Earlier this year, federal officials priced the job of picking Red Delicious apples in Washington at over $28 per bin.
That’s quite a jump from the 2021 prevailing wage of $20 per bin for Reds, because the 2022 wages published in January by the U.S. Department of Labor consolidate all apple harvesting, except Cripps Pink and Honeycrisp ($30 and $31.76 per bin, respectively), into one category.
Those findings have tree fruit industry officials once again questioning the validity of Washington’s agricultural prevailing wage survey, while recently unsealed legal documents show the generic apple harvest category stems from agreements made between wage regulators and worker advocates who challenged them in court — without industry representation.
Brendan Monahan, an attorney who represents tree fruit groups and employers, is asking state and federal labor officials to share details of how they come up with prevailing wages, including the harvest of Washington’s lowest-value variety.
The prevailing wages for harvesting Honeycrisp and Cripps Pink apples are plausible, based on their high value, Monahan said. But the 2022 prevailing wage list mentions only one other apple harvest category, a generic “apple” for $28.26 per bin. Thus, harvesting high-value apples such as Cosmic Crisp and Opal would be paid at the same rate as Red Delicious, the state’s lowest-value variety.
“Nobody can pay that — and historically, there’s zero chance anybody has paid that,” Monahan said of Red...
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