SALEM, Ore — Lawmakers in Salem are set to consider and vote on House Bill 4002 next week, otherwise known as the Farmworker Overtime Bill. The amended legislation passed out of a special committee Thursday night.
As the Joint Committee held a public hearing, and a following work session, organizers with Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste, better known as PCUN, an Oregon farmworkers union, rallied outside in support of the bill.
Reyna Lopez, president and executive director of PCUN, helped to bring the idea for this legislation to lawmakers a couple years back.
"It would basically create a five-year phase-in of farmworker overtime, eventually getting to 40 hours of overtime compensation by the fifth year," she explained. "It also includes a tax credit that small and midsize growers can use to help them through the transition."
She said it's a matter of equity, dignity and respect for the 87,000 farm workers in Oregon.
"We’re not going to be able to expand the labor force and improve the conditions if we do not do something about changing this culture. We actually do need to take steps to improve the conditions at the worksite so more people want to come and do some of these jobs, and want to spend their lives doing this important agricultural work that needs a future as well."
Rep. Andrea Salinas, D-Lake Oswego, a chief sponsor of the bill, said it rights the wrongs of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, which excluded farm workers from overtime pay.
"I don’t blame anybody today for setting that system up, but I do take responsibility for changing a system that was rooted in racism."
Rep. Salinas said while she understands the costs are going up for farmers across the board, it's time to prioritize the worker.
"I would love to put the worker first this time, and figure out all of those other inputs and costs that either make or break an operation," she said.
Jeff Stone, executive director of the Oregon Association of Nurseries, said he agrees employers should pay farm workers fairly, but this amended bill isn't the way.
"We recognize that we need to have something, some type of standard."
He sides with many farm owners across the state, who feel that this bill doesn't consider the unique challenges of the agriculture industry, and that it will negatively impact family farms and even the farm workers.
"We need to protect the family farm and make sure that it is successful, but we also need to protect the farm worker and make sure that they are adequately paid," Stone said. "We do not think that that is a stretch, but unfortunately that is not what's before us today."
House Bill 4002 passed out of the Joint Committee on Farm Worker Overtime, with members of the committee voting along party-line; Democrats in support, and Republicans in opposition.
In a release from the Oregon Farm Bureau on Friday, Dave Dillon the Executive Vice President stated:
“We were deeply disappointed to see Democrats in the joint committee ignore the concerns of growers and move this version of the bill. HB 4002 has the potential to devastate and cause the closure of many family farms. By voting to adopt a completely unworkable 40-hour threshold, legislators have guaranteed that farm workers will ultimately see reduced wages and reduced hours.”
On Thursday, in a release from PCUN Floricel Sorian, a Salem farmworker wrote:
"I couldn't miss a day of work due to the fear of being fired. Even if I had the flu or even a high temperature, we went to work without fail because they practically forced us to. And even with no days off we were not earning enough. My husband had to work more than 40 hours during the week and additionally on the weekends. I ask Oregon state lawmakers to vote in favor of HB 4002 because we are hard workers who deserve recognition for our effort and respect for our work. Farmworkers in Oregon should be paid fairly for their labor.”