Oregon hearing splits as bill to create agricultural workforce standards board advances to committee debate

A House committee on March 12 heard hours of testimony for and against House Bill 2548, which would create an Agricultural Workforce Labor Standards Board with authority to recommend statewide standards on compensation, hours, rest breaks, workplace health and safety, and training for agricultural employers and employees.

Proponents told the Committee on Labor and Workforce Standards that the board would give tens of thousands of Oregon farmworkers a voice and a consistent forum to address recurring safety and wage problems. Representative Andrea Valderrama, sponsor of the bill, said the board would give farmers and farmworkers equal representation and the ability to petition state agencies to implement standards.

"This bill is about self determination," Representative Andrea Valderrama said. "Farm workers and farmers deserve a seat at a table." She described the measure as setting minimum standards and establishing a rulemaking process through the Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) or the Department of Consumer and Business Services (DCBS).

Supporters from labor and community groups pressed the committee to act. "Our members have shared experiences of unsafe working conditions, low wages, and unjust terminations," Ira Coyo Martinez of Pineros y Campesinos Unidos de Noroeste (PCUN) said in testimony supporting HB 2548. Alberto Gallegos of SEIU Oregon added: "Farm workers aren't asking for special treatment. They're asking for what they've earned and for what others already have."

Opponents, including many family farmers, trade groups and rural elected officials, said the bill would create an unelected board with far‑reaching power, eliminate at‑will employment for agriculture by imposing a "just cause" termination…