Page 62 - Grapevine July-August 2019

Around The Vineyard

SUPERIOR QUALITY

Grape Harvesting Containers
Thunderbird Plastics uses top quality resins consist-
ing of high quality polyethylene in our production. It
is our goal to procure the finest quality materials for
the best price available.

Contact our office or visit our website today!

Canada Office USA Office
6969 Shirley Avenue 2190 Greentree Road
Burnaby, BC, Canada V5J4R4 Lake Oswego, OR 97034
Tel: 604.433.5624 Tel: 503.744.9112
Toll-free: 888.77T.BIRD Fax: 503.744.9113
Fax: 604.433.6231 steve@thunderbirdplastics.com
info@thunderbirdplastics.com
www.thunderbirdplastics.com

and inspected and can be operated only by certified individual, fixed-site growers (as I wrote about
FLCE’s. Each driver must have a doctor’s certifica- last year) and this is the most common usage. As
tion. The FLC must have vehicle liability insurance, I have discussed briefly here, there are alternative
workers’ compensation insurance and hold a surety uses of the H-2A program for vintners who don’t
bond to cover the wages due the employees. believe they can justify the use of the program for
their exclusive use. Growers can reach out to me
Whether the FLC is H-2A or traditional crew lead- by phone or e-mail at their convenience for more
er, the grower who employs him shares the respon- detailed information about any of these options.
sibility of making sure the workers are paid correct-
ly and otherwise treated properly. Growers need You can reach me at the contact information list-
to protect themselves with an appropriate level of ed in the MasLabor ad listed above.
“due diligence” and reputable FLC’s/crew leaders
should have no problem showing you that every-
thing is on the up and up.

Also bear in mind that single-employer and joint
employer contracts can result in workers arriving in
90-120 days. FLC contracts will add a good 30 days
to that timeline, assuming everything goes smooth-
ly.

As our economy improves, the availability of
local farm labor diminishes. The one viable, legal
alternative is the H-2A program. It is available to

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