Posts tagged farmworkers
WA farmworker union bill doesn’t make it through Legislature
February 22, 2026 // Tuesday, Feb. 17, was the cutoff for bills to be voted out of the chamber — the Senate or House of Representatives — where they originated. The bill introduced by state Sen. Rebecca Saldana, D-Seattle, would have given farmworkers a legal framework to engage in collective bargaining with their employers. The bill made it through the first round of Senate committees but not to a floor vote that would have advanced it.
Washington Democrats propose collective bargaining for farmworkers
January 21, 2026 // Washington Farm Bureau director of government relations Breanne Elsey told the Senate Labor and Commerce Committee on Jan. 19 that farmworkers are excluded from the federal law for good reasons. Untimely labor disputes would bankrupt farms, she said. “Striking during harvest could threaten the small window of time farmers have to produce their income for the entire year,” she said. SB 6617 would apply to housekeepers and employees of some small businesses, as well as farmworkers. Senate Bill 6045 and House Bill 2409 are confined to collective-bargaining rights for just farmworkers. Those bills are scheduled for initial hearings Jan. 20.
United Farm Workers has unionized eight farms under 2023 CA law. Here’s where
January 2, 2026 // The 2023 law made it easier for farmworkers to vote for union representation by signing authorization cards, a process referred to as a “majority support petition” or “card check.” Previously, under the Agricultural Labor Relations Act, farmworkers could only vote for union representation in secret ballot elections conducted on their employer’s property.
Wonderful vows to fight pro-union ‘card check’ law after court rules lawsuit improper
December 9, 2025 // Cooper said the decision does not explicitly address the merits of Wonderful Nurseries constitutional challenge, which a lower court has already concluded has merit, he said. Also, the decision does not interfere with a separate lawsuit filed in federal court by nearly two dozen workers represented by the Right to Work Foundation, he said. “And nothing in the ruling prevents the Superior Court from deciding that the Card Check law indeed violates the California and federal Constitutions, a decision we look forward to,” he said.
Trump’s Labor Department proposes more than 60 rule changes in a push to deregulate workplaces
July 22, 2025 // The U.S. Department of Labor is aiming to rewrite or repeal more than 60 “obsolete” workplace regulations, ranging from minimum wage requirements for home health care workers and people with disabilities to standards governing exposure to harmful substances.
Trump administration suspends enforcement of Biden-era farmworker rule
June 26, 2025 // "The decision provides much-needed clarity for American farmers navigating the H-2A program, while also aligning with President Trump's ongoing commitment to strictly enforcing U.S. immigration laws," the department said in a statement. "As multiple federal court injunctions have created significant legal uncertainty, inconsistency, and operational challenges for farmers lawfully employing H-2A workers, this field assistance bulletin clarifies that the department will not be enforcing the 2024 final rule effective immediately." The H-2A visa program allows farmers to bring in an unlimited number of foreign seasonal farmhands if they can show there are not enough U.S. workers willing, qualified and available to do the job.
Farmworkers call for changes to improve their lives
April 7, 2025 // If all legislators are genuinely interested in supporting people living and working in Washington state, then these interviews should serve as a gut check. All six of the men interviewed indicated a desire to see a significant change in how their workweeks are measured and compensated. Not from their employers but from lawmakers. Guillermo, 62, perhaps summed up the words of his colleagues best: “I think people would be surprised to know that I’ve dedicated my life to working and trying to do good deeds,” he said. “We come here with the mentality that we want to work 50 plus hours per week.”
20 Wonderful Nurseries Farmworkers Seek to Join Federal Challenge to Biased Pro-Union Boss California Agricultural Labor Law
February 6, 2025 // “UFW union officials deceived us just so they could gain power in our workplace,” Chavez and Gutierrez commented after filing charges. “Instead of just letting us vote in secret on whether we want a union, they went around lying and threatening to get cards and now are cracking down on anyone who speaks out against the union.”
Federal judge blocks Biden labor protections for foreign farmworkers
November 27, 2024 // hose new rules, implemented by the U.S. Department of Labor in April, expanded protections for H-2A visa-holders, including requiring employers to ensure they would not intimidate, threaten or otherwise discriminate against foreign farmworkers for "activities related to self-organization" and "concerted activities for the purpose of mutual aide or protection relating to wages of working conditions." "In perhaps its most blatant arrogation of authority, the Final Rule seeks to extend numerous rights to H-2A workers which they did not previously enjoy through its worker voice and empowerment provisions," Judge Reeves wrote.
Federal judge says H-2A workers don’t have right to unionize
August 28, 2024 // In her ruling, Judge Lisa Wood acknowledged the Department of Labor has the authority to make rules governing H-2A workers. However, she says the Labor Department does not have the authority to “create law or protect newly created rights of agricultural workers.” That authority, she says, belongs to Congress. Citing previous legal precedents, Woods determined that issuing a nationwide injunction would give a single district court an outsized role in the federal systems. Therefore, her ruling only affects those listed as plaintiffs in the case initiated by the Southern Legal Foundation.