21.340 A Resolution in Support of the Fairness to Farmworkers Act
City of Northampton
MASSACHUSETTS
In the City Council, October 7, 2021
Upon the Recommendation of: Councilor Rachel Maiore, Councilor Marianne
LaBarge, and Councilor Michael J. Quinlan, Jr.
R-21.340 A RESOLUTION IN SUPPORT OF THE FAIRNESS TO FARMWORKERS ACT
WHEREAS, Farming in the Commonwealth is a vibrant part of our state
economy, providing consumers with healthy local food options, preserving open
land, supporting our local economy and reducing our carbon footprint, and;
WHEREAS, Hampshire County has 692 farms on 50,644 acres1; 213 of these
farms hire farmworkers, with a total of 1,267 farmworkers employed in the
County2, and;
WHEREAS, Farmworkers in Massachusetts are at present denied the wage and
hour protections provided to other workers, miring farmworkers and their
families in unjust work and living conditions. Twice as many farmworker families
now live in severe poverty as compared to other families3, and;
WHEREAS, Farmworkers additionally face unique workplace hazards and
health concerns resulting from long work hours, exposure to pesticides and a
physically demanding, fast-paced work environment. Agricultural workers,
alongside those in the fishing industry, experience the highest rate of
occupational fatalities in Massachusetts4, and;
1 MA Department Of Agric. Res., Agric. Res. And Statistics: Statistics On Agric. In Ma (2021)
2 U.S.Dep’t Of Agric., 2017 Census Of Agriculture Massachusetts State And County Data 7, 9, 88
(2019)
3 Connecticut River Valley Farmworker Health Program Demographics Report, Conn. River Valley
Farmworker Health Program (Mar. 1, 2021)
4 Mass.Dep’t Of Pub.Health, Fatal Injuries At Work Massachusetts Fatality Update 2016-2017 2
(2019)
WHEREAS, Despite the elevated health and safety risks farmworkers face,
many farmworkers in the Commonwealth lack benefits and resources to help
address health issues. For example, 88% of Massachusetts farmworkers surveyed
by the Pioneer Valley Workers Center reported that their employers did not offer
paid sick days 5 and approximately 80% of the Connecticut River Valley
Farmworker Health Program’s Massachusetts farmworker patients did not have
health insurance in 2019,6 and;
WHEREAS, Farmworkers in Massachusetts are overwhelmingly immigrants
originating from Latin America, and;
WHEREAS, The longstanding exclusion of farmworkers from our state’s
minimum wage and overtime protections – afforded to virtually all other
employees, including other essential workers– is part of a national legacy of
structural racism and inequality, based in the exclusion of farm work from the
national landmark workplace legislation of the 1930s to allow for the continued
economic exploitation of African American farmworkers, and;
WHEREAS, Massachusetts law should not permit a disproportionately
immigrant and Black and Latino workforce to earn a poverty-inducing wage that is
40% lower than the current state minimum wage, essentially relegating
farmworkers to a second-class employee status under the wage and hour law of
Massachusetts, and;
WHEREAS, The Fairness for Farmworkers Act, (S1205, H1979):
1) sets the wage for farmworkers at the state minimum wage,
2) provides overtime pay for all farmworkers. Seasonal farmworkers will receive
one and a half times their normal rate of pay for work performed in excess of
fifty-five (55) hours in a week,
3) establishes the right to a day of rest each week for seasonal farmworkers,
providing overtime pay at time and a half for workers who elect to work on that
day of rest, and;
5 169 Letter from Pioneer Valley Workers Center, Initial Survey Results (Feb. 2020)
6 Connecticut River Valley Farmworker Health Program Demographics Report, Conn. River Valley
Farmworker Health Program (Mar. 1, 2021)
WHEREAS, The Fairness for Farmworkers Act has been endorsed by the
Fairness for Farmworkers Coalition comprised of leading organizations such as
ACLU of Massachusetts, Central West Justice Center, Massachusetts Immigrant
and Refugee Advocacy (MIRA) Coalition, Massachusetts Law Reform Institute,
Massachusetts AFL-CIO, Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety and
Health (MassCOSH), Pioneer Valley Workers Center Western Massachusetts,
Western Massachusetts Area Labor Federation, Massachusetts United Food and
Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 1459, and;
WHEREAS, The elimination of the substandard farmworker wage is sound
economic policy that will benefit the entire state.7 A recent report published by
the University of Massachusetts Political Economy Research Institute, (PERI),
indicates that changes proposed by the Fairness for Farmworkers Act would result
in a nominal increase for most farms’ annual production costs,8and;
NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the City Council of Northampton hereby
endorses The Fairness for Farmworkers Act, and asks the State Legislature to
move to its passage with all deliberate speed.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Administrative Assistant to the City Council
shall send a copy of this Resolution to bill sponsors Senators Adam Gomez and
Adam Hinds and Representatives Carlos Gonzalez and Paul Mark, The Fairness for
Farmworkers Coalition, Governor Charles Baker, Attorney General Maura Healey,
Representative Lindsay Sabadosa, and State Senator Jo Comerford.
7 Trish Hernandez & Susan Gabbard, Findings From The National Agricultural Workers Survey
(Naws) 2015-2016: A Demographic And Employment Profile Of United States Farmworkers 36
(2018)
8 Jeannette Wicks-Lim, Estimates Of The Potential Benefits And Costs Of Extending Overtime
Eligibility To All Farmworkers In Massachusetts 6 (2020)