Enshrining farm workers’ collective bargaining rights in WA

Recently introduced legislation would empower more farm workers to win their unions and protect their right to organize

OLYMPIA, WA (January 16, 2025) — A bill to affirm and protect farmworker collective bargaining is set to be heard in the Washington state Senate next week. Led by farm worker unions Familias Unidas por la Justicia and the United Farm Workers, SB 6045 is a significant step forward in the generations-long fight to secure equal labor rights for farm workers.

Introduced by State Sen. Rebecca Saldaña, the legislation affirms collective bargaining rights for farm workers within Washington and retains the right to strike. SB 6045 prohibits employers from interfering with farmworker organizing and bargaining, with enforcement mechanisms through the state’s established Public Employment Relations Commission and Washington courts. It also establishes processes for certifying exclusive bargaining representatives and requires that procedures related to organizing and bargaining are speedy and provided in the appropriate languages for the workers.

“This bill is about fairness, dignity, and giving farmworkers a seat at the table,” said Saldaña, who chairs the Senate Labor & Commerce Committee. “For too long, agricultural workers have faced unique challenges that make it difficult to organize and advocate for themselves. This bill ensures these workers have the same fundamental labor protections and collective bargaining rights as workers in other industries.” 

Some states, like California and New York already empower farm workers with laws protecting collective bargaining rights. In these states, farm workers have successfully organized and won their unions, collectively bargaining contracts to improve working conditions.

Recent actions at the federal level make a protected right to organize all the more essential. Last fall, the Trump administration released new rules concerning H-2A visa worker wages that farm worker unions say will lower wages for all agricultural workers. But a union contract can stop that race to the bottom in pay, like the collective bargaining agreement just secured by farm workers at a New York apple producer.

For farm workers in Washington, this legislation is long overdue. Take the case of mushroom workers at Windmill Farms in Sunnyside. For years, workers have organized together, repeatedly indicating majority support for a union. But without a mechanism in state law enshrining workers’ right to collectively bargain, the employer has been able to ignore their intent to collectively bargain. Windmill management has repeatedly engaged in retaliatory and harassing behavior against workers; so long as the employer can deny workers a union, the working conditions that dehumanize and endanger farm workers continue.

SB 6045 targets this power imbalance that strongly favors agricultural employers.

“Every worker in this country deserves the right to collectively bargain their working conditions. Farm workers feed our families; yet despite their essential labor, farm workers have been denied this most basic of rights, excluded from federal labor laws that protect other employees,” said WSLC President April Sims. “SB 6045 rights this historic wrong for Washington’s farm workers.”

SB 6045 will be heard in the Senate Labor & Commerce Committee at 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, January 20.

TAKE A STAND: register your support for farm workers by signing in ‘PRO’ on SB 6045 today. Three quick steps to sign-in:

1. Click here
2. Under “Position” Select PRO
3. Enter your name and information