July/August 2024 - 28

AG LABOR REVIEW
The devil is in the details
T
he U.S. is presently about
halfway through the second
year of its 118th Congress. The
Congress, which started on Jan.3,
2023, will end on Jan. 3, 2025.
For agricultural employers,
this Congress is unlikely to be
fondly remembered. It will not be
remembered for what it did, but
rather for what it did not do. And
this Congress' do nothingness has
kicked wide open the door for things
that will take employers years to fix.
Some members of Congress will
look for an out that keeps them
from being held accountable.
Some will point to the fact that it
took 15 ballots for the House to
finally elect its Speaker, and that
only occurred after significant
horse trading had taken place.
But then that speaker didn't
last very long because one of the
backroom deals that allowed his
ascension to the speakership, led
to the demise of his tenure. For the
first time in history, the speaker was
removed by a motion to vacate. So,
what did the House do after removing
their leader? They went on recess.
Finally, a new speaker was
elected. But this speaker has had to
survive his own motion to vacate.
Dysfunction junction!
In the very first year of this
Congress, the two Chambers passed
just 27 laws off their respective
floors that made it to the president's
desk for his signature - 27, that's it!
Personally, I am not one of those
voters who believes Americans need
a lot of new laws. I don't find that we
are lacking when it comes to statutes.
However, when the Congress doesn't
act, it's stunning what happens absent
their proper functioning.
Regulatory agencies have rushed
to fill the void left by the Congress.
Because, of course, political
appointees are not beholden to voters
and can create plenty of mischief
when guardrails are not clearly in
place to keep agencies in their lane.
This is the unfortunate
circumstance the American public
finds itself in today.
Regulatory agencies have gone
on a spree. While the Congress
was failing to do its job, regulators
have been aggressively doing
theirs. Agencies foisted more than
3,000 new pages of regulations on
congressional constituents in this
Congress' first year.
So, when the Congress is unable
to properly act, and the regulatory
agencies do their thing, what
options are available to protect
constituents?
Not many, unfortunately.
NCAE has taken the
agencies to court
We presently have lawsuits
funded by our members against the
Department of Labor (DOL) in the
D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals and
the Federal District Court in the
Western District of Florida in Tampa.
Our case in the Appellate Court
is in opposition to the DOL's H-2A
program rule. The case in Florida
opposes the DOL's Adverse Effect
Wage Rate (AEWR) regulation.
We have also funded " Friend of
the Court " or amicus filings in two
state courts involving union " card
check " activities. Card check is
labor unions' most recent effort
to part farmworkers from their
hard-earned wages by convincing
state legislatures that secret ballot
elections allow workers to receive
too much factual information about
what unionization really means.
One of these amici was filed in New
York and the other was filed last
week in California.
Also last week, a nonprofit
legal organization called the
Southeastern Legal Foundation filed
for injunctive relief against the DOL's
recent " Worker Protection " rule
that would allow the unionization
of workers in violation of both
laws passed by Congress, and
Constitutional interpretations of law
by the U.S. Supreme Court. NCAE is
supportive of this action, too.
The next Congress, the 119th,
must succeed in protecting
constituents from blatant
bureaucratic overreach. Otherwise,
the courts will just get busier.
As I mentioned at the outset, the
devil is in the details.
WE HAVE ALSO FUNDED " FRIEND
OF THE COURT " OR AMICUS FILINGS IN
TWO STATE COURTS INVOLVING UNION
" CARD CHECK " ACTIVITIES.
28 | JULY/AUGUST 2024
July/August 2024

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