Labor Committee Votes to Advance Bill to Expand Farmworker Rights

The Legislature’s Labor Committee voted 6-4 on party lines last week to advance a bill to expand rights to farmworkers in Maine. LD 588, An Act to Enact the Agricultural Employees Concerted Activity Protection Act,  would give agricultural workers the right to engage in certain concerted activity.

“I just want to remind folks that farmworkers lack basic protections that most workers enjoy,” said Rep. Matt Beck (D-So. Portland), in making the motion to support the bill. “This includes protections like the right of two or more employees to address their employer about improving their pay, protections for two or more employees discussing work related issues beyond pay, such as safety, and protections for an employee speaking to an employer on behalf of one or more coworkers about improving workplace conditions."

Although LD 588 would not give these workers the right to unionize, it would allow them to discuss wages, working conditions and terms of employment amongst themselves as well as publicize complaints about wages and workplace issues without fear of retaliation from their employer. In addition, it would permit farmworkers to take legal action and participate in investigations of workplace complaints without fear of intimidation or retaliation.

In voting for the bill, Labor Committee House Chair Amy Roeder (D-Bangor) acknowledged that the bill still stops short of providing farmworkers with the same rights as other workers. She argued that “all workers [should] have the same rights to the same protections.”

However, Sen. Dick Bradstreet (R-Kennebec) said he opposed the bill out of concern that it would harm profits for farmers. He noted that Governor Janet Mills has vetoed similar bills for the same reason in previous years.

“It’s a no-go for me,” he said. “I think we need to be real careful. Our agricultural industry is right on the edge right now and it has been for sometime."