Protecting Ag Workers Pt 1
I’m Bob Larson. Questions about the health and safety of ag workers in our state are still making the rounds as harvest seasons begin to ramp up in the tree fruit industry.
Different sources make different claims about the number of COVID cases among the workforce and the severity.
I asked Washington State Tree Fruit Association president, Jon DeVaney if some of the more dire claims by unions and activists are reasonable …
DeVANEY … “When you’re talking about people’s health, there is a strong tendency to very strongly state your case. But, I would just argue that the rules that are in place are effective when we’re following them and everyone is doing the absolute best that they can under these circumstances, both employers and government, and that does not mean that there is not continued room for improvement in some areas as we learn more.”
But, DeVaney says it’s a slippery slope …
DeVANEY … “I don’t want to create alarm among people that don’t work in agricultural communities to think that people are not taking this seriously when they clearly are. And, there’s a lot of measure that are in place to protect farmers and farm workers. That’s why there are very specific ag rules when there are not similar kinds of industry-specific rules for a lot of other sectors just because there’s so much concern for keeping the population safe.”
Tune in tomorrow for more on ag worker safety during the pandemic and steps the government is taking to help.
