CFB…TAKE ACTION: SB21-87: Agricultural Workers’ Rights Must be AMENDED
As it stands, this bill goes above and beyond protecting employees, making it nearly impossible for farmers and ranchers to stay in business.
Next week, SB21-87: Agricultural Workers’ Rights will be heard on the floor of the Senate. This bill is a failed attempt to protect workers, creating needless, rigid, unrealistic standards that will decimate family farms and ranches, reduce workers’ paychecks and kill jobs across Colorado.
Workers deserve safe and dignified working conditions, but this bill goes too far, addressing issues like overtime, unionization, employee housing requirements and competing regulatory rules.
In your message, please include a personal story that shows how this bill will affect you. Here are some examples of what your message may say:
- Overtime rules need to be flexible, allowing my business to save crops or animals from severe weather like blizzards, freezing temperatures or hail.
- My farm/ranch has to stay a competitive employer in my community. To do that, as an employer I treat my employees with the utmost respect and care. This bill goes above and beyond reasonable standards, making it difficult to keep the employees I have, let alone recruit someone new.
- H2A employment rules are already incredibly strict. This bill creates confusing regulations that complete with federal laws already in place, making it difficult if not impossible to comply with.
- The employee housing requirements in this bill are excessive, creating costly and burdensome requirements that I cannot afford.
- The costs associated with this bill would put my business over the edge. The inflexible standards mandated in this bill will make it incredibly difficult to continue to retain my current workforce.
- There are times during the year when a labor strike would mean crops go to waste and animals are left in danger, a serious and unnecessary consequence.
- All of agriculture needs to have a voice in this process. Right now, this bill does not do that. Our policymakers can and should do better and amend this bill to create a system that works for everyone throughout the entire industry.
We need a system that works for ALL of agriculture. Tell the our senators to amend SB21-87, right now it would devastate Colorado agriculture.
