Munger Bros., based in Delano, Calif., shunned or failed to adequately recruit U.S.-based workers in favor of foreign guest workers recruited under the federal H-2A visa program, according to the Labor Department. Once here, those guest workers weren’t adequately paid and were housed in unsanitary facilities. The company was ordered to pay a combination of back wages and penalties totaling $3.5 million. Munger and its affiliated companies, Washington-based Sarbanand Farms and Crowne Cold Storage, based in Stockton, did not contest the allegations, according to the Labor Department. The U.S. Labor Department has held growers jointly responsible for infractions committed by unaffiliated labor contractors, and won a precedent-setting case in 2013.

Source: Los Angeles Times December 09, 2019 23:56 UTC