Saving Seafood

State Department issues guidance on visa applicants after federal judge issues injunction

October 19, 2020 — The U.S. State Department has issued new guidance for certain individuals applying for H-2B and other temporary worker visas after a federal judge in California issued an injunction against the Trump Administration earlier this month.

For H-2B applicants, individuals must be prepared to show that their employer is a member of one of the following trade associations: the National Association of Manufacturers, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Retail Federation, TechNet, and Intrax, Inc.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Liability Shield Is Next Coronavirus Aid Battle

May 4, 2020 — Senate Republicans’ efforts to shield companies from liability during the coronavirus pandemic sets the stage for a showdown with Democrats, as allies of businesses and labor fight over the terms under which the economy will emerge from its partial shutdown.

Senate lawmakers return to Washington this week to start working out the next round of relief for households and businesses, on top of almost $3 trillion approved so far. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who will control the shape of much of the next stimulus package, has called liability protections a must-have “red line” for Republicans, saying he won’t support Democrats’ call for further state and local aid without it.

U.S. busi­nesses fear a wave of lit­i­ga­tion as work­ers in meat-pro­cess­ing fa­cil­i­ties, gro­cery stores and other lo­ca­tions get sick or die from the Covid-19 ill­ness caused by the new coro­n­avirus. The U.S. Cham­ber of Com­merce warns that the risk of class-ac­tion claims and other suits could de­ter busi­nesses from re­open­ing their doors, even if they are act­ing in good faith to op­er­ate safely. The trade group has en­dorsed the idea of shield­ing com­pa­nies that fol­low fed­eral and state health-au­thor­ity guide­lines for curb­ing the spread of Covid-19.

Com­pa­nies have been em­pha­siz-ing the steps they are tak­ing to pro­tect work­ers, from dis­in­fect­ing fa­cil­i­ties and set­ting up plex­i­glass di­viders to op­er­at­ing on stag­gered shifts to al­low for more so­cial dis­tanc­ing. Re­tail busi­nesses such as gro­cery stores have rolled out re­quire­ments meant to pro­tect cus­tomers and staff, in­clud­ing re­quir­ing masks and lim­it­ing ca­pac­ity.

Read the full story at The Wall Street Journal

‘We need to fish’ New Bedford fishermen tell toll of shutdown

January 28, 2019 — Many things fell into place Friday that led to the government reopening, including the words of a New Bedford scalloper in the nation’s capital.

Capt. Jack Morris, director of operations for FV Holdings LLC, spoke on a panel conducted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce as the shutdown prevented one of his vessels from fishing.

“We’re bleeding,” Morris said. “We need to go fishing.”

Hours later, President Donald Trump announced a deal had been struck to reopen the government through Feb. 15.

The shutdown didn’t allow Morris to transfer a license from an out-of-service vessel to a new one.

“It’s a simple application that’s done all the time, and it’s sitting on the desk of the permit office in Gloucester,” Morris said. “There’s nobody at that desk. It’s empty.”

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times