PMA Launches AgJOBS Campaign

Apr 19, 2007 3:00 AM

NEWARK, Del. -- The Produce Marketing Association yesterday announced the launch of a national campaign geared toward building support for the Agricultural Job Opportunity, Benefits and Security Act of 2007, or AgJOBS. PMA has long supported the immigration reform compromise bill, which would make it simpler for foreign workers to obtain temporary work visas for agricultural jobs, and would allow workers who have worked in agriculture for at least two years to obtain “blue cards” in order to extend their stays here, provided that they continue to work in the agriculture industry. Advocates in the produce industry say the legislation is needed to correct labor shortages at farms. The campaign -- which will begin on April 23 and will include news releases, letters to members, print and online advertising and telephone outreach -- is intended to raise awareness among retailers and other businesses closely involved with the produce industry. “As an association representing the produce supply chain from field to table, it is critical for PMA to explain that this is not an ‘agriculture-only‘ issue,” Bryan Silbermann, president of PMA, said in a release. “Lack of workers negatively affects every sector of the supply chain by severely limiting produce availability and by increasing upward price pressures all the way to the consumer.”