Landscape Management, January 2012

THE H 2B BATTLE LANDSCAPEMANAGEMENT NET 34 PHOTOS COURTESY NATIONAL HISPANIC LANDSCAPE ALLIANCE OPPOSITE SIGNATURE LANDSCAPE TOP FRED HASKETT program are once again able to plan for the 2012 season Weve been involved in the Florida litigation suit since its inception Denison says We felt that this suit was our only chance to get someone to listen We did not step into litigation against a branch of the federal government lightly It was our last effort our only hope Before Congress pushed back implementation of the wage rules it was thought the judges were set to announce their rulings This delay allows them to spend more time on their decisions Even if the judges ultimately favor the Green Industrys position the rulings are unlikely to end the debate The pro union and seemingly pro Administration forces that pushed the DOL to make changes to the wage methodology in the first place will likely urge an appeal if the legal decisions go against them But that its even gone this far is wrong according to Delaney Congress changes what the minimum wage is and heres the DOL coming in and saying how much you have to pay your workers Delaney says Its sort of Communistic Well have to keep fighting until some better system comes along that helps those who use and need the program The future The H 2B situation looks almost exactly as it did at this time last year Contractors will have the opportunity to petition for their H 2B workers and plan their seasons accordingly As it stands now if nothing changes the wage and hiring provisions will automatically go into effect Sept 30 If the provisions do go into effect most contractors will likely highly curtail their use of or altogether abandon the H 2B program If decisions are delayed again contractors might again get stuck in planning limbo How in the hell do I develop a proper business plan to protect my year round full time people with all this uncertainty with our current administration try H 2B AFFECTS EVERYBODY Hispanic leaders and landscape execs say the wage rule impacts Hispanics and Americans alike BY BETH GERACI A ccording to Ralph Egues Jr executive director of the National Hispanic Landscape Alliance NHLA the H 2B visa program has long been an important source of labor for landscape companies Whats more he says it has created for Hispanics an opportunity for upward mobility It has created conditions where U S Hispanics have been able to advance more rapidly than they otherwise would have in the landscape industry he says One big complaint the NHLA has is that H 2B workers are difficult if not impossible to replace by domestic workers We try to hire locals but its very very hard to train those guys and keep them on says Jerry Maldonado vice president of San Antonio TX based Maldonado Nursery Inc Its manual labor and its just not something people here are looking for We cant find these folks in San Antonio Theyre just not available If they were maybe we wouldnt be here talking Jesus Chuy Medrano owner of CoCal Landscape Denver CO and president of the National Hispanic Landscape Alliance knows that all too well In 2008 Medrano wasnt able to bring in H 2B laborers because all of the 66000 H 2B jobs allowed by the government had been filled by the time he made his request Without H 2B workers Medrano went through 1300 domestic workers that season It was just a nightmare says Medrano If youre going on a long trip and youre running out of money its kind of like that Being a Hispanic business owner makes for an interesting dynamic when it comes to H 2B issues The idea of raising H 2B workers hourly rate is kind of like a doubleedged sword says Medrano It not only would make it harder for us to operate but it also feels like theyre singling us out as Hispanics If the Department of Labor does rule that landscape companies must raise the hourly wages for their workers says Maldonado it puts us in a position where we cant use the program and will have to decrease the size of our companies or close them down The DOL should consider the immense ripple effect raising workers wages would create Egues says The H 2B program is very important to the growth of the industry and to maintaining the kinds of jobs that Americans want he explains Lets say your job is to supervise workers but you have no workers to supervise You lose your job right And then if your organization is cut by 40 or 50 do you need the same numbers of human resources representatives No you dont So you see now your whole company is shrinking and youre laying off jobs that frankly Americans aspire to But Egues is hopeful about the judges decision When I say Im optimistic for the outcome of our lawsuit I base it in part on the filing itself but also on the action that the judge has already taken on related matters he says So far so good CoCal Landscape owner and National Hispanic Landscape Alliance President Jesus Chuy Medrano right talks with Congresswoman Linda Sanchez center and another attendee at an NHLA reception