Washington State fruit distributor Zirkle Fruit has reached an agreement with 600 foreign guest workers, which will see each receive $170 in settlement of a long-running dispute.

The final settlement, announced on Monday, will see a payout of $102,000 (£51,000). The dispute arose after Zirkle fired nine Mexican farm workers last year for allegedly failing to meet productivity requirements. The workers sued the Selah-based firm, alleging that Zirkle failed to adequately disclose production standards in the labour contract.

The workers' claim was based on federal minimum wage law and recent court rulings that found that if net wages in the first week of work fall below the federal wage, employers must make up the difference, said the Yakima Herald.

The 600 workers Zirkle hired were part of the federal H-2A guest worker programme, which has proved controversial. Employers have worried about possible tensions between two sets of workers: illegal immigrants who have traditionally worked the harvest and foreign workers who are brought in with government approval and may get preference in the hiring process.

Farm worker rights groups, on the other hand, remain suspicious of H-2A,because workers are beholden to one employer for the entire contract period - up to 10 months - and cannot shop around for the highest wages.

Increasing use of the guest worker programme reflects demand for a stable source of farm labour and employer concerns about the immigration status of local workers. Workers can be black-listed if they complain about working conditions and unscrupulous employers can manipulate the contract to drive down their costs.

According to the Yakima Herald, “under the H-2A program, employers this year must pay at least $9.94 an hour compared with the state minimum wage of $8.07. But all workers earn more under a piece rate, which rewards them for faster picking. If the piece rate, or prevailing wage, is higher than $9.94, employers have to pay the higher rate”.

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