Oregon lawmakers have again proposed extending overtime rights to farmworkers, setting up what could be a contentious fight between farmers and farmworker advocates.
Most non-farm hourly workers in Oregon already receive overtime pay if they work more than 40 hours in a week. The law, though, has long excluded agricultural workers.
Advocates for farmworkers say a change is long overdue, and that there’s no fair reason to withhold protections extended to virtually all other workers.
Farmers, however, say an overtime requirement could lead to fewer shifts and less pay for Oregon’s estimated 174,000 farmworkers and could put small, family-owned farms, which already operate on thin margins, out of business.
Rep. Andrea Salinas, D-Lake Oswego, who has championed the overtime legislation, convened a group last year of farmers and farmworker advocates to try to reach a compromise. But that effort ended at an impasse.
Members of the House Interim Committee on Business and Labor floated several proposals for new bills Tuesday that would phase in overtime pay to farmworkers over several years while offsetting some costs to farmers.
Rep. Paul Holvey, D-Eugene, and Salinas are promoting a proposal to phase in overtime pay for farmworkers over five years. In the first two years, farmers would only pay time-and-a-half to workers who work more than 55 hours in a week. By 2027, workers would have a right to overtime pay for any hours worked over 40 in a week.
The proposal would be...
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