April 18, 2024
‘Fairness for Farmworkers Act’ aims at raising sub-minimum wage
BY Spectrum News 1
BOSTON — Farm workers are currently not entitled to minimum wage or overtime pay, although it’s incredibly common to work well over 40 hours a week according to the Fairness for Farmworkers Coalition.
What You Need To Know
- Farm workers are currently not entitled to minimum wage or overtime pay
- On Tuesday, farm workers and advocates worked to educate lawmakers to support legislation in the works to change it
- In the House and Senate there are bills titled the “Fairness for Farmworkers Act”
- It would make minimum wage $15/hour, on par with other jobs in the state and make workers eligible for overtime
Claudia Rosales, the executive director of the Pioneer Valley Workers Center, was a field worker for six years and now advocates for those working on farms across the pioneer valley
“Right now, farm workers don’t have accumulated sick time, and farm workers are oftentimes the workers most forgotten they’re not publicly recognized,” said Rosales through a translator. “But we come together to create a better world for every one of these workers.”
Right now in the House and Senate, there are bills titled the “Fairness for Farmworkers Act.” They would make minimum wage $15/hour, on par with other jobs in the state and make workers eligible for overtime. It also offers tax incentives to farm owners dealing with the higher wages.
“What we know is that Massachusetts farmworkers live in severe poverty two times, more than any other worker in Massachusetts,” said Claudia Quintero, an attorney at the Central West Justice Center. “Many earn as little as $13,000 a year. So they face food insecurity, unable to buy the very foods that they grow.”
The group says seven other states include farmworkers in the state’s minimum wage so they know it can be done.