Governor’s Veto of Farmworker Minimum Wage Is An Insult to Working People

On Tuesday, April 23rd, Governor Janet Mills vetoed her own bill to apply the state minimum wage to farmworkers. LD 2273, the Governor’s bill that was sponsored by House Speaker Rachel Talbot Ross, would have applied the state minimum wage to farmworkers and guaranteed that they receive a pay stub.  
 

“Governor Mills’ veto sends a clear message to farmworkers that they are of second class status and are not worthy of the same rights and protections other workers enjoy, said Matt Schlobohm, Maine AFL-CIO Executive Director.    

“This veto is an embarrassment to the state of Maine and a continuation of a long history of exclusion and exploitation.”   “In harvesting the food we put on our tables every day, farmworkers do some of the most essential work in our society. They deserve dignity and fair wages and deserve so much better from Maine’s Chief Executive.”  

Speaking to NewsCenter Maine, Jenni Hilton Flood, owner of Maine's largest dairy farm in Clinton, said she supported the bill because farmers "depend upon the people who do the work with us side-by-side.:

"Protecting them and affording them the right to a minimum wage, which every other employee in the state own Maine has access to, is really important," she said. "That’s how you get good food from a good place.”

The Maine AFL-CIO was part of a broad stakeholder group that held dozens of meetings to develop this bill. Ultimately the stakeholders agreed that farmworkers should be guaranteed the minimum wage. Governor Mills still chose to veto her own moderate, compromise bill — simply because it ensured farmworkers have the same access to the courts that all other workers enjoy if they are not paid their wages.
 

The Governor objected to the bill because it included a right for farmworkers to seek justice in court if they were not paid the minimum wage. Other workers in Maine have that exact right. Farmworkers, along with other workers, currently have a private right of action under Maine law if they are not paid the wages owed to them. The Governor's proposed bill would have undermined -- and conflicted with -- this existing right that farmworkers already have.  

The veto marks the fourth time in 27 months that Gov. Mills have vetoed legislation to extend additional worker rights to farmworkers.