COVID CHANGES Pt 1
I’m Bob Larson. Two of our state’s most influential ag groups have petitioned Governor Inslee to repeal the emergency COVID housing restrictions for seasonal farmworkers, in the wake of new CDC advice on masks and social distancing.
Washington Farm Bureau CEO John Stuhlmiller says agriculture has proven we know how to keep workers safe …
STUHLMILLER … “High vaccinations rates, which we have nearly 100% vaccination of H-2A workers coming in and everybody else is getting vaccinated just like the rest of the population. And so, why not just let us operate. And, we’ve heard nothing yet.”
And, Stuhlmiller says the emergency restrictions aren’t really science-based …
STUHLMILLER … “We had all these health and safety standards in place and we ran a pretty healthy workplace. And then came the COVID and we arbitrarily said, you can use half of your housing, you know, you can’t congregate around your cooking facilities, etc. So, we just mixed things together, mixed and matched where we wanted. And it wasn’t really fully science-based, it was opinion-based.”
As to when they expect the Governor’s decision …
STUHLMILLER … “So, I don’t when they’re going to give us more information, but June 30 is when, you know, the mask mandate is over. So, will we hear anything before June 30? We should.”
Tune in tomorrow for more on the Farm Bureau and WAFLA’s request and why a change just makes sense.
