Op-Ed: Is Sen. Saldaña more worried about ‘climate resiliency’ than helping struggling farmworkers?

A new proposal claiming to ease the burden of new state agricultural overtime rules is moving forward in the Washington State Senate, despite the fact that it would fail to put money back into farmworkers’ pockets. At the same time, the bill’s main sponsor has refused meetings with workers and blocked other measures that would directly benefit them.

State Sen. Rebecca Saldaña, D-Seattle, proposed Senate Bill 5722, which would create a new state grant to pay a narrowly-defined group of farms for their overtime costs. But the bill’s language states that the grant money is for things like "climate and disaster resiliency," reducing transportation pollution, and strengthening "food sovereignty." The proposed measure’s description lacks any mention of providing relief for farmworkers who have lost income as a result of the state’s new agricultural overtime law, which Saldaña supported in 2021.

“What does any of this have to do with recovering from skyrocketing labor costs and putting more money back in the pockets of farmworkers?” asked Ben Tindall, executive director of Save Family Farming. “The answer is, it doesn’t. This proposal is a virtue-signaling sleight-of-hand that helps no one – except politicians looking for talking points.”

Farmworkers rallied at the Washington State Capitol and across the state both this year and last year. They described having to seek second and third jobs thanks to smaller paychecks resulting from the new state ag overtime rules. Saldaña, earlier this year, rebuffed requests from farmworkers wanting to meet with her to explain their plight and request relief from the new state-enforced economic burden.

Not only did Saldaña refuse to meet with farmworkers, she blocked the very measure those workers pointed to as a real solution for their struggle. Senate Bill 5487 would have allowed farmworkers to earn more money during busy seasons by temporarily increasing overtime thresholds. But as chair of the state Senate Labor & Commerce Committee where the bill was brought forward, Saldaña refused to hold a hearing on it or allow it to move forward.

“If legislators want to actually support farmworkers, they could start by listening to them – and stop playing political games with their livelihoods,” said Tindall.

Dillon Honcoop is communications director of Save Family Farming, an organization that advocates for family farmers in Washington state. The organization educates the public about family farming, and works to protect the state's family farming community.