Rep. Salinas wants to extend disaster relief for farm workers
WASHINGTON (Gray DC) - Some lawmakers in Washington want to make sure farm workers get paid if a natural disaster strikes.
According to the USDA, nearly 2.5 million people work on our country’s farms and ranches. The government says these workers are essential to our society and were designated as such during the pandemic. However, the United Farm Workers union argues they are often treated as disposable.
“More than half are likely undocumented immigrants. And so this is a population that despite being indispensable to producing the food that all of us enjoy on our tables every day are largely excluded from, kind of mainstream American society, excluded from political rights, from many labor laws,” said communications director Antonio De Loera.
De Loera said the workforce is predominantly made up of immigrants living paycheck to paycheck working in conditions ranging from blizzards to scorching heat. And when disaster strikes, there are longstanding federal programs to protect farmers but not their workers.
“If we see an ice storm or some kind of heat wave where they’re unable to work or wildfires because of the natural disaster, they’re out of income,” said Rep. Andrea Salinas (D-Ore.).
Democrats like Salinas want to change that. She has introduced the Disaster Relief for Farm Workers Act. The bill would allow direct relief to be available for farmworkers and ensure the USDA works with them to get the help they need.
Salinas said, “This would allow farmers to not work when it’s dangerous to work and to be out there and to still have income, to be able to put food on the table or to make sure they have shelter over their heads. And the growers can’t do this on their own.”
Salinas said her hope is to beef up enthusiasm in the House for when the chamber goes to conference committee with the Senate. She feels there will be bipartisan support for her proposal because growers need the relief just as much as workers.
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