Resolution 994 – against HB 1750, end agricultural special circumstance labor abuse
Resolution Against HB 1750, authorizing an agricultural employer to select any 12 weeks in a calendar year as special circumstance weeks for labor demand, during which in each of the selected 12 weeks, the agricultural employer may employ agricultural employees for up to 50 hours before the requirement to pay overtime applies under RCW 49.46.130.
WHEREAS Washington’s agricultural industry generates over seven billion dollars in economic activity and employs more than 100,000 people per year, and
WHEREAS Washington’s agricultural sector has been challenged by global market shifts, climate change, COVID-19, and consolidation, and needs to be a thriving part of our state’s economy, and
WHEREAS Washington’s Farmworkers are essential to the viability and vitality of the agricultural sector and deserve full protection under the law, and efforts to support Farmers to transition to providing more just and sustainable workplaces, however well intentioned, should not be implemented on the backs of Farmworkers, and
WHEREAS The 40 hour workweek is one of the most essential victories of the Labor Movement and is vital in protecting workers, and the Washington State Democrats’ Platform calls for reducing the workweek even further down to 32 hours, and
WHEREAS Washington became one of the first states in the country to create a 40 hour work week for Farmworkers with the passage of ESSB 5172 in 2021, and HB 1750 would undo this progress by allowing employers to select any 12 weeks in a calendar year to deny Farmworkers overtime pay, and
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED That the Washington State Democratic Central Committee opposes HB 1750 and urges Democrats in the Washington State Legislature to vote against HB 1750.
THEREFORE, BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED That a copy of this resolution shall be sent to each member of the Washington State Legislature.