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Ariel Ricci is the executive director of the Permanent Commission on the Status of Racial, Indigenous, and Tribal Populations, where Morgan Pottle Urquhart is the acting policy and communications director. Juana Rodriguez Vazquez, executive director of Mano en Mano, is a commissioner for the commission, serving in a seat for an organization representing Latino and migrant communities.
No matter who we are, where we come from or the color of our skin, we believe that people deserve fair pay and fair treatment for their work. But today, farmworkers in Maine lack the basic workers’ rights to address unfair treatment and unsafe conditions where they exist. This systemic exploitation of farmworkers — who are disproportionately people of color — hurts us all, including our farms.
Agricultural workers in Maine have historically been excluded from labor laws through exemptions at both the state and federal levels. Currently, agricultural workers are not subject to Maine’s minimum wage, overtime and other worker protection laws, such as the ability to discuss wages and working conditions. Under current Maine law, agricultural workers can be fired for making any attempt to improve conditions at their workplace.
The exemption of agricultural workers from Maine’s labor laws has a disproportionate...
Images of the Whitegate fuel protests earlier this month were altered to make it appear gardaí were violent towards protesters. The AI-doctored images were shared widely online, including by inter...