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September 4, 2006
About a year ago, state work-force officials got an earful from growers about how poorly the state's job referral system was performing.
Growers complained that farm workers from WorkSource, part of the Employment Security Department, didn't know how to pick tree fruit properly, would show up once and then quit in order to try to collect unemployment benefits, failed to show up at all or were otherwise ill-suited for orchard work.
Stung by the criticism and under orders to improve from Gov. Chris Gregoire and new Employment Commissioner Karen Lee, WorkSource statewide came up with a new plan. Successful referrals to date are up about 30 percent.
"The criticism was that our referrals weren't timely, that we weren't creative and that we weren't working hard enough to get people on unemployment back to work," said Larry Sanchez, area director of Tri-County WorkSource, based in Yakima.
The department took several steps.
Mobile recruiting vans have been set up. Sanchez hired two full-time staff people to work on connecting workers with employers. Nontraditional farm workers — such as students and housewives — were heavily recruited for this year's cherry harvest.
Sanchez said that about 70 percent of the student workers this summer were high-school-aged girls.
"They saw the opportunity to make some money for their personal use or to help their families," he said.
The department also began testing a program in Yakima to get people, who are collecting unemployment benefits, back to work. Participating employers can look at lists of former employees receiving benefits and select those they'd like to rehire. If the workers don't accept the job, their unemployment can be terminated, which then lowers the growers' unemployment insurance taxes.
As of mid-July, 18 growers were using the pilot program and had received 642 job referrals, according to employment security officials.
Wapato grower John Verbrugge, a past critic of WorkSource, recently applauded its efforts.
"They can't be the only solution to our labor challenges," he said, "but every little bit helps."
Another critic, the Washington Farm Bureau, is encouraging its members to list openings with WorkSource and participate in the pilot project to get people off unemployment assistance.
"We know that WorkSource referrals are not always the best, but it is important to use the system to document the problem."
Sanchez said the effort to improve referrals will continue.
"We are going to focus more on establishing a rapport with farmers and do a better job of screening employees," he said.
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