H-2A Wage Rule Blocked In La. For Sugarcane Farms

Edgeworth Economics partner Stephen Bronars was retained by Phelps Dunbar LLP, representing sugar cane grower associations, in a challenge to a United States Department of Labor (DOL) Final Rule that effectively increased the wage rates that Louisiana sugarcane growers must pay foreign workers admitted to the country under H-2A agricultural worker visas and whose duties include hauling sugarcane using heavy or tractor-trailer trucks. The Final Rule, issued in February 2023, would increase the wage rates applicable to these workers in Louisiana by almost 65% to approximately $24 per hour. Dr. Bronars submitted a declaration offering the opinion that the Final Rule would have a detrimental impact on sugar cane growers and would not protect domestic farm workers or domestic commercial truck drivers in the non-farm sector.

On September 18, 2024 the U.S. District Court in the Western District of Louisiana granted a Preliminary Injunction to enjoin the DOL from enforcing the Final Rule for H-2A workers employed in sugar cane farming and processing operations in the State of Louisiana and hired by the plaintiffs in this lawsuit. The Court cited Dr. Bronars’ declaration in the Preliminary Injunction.