Welcome to our e-newsletter about farm worker justice in the Northwest and nationally. Your advocacy and support is needed and is making a difference! Contact us.
We are a faith-based farm worker solidarity organization working for justice with the local farm worker community in the Northwest
URGENT ACTION NEEDED TODAY - FEBRUARY 24
Oregon Farm Worker Overtime Bill - HB 4002 is in the Joint Committee on Farm Worker Overtime and hearings are scheduled TODAY - FEBRUARY 24 @ 1:30 pm and 5:30 pm.
If you submitted testimony before, please resubmit for this new committee hearing.
Testimony Deadline: 2/24/22 @ 1:30pm
Final Deadline to Submit: 2/25/22 @ 1:30pm
TALKING POINTS:
Farm workers deserve the same labor protections that other workers have.
Farm workers feed us and deserve living wages and safe labor practices.
It is our moral duty to give farm workers respect, dignity, thanks AND equitable labor laws.
Oregon OSHA has proposed permanent rules on labor conditions in heat and smoke. Public comment and testimony from workers is critical to the final implementation of what we hope will be the strongest rules in support of worker’s safety in the nation.
OSHA’s proposed rules could provide loopholes for employers, and YOUR HELP IS NEEDED to make them strongest in the nation. Your public comment testimony can help make sure these rules are adopted without delay so that they can be in place for the 2022 heat/smoke season.
Please send written comments or leave a voicemail for Oregon OSHA by 5:00 pm on March 18th:
The ASK: Remove the partial exemption for “light” work.
As it's written now, workers doing work classified as “light” are not covered by the rules when the heat index is below 90F. This allows employers to NOT provide access to shade or water or inform these workers about the health dangers and warning signs of heat illness
The ASK: Require mechanical, indoor cooling to 78F for 100% of housing occupants.
This needs to change, because agricultural workers, who are typically exposed to full sun and heat throughout the workday, must be able to reduce the heat load on their bodies. Research is clear that exposure to high heat poses long-term as well as immediate health dangers, including kidney failure.
The ASK: Revise the AQI triggers so that they are consistent with the AQI risk categories.
New limits should be -- Mandatory mask use at the beginning of the “Very Unhealthy” level (AQI 201). And, mandatory use of fitted masks at the beginning of the “Hazardous” level (AQI 301)
SALEM, Ore. - Oregon OSHA has proposed new rules "that would strengthen protections for Oregon workers against health and safety hazards linked to the impacts of climate change: extreme heat and wildfire smoke," the agency said Tuesday.
"The rules would provide the strongest such protections in the nation," according to Oregon OSHA.
The agency said:
The proposed heat illness prevention rule encompasses a variety of protective measures, including access to shade and cool water, work/rest schedules, information and training, and other preventive actions and plans. The proposed wildfire smoke rule includes an array of exposure assessments and controls, and training and communication steps.
“These rulemaking efforts demonstrate our commitment to bolstering Oregon’s ability to protect workers – especially vulnerable workers who work outdoors – from extraordinary hazards that have been worsened by climate change,” said Andrew Stolfi, director of the Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services , which includes Oregon OSHA. “The dangers of extreme heat and wildfire smoke are not going away. That is why we must continue to build up our safeguards against them.”
The agency will seek public input on the proposals through mid-March.
“We welcome public input on these rule proposals, which are intended to increase protections for workers while creating greater clarity, practicality, and predictability for employers as they move forward,” said Lou Savage, interim administrator for Oregon OSHA. “These proposals reflect Oregon OSHA’s longstanding mission to advance safety and health for all Oregon workers.”
The division anticipates adopting the rules in April 2022.
Long Excluded from Overtime Pay, Oregon Farmworkers Make Their Case
A new legislative proposal follows seven other states in offering overtime pay to the state’s 86,000 farmworkers. It faces strong industry opposition.
By Lynne Terry, Oregon Capital Chronicle, February 11, 2022
Farmworkers harvesting watermelons at Bellinger Farms in Hermiston, Oregon. (Photo by Andrea Johnson for the Oregon Department of Agriculture)
February 15, 2022 update:A committee within the Oregon House of Representatives yesterday advanced the farmworker overtime proposal closer to a vote, although a partisan divide has left Republicans threatening to walk out rather than allow the bill to pass.
A fight is brewing in the Oregon Legislature over a proposal to give farmworkers overtime pay after 40 hours a week.
