If Congress fails to pass the extension for the H-2B returning-worker exemption, Steve Pattie doesn’t just fear what will happen to his business. It’s not just what will happen to his industry, either. Pattie fears the ripple the crisis could have as it hits other industries that are connected with his.
Pattie, president of The Pattie Group, a landscape design/build and maintenance company in Novelty, Ohio, estimates he’ll lose $2 million of his $8 million in revenues next year if he isn’t able to obtain visas for the 30 seasonal workers he’s employed for years through the government’s H-2B program. And that’s not counting his projected 15 to 18 percent revenue growth.
The H-2B guest-worker program has a cap of 66,000 workers – 33,000 for each half of the fiscal year. A provision exempting returning workers from the arbitrary cap was added several years ago, but that clause expired on Sept. 30 – one day before the start of the new fiscal year. Currently, there are three bills in limbo in Congress that could extend the returning-worker exemption, but time is running out and the green industry – and all the industries is touches – could be in quite a pinch come spring. (See related story “Where Does H-2B Stand?”)
| HOW MANY WORKERS COULD BE LOST? |
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It’s complicated to nail down a specific number of how many H-2B workers will be lost if the returning-worker exemption does not pass because the government will not release data for the number of returning-worker visas it issued in 2007 until the first quarter of 2008, says Dana LaQuay, director of communications and governmental relations for the Federation of Employers and Workers of America. Based on data available from the State Department's 2006 Visa Office Report (Excel document -- see tab "Table XVI (B)") and FEWA’s assumption that 65 percent of workers return each year, it's estimated that up to146,367* workers could eliminated from the seasonal labor market. * Consider: • 56,870 would be lost from fiscal year 2005 (87,492 new workers permitted x .65 = 56,870) • 46,597 would be lost from fiscal year 2006 (71,687 new workers permitted x .65=46,597) • 42,900 would be lost from fiscal year 2007 (Assuming the government stuck to the cap and only admitted 66,000 workers x .65=42,900) • 56,870 + 46,597 + 42,900 = 146,367. |
“I don’t think any of us took it very seriously until we found out that the representatives are clueless on the importance of the H-2B program and that it even existed,” Pattie says.
If the extension doesn’t pass and Pattie doesn’t get his seasonal guest workers, he’ll have to choose which clients and contracts to keep in 2008.
It’s not just Pattie. In Ohio alone there are 186 businesses, not all landscaping or lawn care, using the program, totaling about 5,500 workers or $500 million in work he says.
If Pattie doesn’t get his guest workers, Americans will lose their jobs.
“For every worker we don’t get, we’d lose an American foreman,” he says. “There would be managers with nobody to manage. That amounts to 15 American jobs.”
SUPPLIERS AFFECTED, TOO. Because of the uncertainty of the program’s future, Pattie already broke the news to the dealership where he buys his trucks that he’s canceling orders for seven of the 10 trucks he normally buys in a year.
Pat Preston of the Preston Super Store, which sells Pattie and a handful of other landscaping companies their trucks, says about 20 percent of his business comes from the landscaping and lawn care industry. Not having those truck purchases in the bank would put him out $1 million, which doesn’t include servicing the vehicles, which is another $1 million he’d be without.
“We’d have to cut back on advertising, lay people off and even with those numbers, there are a lot of other things affected,” Preston says, explaining that the county in which he operates would receive $60,000 less in sales tax without those truck purchases. And that’s just one dealership and one supplier to the green industry.
Some have asked Pattie why he doesn’t just hire Americans to fill the positions to build up his workforce. He has tried. He hasn’t gotten any response to various job postings he’s had in the newspaper for months. He advertises for jobs with salaries ranging from $25,000 to $50,000. But it’s tough to hire Americans for seasonal labor positions.
Pattie hopes more green industry professionals lobby their representatives to make them aware of the magnitude of the situation. Even those who don’t use H-2B should be concerned and get involved, he says. (See related story, “What You Can Do Now.”)
“If I lose 30 workers, somehow I’m going to try to get a workforce,” he says. “I’ll raise my wages and try to get workers from other companies. It’s going to affect everyone.” The solution for many other employers likely won’t be to recruit from their competitors. It’s probable many unscrupulous companies will resort to hiring illegal immigrants rather than work within the system.