More than 80 people testified in-person on a contentious bill that would establish a new board under the Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) tasked with setting minimum pay and protections for Oregon farmworkers.
HB 2548 would create the Agricultural Workforce Labor Standards Board, which could petition BOLI to implement, amend, or repeal minimum requirements for farmworker wages, training, and workplace standards. The bill also prohibits firing agricultural workers without cause, except in certain cases.
Farmers and Republican legislators pushed back strongly against the bill during a lengthy public hearing on March 12, saying it will result in further mandates that drive farms out of business. Supporters countered that the board would give farmworkers a greater voice in how they are treated and compensated.
According to data from the most recent USDA Census of Agriculture, Oregon farm acreage totaled about 15.3 million acres in 2022 with 35,547 farms and 70,501 producers. Total sales of Oregon agricultural products were $6.7 billion, led by Marion County at $874.6 million.
Jamie Zielinski, whose family grows a variety of crops and operates a wholesale nursery in Salem, testified in writing against HB 2548, calling it “a very negative bill for farm employers.â€
Farmworkers are already protected under current regulations, such as paid sick time and an increased minimum wage, and Oregon OSHA also has one of the highest worksite inspection rates and has adopted some of the most expansive worker protections in the country, Zielinski said.
“Farmers generally don’t get to set prices for their commodities, so there is no way to recover the increased cost passed by the new governing board,†Zielinski said. “I feel the creation of such a board is simply a redundancy of what other government entities are already doing.â€
Rep. Andrea Valderrama (D-Portland), one of the bill’s chief sponsors, said she believes HB 2548 is “the right policy for the right time.â€
“Both farmers and farm laborers are experiencing uncertainty, and policies must account for maintaining farm viability and protecting workers amid these changes,†Valderrama said.
The Agricultural Workplace Labor Standards Board would consist of 11 members appointed by the BOLI Commissioner, including representation from agriculture, advocacy groups, and state agencies.
Though the bill prohibits employers from firing farmworkers without cause, Valderrama said there are a few exceptions, including a bona fide economic layoff, expiration of temporary or seasonal work, or “egregious misconduct.â€
Ira Cuello-Martinez, policy and advocacy director for the farmworker union Piñeros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste (PCUN), said their members do important and often dangerous work on farms, yet they are excluded from the federal right to collective bargaining. HB 2548, he said, would correct that injustice.
“We believe that every worker deserves a voice in creating safe, fair, and sustainable working conditions,†Cuello-Martinez said.
A panel of Republican lawmakers, including Rep. Shelly Boshart Davis (R-Albany), criticized HB 2548 as redundant and unnecessary. As a farmer, Boshart Davis said she felt the bill assumes farmers don’t care about their employees.
“Oregon already has some of the strongest labor protections in the country,†she said. “What this bill will actually do is create more bureaucracy, more cost, and more barriers that make it harder for farms to survive.â€
Lesley Tamura, a fourth-generation pear grower near Hood River and chair of the Columbia Gorge Fruit Growers, said the bill is “grossly unjust,†removing at-will employment for farms and creating an unelected bureaucratic body to petition for workplace changes that will threaten farms already operating on razor-thin margins.
“This proposal is so egregious that I honestly cannot believe that I had to drive all the way here to say this to you today,†she said.
If passed by the House Labor and Workplace Standards Committee, HB 2548 would be referred to Joint Ways and Means for further discussion.
