H-2A visas are offered for jobs that are temporary or seasonal in which there are not enough US workers to do the temporary work - not what the industry is looking for - and wages of similarly employed US workers won't be affected. A federal court ruled USDA may reconsider its poultry line speed waiver program after the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) union sued the agency seeking to end it, citing safety issues for employees. On Jan. 31, the US District Court for the District of Columbia granted USDA's motion and remanded for reconsideration the poultry line speed waiver program, according to an FSIS spokesperson. The court stayed the case for six months during which time the USDA will provide reports to the Court of the status of its reconsideration of the waiver program, the spokesperson said. The program allows poultry plants to operate lines at a higher speed than those normally allowed by regulations. The National Chicken Council said the current waivers won't be affected at all by the decision. " Chicken line speed waivers are perhaps the most well-studied initiative in government, originating with the Clinton administration and receiving continued bipartisan support ever since, " Peterson said. " Years of experience has shown chicken plants operating under waivers produce food that is safe to eat and safe for the workers who produce it. " She said NCC appreciates the recent court decision to keep waivers in place while USDA considers them further. " We hope the additional time affords the agency the time needed to determine a logical path forward. " CONSOLIDATION CONCERNS The meat and poultry industry continues to dispute claims by the Biden administration that industry consolidation is to blame for higher meat and poultry prices in grocery stores. " We've been vocal about this. The idea of consolidation and raising prices is nonsense, " PACKAGED MEAT THE WEEK'S BIGGEST STORIES IN ONE NEWSLETTER The MEAT+POULTRY Weekly Wrap-Up newsletter delivers a comprehensive overview of the stories impacting the meat and poultry processing industry. Subscribe to the MEAT+POULTRY Weekly Wrap-Up newsletter for free SIGN UP AT meatpoultry.com/newsletter_subscriptions www.meatpoultry.com | 03.22 | MEAT+POULTRY 77http://www.meatpoultry.com/newsletter_subscriptions