No visas for foreign workers this summer
Two-year H-2B fix not renewed; employers seek replacement help
BY PETER A. SUTTERS JR. INDEPENDENT WRITER

One sign of the approaching summer season is the return of foreign workers on H-2B visas.

They normally arrive in March and stay through December. They work in restaurants and inns; as landscapers and in retail outlets.

This year, however, is different. With March having arrived, many workers will not be returning because a two-year Band-Aid fix to the program was not renewed, leaving Nantucket employers scrambling to fill positions.

Larry Whelden, owner of The Brotherhood of Thieves, The Tavern and The Lobster Trap, said he employed 42 workers on H-2B visas last summer, many who had been coming back year after year.

"It changes the way we do business," he said. "In the past, we had been working with the same people year after year. They were like family. They would get here on a Saturday and be ready to work on a Sunday. Now, we're trying to recruit workers, but we'll have to take time to train them. Meanwhile, the people we have had working for us are stuck back in Jamaica. They depend on this income, they pay for their children's schools with it and now they don't know where to get the money from."

Whelden acknowledged that some segments of the community say that if the right wages were offered, island businesses would not have to depend on foreign workers. He said the argument simply is not true.

"Twenty years ago, we were almost totally dependent on college workers," he said. "Today, nobody wants to hire someone who comes in mid-May and leaves in mid-August. It just doesn't make sense with the length of the season. And with the cost of housing out here, it's hard to attract people to come and stay for the whole season and work in a kitchen."

Whelden said he believes his restaurants will be able to hire a full staff this summer, but it won't be the same without the returning workers.

"I think we may suffer," said Whelden. "We may get up to full staff, but it won't be until June when it really gets going and then we'll need to train. And it's not just for this year. This is going to take at least three years to fix, so we're

coming up with a plan to address that." I