BANGOR DAILY NEWS • May 30, 2022
The prevalence of exploitation in agricultural labor, while disheartening, is not surprising given the fact that farmworkers were left out of the Fair Labor Standards Act and the National Labor Relations Act passed in the 1930s. In Maine, there have been attempts by state representative Thom Harnett to correct some of these wrongs through two bills he fought to get approved. One bill would have allowed farmworkers in Maine to organize for the purpose of collective bargaining, and the other would have made agricultural employees subject to state wage and hour laws, meaning workers would be covered by state minimum wage requirements and would be paid overtime as employees in other sectors are. Unfortunately, neither bill became law. These bills could have been concrete steps toward better protecting migrant farmworkers in Maine. ~ Crystal Guzman, student, College of the Atlantic