Farmworker Overtime (HB 4002) will extend basic overtime pay protections to Oregon farmworkers
Salem, OR–The newly formed bipartisan Joint Committee on Farmworker Overtime will convene for the first time on February 24, 2022 to hear from workers, growers, and community leaders from across the state about the urgent need to grant Oregon farmworkers equal protection under the state’s overtime laws. Ahead of the hearing, farmers, farmworkers, and community leaders from across the state urged legislators to move quickly to extend overtime pay to the approximately 87,000 migrant and seasonal farmworkers who work in Oregon each year.
STATEMENT FROM KAIT CROWLEY, PK PASTURES
I am the owner/operator of a small-scale pastured livestock operation, PK Pastures, but I spent the past decade working in field crews for other farms. I know first hand how physically, mentally, and emotionally depleting it is to work more than 40 hours a week, consistently, and have only poverty wages to show for it at the end of the season.
It’s time for the farming community to acknowledge that it is time to pay people a living wage. Human beings are not an expendable resource and it’s not okay for any employer, including farmers, to treat workers like they are disposable in order to meet a profit margin. I urge the legislature to pass farmworker overtime and consider a shorter adoption timeline than the five years proposed in HB 4002.
STATEMENT FROM REYNA LOPEZ, PCUN
“Farmworkers are an essential part of the success of Oregon Agriculture. Compensation for overtime hours is something most workers take for granted, and after almost a century Oregon lawmakers are taking steps towards changing that. The impacts to farmworkers are very real — many are putting their long term health at risk, and sacrifice precious family time, to put in long hours at their jobs. PCUN has had the privilege of leading the charge on farmworker overtime in Oregon for three years — and we will continue to advocate as long as it takes to end this exclusion once and for all.”
STATEMENT FROM FAIR SHOT FOR ALL COALITION
A coalition of 30+ diverse organizations across the state, and 71 % of likely Oregon voters in a recent poll, support this proposal. Ending a practice that is rooted in racism and is perpetuating racial disparities is the right thing to do. It is also the smart thing to do. Our neighboring states have already passed farmworker overtime laws and Oregon’s workforce and economy shouldn’t fall behind because of out-of-date economic laws and rules.
Almost every other worker gets overtime after 40 hours. Farmworkers shouldn’t be expected to work longer and often harder and make less money Oregon must pass a policy that treats farmworkers the same as other workers by requiring overtime beyond 40 hours. The Republican proposals being debated that don’t require this simple alignment do nothing but perpetuate a racist exclusion for some of Oregon’s most vulnerable workers and their families.
About Farmworker Overtime (HB 4002):
Washington and California already have farmworker overtime laws on the books. If we don’t begin to pay Oregon’s skilled farmworkers what they deserve, they will take their abilities to where they are better compensated, leaving Oregon farms and family dinner tables behind. To remain competitive, Oregon farm owners and employers must pay overtime. This bill helps support those farmers, making the transition as easy and clear as possible.
The 1938 Federal Labor Standards Act (FLSA) failed to guarantee overtime pay for farmworkers despite working in one of the most dangerous job industries. The exclusion of farmworkers from the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 is part of a shameful legacy of institutional racism that initially targeted the 85% of southern African Americans who were farmworkers in the 1930s.
Today, most farmworkers are Latinos and Indigenous. Excluding farm workers from overtime was wrong in 1938 and it’s still wrong today. Oregon lawmakers have the opportunity to end this racist exclusion and extend overtime pay for our essential farmworkers.
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