Dept of Agriculture Survey Shows Impact of H-2B Visa Program on Maryland Seafood Industry

[newsBot]

Press Release: Maryland Dept. of Agriculture

Crab Processors Emphasize Need for Reliable Access to Seasonal Workers ANNAPOLIS, MD—Maryland’s Best Seafood, a marketing program within the Maryland Department of Agriculture, today released a survey measuring the economic impact of the state’s crab industry and the importance of the federal H-2B temporary visa program. Secretary Joe Bartenfelder joined the Chesapeake Bay Seafood Industry Read the Rest...

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[kwillia]

Do crab pickers make a minimum of $15 an hour?

 

[Chris0nllyn]

Do crab pickers make a minimum of $15 an hour?

MD specifically exempts seafood packers from minimum wage and OT requirements.

 

[kwillia]

MD specifically exempts seafood packers from minimum wage and OT requirements.

So MD is okay with slave labor if we import them... that's what I was trying to make sure I was reading. Gotcha.

 

[Chris0nllyn]

So MD is okay with slave labor if we import them... that's what I was trying to make sure I was reading. Gotcha.

Sure. It's pretty typical though. Seafood packers, fruit pickers, canners, agricultural workers, etc are all exempted also.

It's almost as if the State recognizes that paying people an artificially-inflated minimum wage means jobs could be lost. And no politician campaigns on "MD lost 125,000 jobs under my watch!".

 

[Bird Dog]

MD specifically exempts seafood packers from minimum wage and OT requirements.

Do crab pickers make a minimum of $15 an hour?

They get paid $9.60 an hour and bonuses for production .....