate under... We look forward to a long-term legislative fix to a regulation that would have cost far more American jobs than it would create.”