The winery job information provided at the website of the Labor Department is offered in the name of Trump Vineyard Estates LLC, the same company name that is listed on Trump’s disclosure. The work the company is trying to fill is in the vineyards, pruning vines for 40 hours of work spread over six days of the week, with employment beginning at the end of January. The hourly wage for tending the wine grapes (“uvas de vino,” as the company’s employment request reads) is $10.72 an hour. That’s a cost to the winery of about $10,300 in wages for those employees.
Those jobs require H-2A visas, which are allocated to agricultural workers who are doing work “of a temporary or seasonal nature,” according to the Citizenship and Immigration Services website. To hire under the program, the employer needs to "[d]emonstrate that there are not enough U.S. workers who are able, willing, qualified, and available to do the temporary work.” It’s not clear how the winery demonstrated that. The unemployment rate in Albemarle County is 3.6 percent.
This is the fourth employee request for the winery since 2014. That year, it sought 20 positions at a minimum of $9.87 an hour. In 2015, the pay bumped up to $10.32 an hour.
Other Trump properties have hired employees under H-2B visas, which are designed for nonagricultural employees. For the most part, these are workers being hired to for Trump’s hotels, resorts and golf courses, including Mar-a-Lago in Florida.
The salaries vary by position and year. Cooks hired under the visa program at Mar-a-Lago who started in October 2013 were paid $12.95 an hour. In 2014, it rose to $12.96, and, in 2015, as Trump was campaigning, rose another 5 cents an hour. Those beginning this year in the same position were paid $12.74 an hour — the equivalent of $12.43 three years ago.
Positions for which Trump businesses have sought employees under the H-2 program
- 29 cooks at $12.95 an hour minimum. The Mar-a-Lago Club, beginning work in October 2013
- 28 housekeepers at $9.7 an hour minimum. The Mar-a-Lago Club, October 2013
- 30 waiters and waitresses at $10.09 an hour minimum. The Mar-a-Lago Club, October 2013
- 20 vineyard farmworkers at $9.87 an hour minimum. Trump Vineyard Estates, LLC, February 2014
- 9 waiters and waitresses at $13 an hour minimum. Trump National Golf Club LLC, May 2014
- 30 cooks at $12.96 an hour minimum. The Mar-a-Lago Club, October 2014
- 30 housekeepers at $9.85 an hour minimum. The Mar-a-Lago Club, October 2014
- 30 waiters and waitresses at $10.60 an hour minimum. The Mar-a-Lago Club, October 2014
- 10 waiters and waitresses at $10.60 an hour minimum. Trump National Golf Club Jupiter, October 2014
- 19 vineyard farmworkers at $10.32 an hour minimum. Trump Vineyard Estates, LLC, March 2015
- 9 waiters and waitresses at $10.41 an hour minimum. Trump National Golf Club LLC, May 2015
- 19 cooks at $13.01 an hour minimum. The Mar-a-Lago Club, October 2015
- 20 housekeepers at $10.07 an hour minimum. The Mar-a-Lago Club, October 2015
- 30 waiters and waitresses at $10.99 an hour minimum. The Mar-a-Lago Club, October 2015
- 9 waiters and waitresses at $10.99 an hour minimum. Trump National Golf Club Jupiter, October 2015
- 7 assistant food and beverage servers at $10.49 an hour minimum. Trump International Beach Resort, December 2015
- 3 bartenders at $14.47 an hour minimum. Trump International Beach Resort, December 2015
- 2 host/hostesses at $11.62 an hour minimum. Trump International Beach Resort, December 2015
- 11 housekeepers at $9.97 an hour minimum. Trump International Beach Resort, December 2015
- 21 waiters and waitresses at $10.36 an hour minimum. Trump International Beach Resort, December 2015
- 5 pool attendants at $10.35 an hour minimum. Trump International Beach Resort, January 2016
- 19 vineyard farmworkers at $10.72 an hour minimum. Trump Vineyard Estates, LLC, March 2016
- 10 waiters and waitresses at $13.21 an hour minimum. Trump National Golf Club LLC, May. 2016
- 19 cooks at $12.74 an hour minimum. The Mar-a-Lago Club, October 2016
- 15 maids and housekeeping cleaners at $10.17 an hour minimum. The Mar-a-Lago Club, October 2016
- 30 waiters and waitresses at $11.13 an hour minimum. The Mar-a-Lago Club, October 2016
- 6 cooks at $12.74 an hour minimum. Trump National Golf Club Jupiter, October 2016
- 7 waiters and waitresses at $11.13 an hour minimum. Trump National Golf Club Jupiter, October 2016
- 10 assistant food and beverage servers at $11.19 an hour minimum. Trump International Beach Resort, December 2016
- 20 waiters and waitresses at $10.36 an hour minimum. Trump International Beach Resort, December 2016
- 6 vineyard farmworkers at $10.72 an hour minimum. Trump Vineyard Estates, LLC, January 2017
Two hundred sixty-nine of those positions began after Donald Trump declared his candidacy for the presidency. The cost for all of these positions adds up to a bit over $900,000 in monthly salary alone.
Trump’s businesses work with outside counsel to prepare the job applications. In the case of the winery’s application, the firm that assisted is called Mas Labor, which specializes in H-2A applications. The firm’s name is in Spanish, translating to “more work.”