The workshop aims to discuss the consequences of both labor shortages and immigration policies in Californian agriculture and the tech industry. Particular attention will be paid to the H2A and H1B guest worker programs and their consequences for employers, employees and the industries more broadly. The workshop seeks to identify policies that benefit all stakeholders.

Schedule

8:45 am – 9:15 am       Registration, Coffee and Breakfast

9:15 am – 9:30 am       Welcoming Remarks

Johanna K. Schenner (Institute for Research on Labor and Employment)

Jasmijn Slootjes (Berkeley Interdisciplinary Migration Initiative)

9:30 am – 10:30 am      Panel 1: The Tech Industry – the Employee’s Perspective

Moderator: Andrew Moriarty (FWD.us)

Commentator: Sameer Desai (Johnson & Johnson)

Speakers: Maria Ontiveros (University of San Francisco)

Robin Savinar (UC Davis)

Tech Worker Coalition

10:30 am – 10:45 am     Coffee break

10:45 am – 12:00 pm     Panel 2: The Tech Industry – the Employer’s Perspectives

Moderator: Robin Savinar (UC Davis)

Commentator: Tech Worker Coalition and Maria Ontiveros (USF0

Speakers: Andrew Moriarty (FWD.us)

Peter Leroe-Muñoz (Silicon Valley Leadership Group)

Sameer Desai (Johnson & Johnson)

Lila Garlinghouse (Postmates)

12:00 pm – 1:00 pm      Lunch

1:00 pm – 1:40 pm        Panel 3: The Agricultural Sector – the Employee’s Perspective

Moderator: Nina Ichikawa (Berkeley Food Institute)

Commentator: Bryan Little (Californian Farm Bureau Federation)

Speakers: William Tamayo (Equal Employment Opportunities Commission)

Ignacio Rodriguez Ornelas (Latinx Research Center)

1:45 pm – 2:45 pm    Panel 4: The Agricultural Sector – the Employer’s Perspective

Moderator: Johanna K. Schenner (IRLE)

Speakers: David Runsten (Community Alliance with Family Farmers)

Bryan Little (California Farm Bureau Federation)

Chris Valadez (Grower-Shipper Association of Central California)

Johan Fredrik Rye (Norwegian University of Science and Technology)

2:45 pm – 3:00 pm      Closing Remarks – Nina Ichikawa (Berkeley Food Institute)

This event is supported by the Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, the Berkeley Food Institute, the UC Berkeley Department of Sociology, the UC Berkeley Asian American and Asian Diaspora Studies Program, the Berkeley School of Information, the Institute of Governmental Studies, the Haas School of Business, the UC Berkeley Chicana/o and Latina/o Studies Program, the UC Berkeley Center for Latin American Studies, the UC Berkeley Latinx Research Center and the Berkeley Interdisciplinary Migration Initiative.