Labor presentations filled one of the sessions on the third and final day of the Washington State Tree Fruit Association Annual Meeting, Wednesday, Dec. 10, at the Wenatchee Convention Center.

New H-2A rules and processes were highlighted topics, but Yakima ag labor attorney Sarah Wixson warned growers about a recent spate of rest- and meal-break class action lawsuits by workers.

“They are being promised easy money (by litigators),” she said.

Letters from lawyers to workers say that employers have the burden to disprove their workers’ hourly claims, which is hard to do without good documentation such as a punch clock.

So, she shared some simple advice: 

—Give yourself wiggle room on meal breaks. Shut down the packing line for 35 or 40 minutes to make sure workers get a true 30-minute break. Walking from their station, washing their hands and removing their hair nets count as work.

—Enforce rest breaks. Employees who keep working through rest breaks, even if they really want to, actually hurt their companies.

—Don’t restrict bathroom breaks. Washington allows workers to decide for themselves how often and how long they need to handle their bodily functions. You may prohibit workers from taking their phones into bathrooms, as a matter of food safety. That alone often shortens breaks.

—Employees may waive meal breaks but not rest breaks. Meal breaks are unpaid. Be able to prove the waiving is voluntary, usually with a written statement.

—Packing facilities must follow agricultural break rules when packing their own fruit, but they must follow non-ag rules when custom packing. “The timing is important,” Wixson said. 

About those H-2A changes…

Kate Tynan of the Northwest Horticultural Council and Daniel Ross of H-2A filing agent Seso Labor reminded growers that the Trump administration has changed methodology to, in effect, lower the Adverse Effect Wage Rate in most cases for most states, including Washington. The new rules also allow staggered work entry and set two skill levels for workers. 

The Northwest Horticultural Council supported the rule changes, and Tynan believes the administration is open to simplifying H-2A even more, she said.

Jeff Lutz of the Washington Farm Bureau gave a presentation about workplace safety and urged employers to remind their workers that everybody pays more to the state when injuries happen.

“If we can’t appeal to someone’s sense of morals and ethics … then appeal to their greed,” he said.

During the pest session, researchers, growers and pest consultants shared strategies for navigating through lean times.

One consensus among all speakers was that it’s always cheaper to prevent a problem than to clean up a problem, especially for primary threats such as codling moth and fire blight. 

“Failing to control a single codling moth generation can haunt you for years,” said Betsy Beers, an entomologist at Washington State University. 

She called mating disruption essential, as it provides “a protective blanket” over the orchard for the entire season, which can reduce the risks from a late spray application or rain-reduced residual. 

But she acknowledged that the cost of implementing WSU’s recommended monitoring program — one trap every 2.5 acres — is so high that few growers adhere to it. Because of the challenges in interpreting trap catch, especially with diverse lure options now available, she recommends not basing the first-generation control on trap catch. 

“If you have already decided to control the first generation, just do it. Don’t wait for the traps,” Beers said. 

Prioritize traps in hot spots and along problem borders, she said, and use them to collect long-term data. To save a little bit on labor, you can skip weekly checks and just let them accumulate through each generation, she said.

During a grower panel, Teah Smith, entomologist and pest consultant for Zirkle Fruit, echoed Beers’ comment about the importance of that first-generation control. 

In a talk on pear pest management, Tianna DuPont, a tree fruit extension specialist at WSU, also stressed the importance of starting a control program strong and then tracking pest pressure to see if it’s safe to back off as the season progresses. 

“If you are going to cut something out, let’s do it with pressure in mind,” she said. 

Combining sprays into tank mixes is an appealing strategy to reduce application labor, several speakers said, but it can force compromises on timing that might end up costing more in the long run. 

Success comes down to making plans, said grower Rene Maldonado.

“There’s no worrying about spilled milk, it’s already spilled. So, how do you move forward?” he said. “The best way to do that is take December and January and February and just really come up with the plan.” •