Legislature allocates $10M to Oregon farmworkers who missed work due to extreme weather
After a summer where a farmworker died during a record-breaking heat wave, the Oregon Legislature has designated $10 million to farmworkers who miss work due to extreme heat or smoke.
Lawmakers during last week's special session allocated the money to the Oregon Worker Relief Coalition, a program that provides financial relief to undocumented Oregonians who have lost wages during the pandemic.
Employers often pay farmworkers by the amount they harvest, meaning many workers may feel pressured to earn as much money as possible during short seasons and may continue working in dangerous conditions, a point advocates made during last summer’s heat waves.
The $10 million infusion to the Oregon Worker Relief Coalition means farmworkers have more of a choice when it comes to working through days with high temperatures or poor air quality.
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Farmworkers’ average yearly earnings are between $20,000 and $24,999, according to the National Agricultural Workers’ Survey, and they are at least 20 times more likely than other workers to die of heat stress, according to the CDC.
“Our community comes from a line of really hard work, like ‘I got to work hard even in the most adverse circumstances’ because that’s how historically this work has been. But your health is really important and your body is really important,” said Martha Sonato, chair of the Oregon Worker Relief Coalition and political director at PCUN, Oregon’s farmworker union.
The money was part of a larger drought relief package, which designated $40 million in a forgivable loan program for farmers who suffered from drought and other natural disasters. Climate change is predicted to make disasters like heat waves more frequent.
Details on how the money will be administered are sparse at this point, Sonato said, but she anticipates eligibility will mirror that for the Oregon Worker Relief quarantine fund.
Farmworkers will likely be able to apply both if their employer sends them home on hot or smoky days and doesn’t compensate them, and if workers leave the fields voluntarily those days, she said. The weather fund will be open to all Oregon farmworkers.
The funds will also apply retroactively to people who stayed home on hot days last summer, Sonato said.
The coalition’s relief fund and quarantine fund, which provide financial support for workers who’ve lost wages due to the pandemic or had to miss work due to quarantining, respectively, have distributed about $85 million since June 2020, according to their most recent monthly reports.
The coalition also administers a small enterprise fund for business owners who were ineligible for the Paycheck Protection Program.
The relief and small enterprise funds have temporarily paused applications. The coalition plans to ask for an additional $60 million during February’s short legislative session, Sonato said.
The coalition’s distribution of the funds reflects the trust workers have in the program, Sonato said, which prompted Gov. Kate Brown’s office to propose the coalition distribute the $10 million for missing work due to extreme heat and smoke.
Some state agencies, such as Oregon Housing and Community Services, have struggled to disburse millions of dollars in pandemic relief.
“Governor Brown believes that all Oregonians should have access to measures that will help protect their health and their lives,” Liz Merah, a spokesperson for the governor, wrote in an email. “Following this year’s extreme heat events, statewide drought conditions, and another challenging wildfire season, it became clear that additional protections are needed for workers who may be impacted by these conditions.”
Oregon OSHA, the state’s workplace safety agency, enacted temporary rules protecting workers during high temperatures and smoke last summer, a choice worker advocates had called for long before Sebastian Francisco Perez died at St. Paul’s Ernst Nursery & Farms during the summer’s first heat wave. Some advocates have called the temporary heat rules the most protective in the nation.
The agency has general requirements on providing water, shade and breaks during extreme heat but no specific, detailed requirements, and is in the process of establishing permanent heat and smoke standards with input from growers, industry representatives and worker advocates.
A PCUN survey of Marion County farmworkers over the summer showed employer compliance with various parts of the temporary rules varied widely. For example, about half of people surveyed said their employer consistently gave them a paid 10-minute break every two hours when the heat index passed 90 degrees, while about 75% said their employer consistently provided shade in the break area.
Dora Totoian covers agricultural workers through Report for America, a program that aims to support local journalism and democracy by reporting on under-covered issues and communities.
You can reach her at dtotoian@statesmanjournal.com.
This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Legislature allocates $10M to farmworkers impacted by extreme weather
