A bipartisan effort to expand the rights of agricultural workers in Maine is back before the Legislature with a couple proposals on the table for a state minimum wage guarantee, overtime pay and other protections.
“This legislation seeks to answer a question that has echoed for far too long in Maine and across our nation: How can we claim to value the labor of farm workers so essential to the food on our tables while continuing to exclude them from the most basic labor protections that every other worker is afforded?” said Sen. Rachel Talbot Ross (D-Cumberland).
The Legislature’s Labor Committee held a public hearing Wednesday for three bills that would establish a state minimum wage for agricultural workers and provide them with other rights that workers in Maine currently have including overtime pay and limits on mandatory overtime.
While those who for several years have championed this issue see it as a matter of equity, opponents argue the industry is already paying well over minimum wage while battling thin margins and federal uncertainty. This comes after some agriculture sector leaders shared their concerns Tuesday about the financial toll new tariffs from the Trump administration could take on their operations.
Currently, agricultural workers are excluded from Maine’s wage and hours law. Legally, they are only entitled to the $7.25 federal...
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