Padilla Introduces Bills to Strengthen Support and Protections for Farm and Food System Workers

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) introduced a trio of bills to improve support, coordination, and labor protections for farm and food system workers. Padilla's Fairness for Farm Workers Act, Supporting Our Farm and Food System Workforce Act, and Voice for Farm Workers Act would provide resources for farm and food system workers, increase representation and collaboration between the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and farm workers and food system workers, and ensure farm workers receive fairer wages and compensation.

"Farm and food system workers are essential to feeding our country and bolstering California and the nation's economy, but for far too long, they have been unjustly excluded from protections extended to other workers, have inadequate representation, and not nearly enough resources," said Senator Padilla. "As the Trump Administration continues to target farm and food system workers, I will keep fighting to make sure our essential workers are treated with the dignity and respect they deserve for their back-breaking, critical work. These bills would correct our nation's labor laws to bring economic justice for farm workers and equip the USDA with more tools to integrate worker perspective, priorities, and staffing to better represent its farm and food system workers."

Fairness for Farm Workers Act

The Fairness for Farm Workers Act would update the nation's labor laws to ensure farm workers receive fair wages and compensation. 88 years ago, the Fair Labor Standards Act established federal standards for minimum wage and overtime pay but excluded millions of domestic and agricultural workers who were overwhelmingly people of color. Although farm workers gained some minimum wage protections in 1966, exclusions on overtime pay persist. This bill would gradually implement overtime pay over the course of four years and bring greater equity to the American agricultural industry.

Specifically, the Fairness for Farm Workers Act would require time-and-a-half overtime pay for all agricultural workers, remove exemptions to overtime for agriculture and end the exemptions for overtime and minimum wage requirements for certain small farms, hand harvest laborers, non-local minors, and range livestock production, and remove exemptions to overtime for workers employed in irrigation projects, livestock auctions incidental to farm work, small country grain elevators, certain sugar processing, certain types of intra-state transportation and preparation for transportation of fruits and vegetables, cotton ginning, and cotton compressing.

In addition to Padilla, the bill is co-sponsored by Senators Anegla Alsobrooks (D-Md.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.).

The Fairness for Farmworkers Act has been endorsed by over 100 organizations including United Farm Workers (UFW), American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW), HEAL, Communication Workers of America (CWA), CRLA Foundation, NAACP, Alianza Nacional de Campesinas, Latino Justice PRLDEF, Farm Labor Organizing Committee, National Center for Law and Economic Justice, Legal Aid Justice Center, Hispanic Federation, Migrant Justice, Farmworker Justice, SEIU, UAW, UnidosUS, National Council of Churches, National Employment Law Project, National Farm Worker Ministry, and Equal Rights Advocates.

Full text of the bill is available here.

Supporting Our Farm and Food System Workforce Act

This legislation would establish the Office of the Farm and Food System Workforce within the USDA to uplift the voices of farm workers and food system workers at the federal level. The Office would serve as a link between these workers and the USDA, providing a platform for their concerns and interests and helping develop recommendations and new initiatives for the Department.

The bill would also create a Farm and Food System Worker Advisory Committee of relevant stakeholders - such as farm and food system labor unions, workers, civil rights advocates, higher education, women farm worker or food system groups, and non-profits - to better represent these workers' interests and perspectives. Building upon the USDA Equity Commission recommendations, it would also set up a Farm and Food System Workforce Interagency Council, comprised of representatives from various federal agencies to improve coordination, planning, program development, and policymaking across cabinet-level leadership.

In addition, the Supporting Our Farm and Food System Workforce Act would require the Office to summarize its efforts in a publicly available report annually, to improve the work and livelihood of farm and food system workers, address climate change impacts on the food system, and reduce barriers workers face to access federal programs.

In addition to Padilla, the bill is co-sponsored by Senators Booker, Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Luján, Markey, Rosen, Schiff, Warren, and Wyden.

The Supporting Our Farm and Food System Workforce Act is endorsed by over 30 organizations including the AFL-CIO, United Farm Workers (UFW), UFCW, Farm Labor Organizing Committee, Farmworker Justice, League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), Legal Aid Justice Center, HEAL Food Alliance, and more.

Full text of the bill is available here.

Voice for Farm Workers Act

This legislation would strengthen the USDA Farmworker Coordinator position with new resources and staffing capacity to improve the ability of the Coordinator to act as USDA's primary point of contact on farm worker issues, coordinate and advise on farm worker serving programs across the Department and federal agencies, and support farm workers and farm worker-oriented community-based organizations to better access USDA programs. The USDA Farmworker Coordinator position, established in the 2008 Farm Bill, serves as a dedicated liaison for the Department and farm workers nationwide, but has lacked the sufficient staff and resources to adequately address farm workers' needs.

Specifically, the Voice for Farmworkers Act would reauthorize the Farmworker Coordinator position and expand its duties to allow the Coordinator to create recommendations for new initiatives and programs, conduct further outreach and research related to farm workers, and collaborate within the Department on programmatic and policy decisions related to farm workers. In addition, it would integrate additional entities for the Farmworker Coordinator to consult with such as institutions of higher education, local education agencies, and community-based nonprofit organizations.

Furthermore, the bill would allow the USDA to employ the staff necessary to assist the Farmworker Coordinator carry out their responsibilities to better meet the needs of our nation's farm workers.

In addition to Padilla, the bill is co-sponsored by Senators Booker, Gillibrand, Luján, Markey, Schiff, Warren, and Wyden.

The Voice for Farm Workers Act is endorsed by over 30 organizations including the AFL-CIO, UFW, UFCW, Farm Labor Organizing Committee, Farmworker Justice, LatinoJustice PRLDEF, League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), Legal Aid Justice Center, Union of Concerned Scientists, Alianza Campesinas, HEAL Food Alliance, and more.

Full text of the bill is available here.

Padilla is a longtime champion for farm workers and food system workers in California and across the country. Last year, Padilla and Senator Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) introduced bicameral legislation to provide disaster relief for farm workers. The Disaster Relief for Farm Workers Act would provide compensation for farm workers who lose out on wages due to extreme weather, public health emergencies, and other disasters beyond their control. In 2023, Padilla introduced the Supporting Farm Workers' Mental Health Act, bicameral legislation to improve peer-to-peer mental health services to address the behavioral health needs of farm workers.

###