By Clint Thompson
The U.S. Department of Labor’s recent regulations regarding “Worker Protection Rules” was the last straw for the International Fresh Produce Association (IFPA).
Along with nine co-plantiffs, which includes the Florida Fruit and Vegetable Association, the IFPA filed a lawsuit against the DOL’s (DOL) unconstitutional regulatory overreach and limitations on the freedom of speech of farmers. IFPA CEO Cathy Burns discussed the lawsuit during the recent Global Produce and Floral Show.
“We’re going to fight for fresh. Labor is a huge barrier to ultimately doing what growers need to do every day. It was the straw that broke the camel’s back, honestly, on these last regulations that have come out,” Burns said.
GFVGA Lawsuit
The IFPA’s lawsuit followed the one implemented partly by the Georgia Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association (GFVGA) and executive vice president Chris Butts. In August, the court in Kansas v. U.S. Department of Labor – a similar case brought by 17 state attorneys general, the GFVGA, and Miles Berry Farm – found the rule unconstitutional and enjoined DOL from enforcing it within the 17 states.
The IFPA lawsuit argues that the DOL’s finalized H-2A rule illegally provides temporary ag workers collective bargaining rights, restricts the First Amendment rights of producer who employ H-2A workers and creates onerous burdens for employers and state governments.
“Through the support of our U.S. government relations council and board of directors, unanimously, people said we needed to do this. We need to stand up for our industry, and we have great ag partners that have done that. We are really trying to load the circuits, because Chris’ lawsuit only impacts certain states in the U.S. We’re going for a national injunction,” Burns said.
The lawsuit requests a permanent injunction of DOL’s Improving Protections for Workers in Temporary Agricultural Employment in the United States.