This problem is intensified by the diversity of crops grown in areas such as California. where over 200 commodities are commercially produced. Because of the perishability of agricultural commodities and the whims of nature. agricultural employers do not have the option of hiring smaller crews of workers over a longer periodharvest time demands immediate attention to avoid crop loss. Because many domestic workers are unwilling or unable to accept employment for such short periods of time. a supplemental temporary work force. including some undocumented workers. has often filled the gap. There is strong reason to believe this trend will continue. An adequate work force must be available. and I strongly endorse the need to develop a flexible. responsive program to meet this need. I am offering a number of amendments to the Immigration Reform and Control Actparticularly to the temporary worker provisions in an attempt to design a program to meet the needs for labor in handling highly perishable commodities. which produce at highly variable production levels. It is difficult for such industries to accurately project the total number of workers which will be needed in advance of the season. Weather. of course. dictates demand for labor. weather patterns in some seasons bring on maturity of large volumes of fruit at once. and in other seasons may unpredictably delay ripening in some varieties.
Keywords matched
undocumented Immigration