Ag Overtime Bill Dead Pt 2
From the Ag Information Network, I’m Bob Larson with today’s Fruit Grower Report. Any changes to Washington’s ag overtime laws will have to wait until the next session, right before it transitions to the 40-hour max before overtime kicks in.
Pam Lewison, Center of Agriculture Director at the Washington Policy Center, says there isn’t much time left or a lot of will in the legislators we have to push something across the line …
LEWISON … “The trouble when you have a super-majority is that you don’t have the opportunity sometimes to sit down with those people and say, we need you to look at this from a different perspective than maybe you’re used to.”
Lewison says we all need to reach out to those legislators from outside the ag community and ask to be heard …
LEWISON … “And I think in particular, I think about all of those Spanish-speaking people who signed up to testify saying I need to work more, I want more hours, I support this piece of legislation because it gives me the opportunity to be a one-income household.”
And that, Lewison says, should be enough …
LEWISON … “To see this line of people saying, it’s important to me to be able to work the hours I want to work, to be able to choose my income fate. That’s what we need to see more of. Are those folks feeling like they’re empowered enough to speak out and say, what you’re doing is taking money from me and from my family.”
Lewison says getting this message across is critical for Washington agriculture.
