Country Feels H-2B Crunch

The recent cap on guest worker visas is taking its toll on more than just the green industry.

A domino-like effect is rolling through the country as businesses that typically hire H-2B workers learn that their seasonal staffing needs will not be met. But affected industries are not surrendering without a fight – or, at least, a widespread appeal to Congress.

When U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced the fulfillment of its cap on non-agriculture guest worker visas for the year, landscape companies grimaced at the thought of surviving the coming season without H-2B help. Hundreds of the industry’s professionals sent letters to their state government representatives, asking for a loosening of the cap – or help in some other form.

The issue: USCIS received enough H-2B petitions to meet this year’s congressionally mandated cap of 66,000 new workers. After March 9, 2004, USCIS stopped accepting any new H-2B petitions for the fiscal year 2004.

Now companies from a vast collection of industries and states are short on time to find and train alternate laborers before the busy season begins. So they’re uniting under the banner of their common concerns to seek a solution.

Hank Lavery is co-owner of a pool management company in Kensington, Md., called Century Pool, where he hires about 1,500 workers to service his pool-owning clients. Of his employees, approximately 300 are H-2B workers – hired each year through USCIS.

Back on March 9, when he heard the 66,000-visa cap had been met, Lavery knew his company and countless others would be impacted. The businessman took immediate action, taking to the phones in an effort to reach Congress and urge legislation to remedy the seasonal labor shortage.

“Once the announcement was made, we got on the phones,” Lavery said. “We discovered the cap was affecting businesses of all types and all industries. But the problem was that the impact was not being felt enough in one industry to get people fired up to take serious action.”

So Lavery took charge and organized the troops. “I got on the phone to see just how big this issue was,” he said.

What he found was shocking. Shrimpers on the Gulf Coast, resorts in Colorado and Florida, restaurants in Maryland and tourist spots through the Upper Midwest were are just a cross-section of the numerous entities impacted by the USCIS’s halt on H-2B applications.

One man whose crabbing company has been in business for 20 years told Lavery he would be forced to shut down his operation without the seasonal help of H-2B workers this summer. The Maryland crabber and his wife generally hire about 60 guest workers each year but will have no help if the H-2B cap is not lifted or adjusted.

Lavery also spoke with city representative in South Carolina who told him their local beaches will not have lifeguards this summer because they always have depended on the H-2B workforce to fill those jobs in the past.

And, of course, landscape companies are feeling the labor crunch.

“Our company, as well as a large percentage of other companies that rely on the H-2B visa program for their workers, have not gotten workers yet – and we are now being informed that we will not be able to get our workers this season due to the quota being reached,” said Chuck Twist, president, H.O.L.A. Labor Consultants and TNT Lawn & Landscape Mgmt., Stillwater, Okla. “This situation not only affects my company and the companies around the nation, it also affects our families, our full-time permanent employees and their families, our workers in Mexico who were promised jobs and their families, our clients who will not have anyone to do their contracted work, our mortgage holders, our vendors, debtors – and the list goes on.”

Twist and other industry professionals have been busy calling, faxing and writing letters to local and national representatives concerning the issue – but they’re not the only ones taking action.

Upon determining that the cap was destined to hurt more than just his pool company in the Northeast, Lavery and a few others personally traveled to the nation’s capitol to voice concerns about and gather more information. There they met with the Essential Worker Immigration Coalition (EWIC), a union of businesses, trade associations and other organizations concerned with the shortage of both skilled and lesser skilled labor, to discuss potential solutions. “The invited us to come talk with them about the issue,” Lavery said. “The EWIS is very involved right now and is getting aggressive in its efforts.”

Trying anything to get the word out, Lavery and others developed a Web site dedicated entirely to the H-2B cap issue. The online tool contains information about specific companies and areas feeling the impact of the USCIS-imposed cap. The site also offers links and guidelines to help motivate correspondence with legislators. 

Green industry associations have created Web-based resources to help lawn care professionals voice opinions about the H-2B cap, as well. Visit the Associated Landscape Contractors of America (ALCA) site to join the industry’s lobbying efforts.

Through diverse efforts, Lavery said the group “absolutely” is making headway.

The latest new is that a small collection of senators has decided to sponsor a bill that could ease the tension caused by the 66,000-visa cap. Although Lavery has not seen a copy of the bill, he expects the document details a plan to raise the visa cap by 40,000 this year – but only for this year. If passed by Congress, the bill would be used only as a cure for this year’s H-2B woes.

“We understand the Sen. Kennedy will introduced a bill this week to raise the cap,” Lavery said. “We have support from most congressional offices and believe we are close to making this happen.”

The sponsoring senators, including Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Sen. Murkowski (R-Alaska) could put the H-2B bill on the table any day now, so Lavery and his troops are doing their darnedest to rally support and encourage company owners throughout the nation to appeal to their representatives.

“We are looking for the bill to move any day,” Lavery said.

The sponsoring senators could put the H-2B bill on the table any day now, so Lavery, Twist and others are doing their darnedest to rally support and encourage company owners throughout the nation to appeal to their representatives.

The author is assistant editor-Internet of Lawn & Landscape magazine and can be reached at aanderson@lawnandlandscape.com.