In U.S. foreign labor programs, workers place their well-being in the hands of U.S. employers, who are required by law to pay required wages and provide safe living conditions.
An Idaho potato farm failed to do that, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
A Department of Labor investigation found Jorgensen Management Inc., a potato farm in southeast Idaho, failed to pay its workers a total of $159,256 in wages and did not reimburse them for transportation costs. Jorgensen Management also threatened to end its workers’ contracts and “send workers back to Mexico” if they did not accept the lower wages, the investigation found.
The Jorgensen Management workers in Bancroft, Idaho, were part of the H-2A visa program, a seasonal program that allows agricultural employers to bring in foreign workers to temporarily fill jobs when they can’t find enough domestic workers. The employers are required by the Department of Labor to pay a set wage and provide workers with transportation and housing.
In addition to failing to pay workers their legal wage, the Department of Labor also found Jorgensen’s housing and safety standards for its employees did not meet “mandatory housing safety and health standards.”
“By threatening and shortchanging some of the lowest paid workers in our nation, Jorgensen Management showed a willful disregard for the law,” said Carrie Aguilar, the Department of Labor wage and hour district director in Portland. “They created a toxic workplace and victimized...
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