Ben Tindall, Executive Director of Save Family Farming, prepared these remarks for the Washington State Senate Labor and Commerce Committee’s hearing today on Senate Bill 6045. The bill is part of a slate of measures that would roll out a flawed system of unionization and collective bargaining for farmworkers in Washington state.
“Farmworkers have the right to respect, fair treatment, and the opportunity to earn a living wage and this legislation would place those rights at risk.
“SB 6045 pushes a card-check process instead of free and fair secret-ballot voting. Secret ballots exist to protect individual choice and, when that protection is taken away, workers do not gain power. Self-interested organizations do.
“Workers should never be coerced or manipulated by employers. Workers should never be coerced or manipulated by unions. Card-check creates a system where farmworkers are treated as though they are not competent enough to make their own decisions, where their voice is given away to an organization, and where privacy and meaningful safeguards are removed.
“We support workers’ right to organize and advocate for their best interests. We are opposed to taking away a worker’s right to a free and fair vote and replacing it with a system ripe for coercion.
“We have seen how this plays out elsewhere. In California, there are documented reports of union misrepresentation and abuse of authority, including cases where migrant workers were pressured into signing cards under false pretenses.
“Good intentions do not guarantee good outcomes. Until safeguards are in place to ensure that farmworkers’ voices and rights are protected, I urge lawmakers to oppose Senate Bill 6045.”
Press Contact: Dillon Honcoop, dhoncoop@savefamilyfarming.org