Farmworkers will get minimum wage but rights expansion fails

By Andy O’Brien

On June 10 Governor Janet Mills signed into law legislation to extend the state minimum wage to farmworkers. On June 23 she vetoed legislation that would have given agricultural workers certain protected rights in the workplace.

The amended version of LD 589, “An Act to Establish a State Minimum Hourly Wage for Agricultural Workers,” sponsored by Sen. Rachel Talbot Ross (D-Cumberland) will require that agricultural workers be paid at least the state’s minimum hourly wage of $14.65 per hour. It also requires that farmworkers receive annual cost of living adjustments to keep up with inflation. Overtime pay will be required as well. The Maine Senate voted 22-12 and the House voted 74-72 to pass LD 589, which represented a deal struck between farmworker advocates, legislators, the Governor’s office, and agricultural interests. The Act will go into effect January 1, 2026.

Currently, farmworkers are not eligible for the state minimum wage and are not entitled to overtime when working over 40 hours a week. This is because nearly 90 years ago, farmworkers were exempted from wage and overtime protections in the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. A disproportionately large share of Black, Latino, and Indigenous Mainers work in farming. Farmworkers earned 40 percent less than nonagricultural workers in 2022. About one-quarter of Maine farmhands live in poverty, and are roughly 4.5 times as likely to live below the poverty line as other Maine workers.

On June 23, Governor Mills vetoed LD 588, “An Act to Enact the Agricultural Employees Concerted Activity Protection Act,” which would have expanded rights for agricultural workers. The veto passed the Senate without a roll call. Passage would have given farmworkers rights most other workers already have – such as to discuss wages, working conditions, and terms of employment amongst themselves, and to publicize complaints about wages and workplace issues without fear of retaliation from their employer. In addition, passage would have permitted farmworkers to take legal action and participate in investigations of workplace complaints without fear of intimidation or retaliation.

It will take two thirds of the Legislature to override the Governor’s veto, which is unlikely because Republicans voted against the bill.

In her veto message Mills noted that she vetoed a similar bill last session, and LD 588 is “substantially identical” to the previous bill. She argued that farms are facing increasing financial pressure due to climate change, PFAS contamination of farmland, and inflation, and noted that Maine has lost more than 1,100 farms since 2012.

“Against this background, I cannot subject our farmers to a complicated new set of labor laws that will require a lawyer to understand,” the Governor wrote.

Rep. Amy Roeder (D-Dist. 23, Bangor), the co-chair of the Labor Committee, said she was disappointed in Governor Mills’ veto of LD 588, but not surprised since she has vetoed farmworker rights legislation for five consecutive years. She said that her committee heard from “countless farmers about how well they treat their employees, how they pay more than the state minimum wage because they value their workers, how they look forward to seeing the same workers come back year after year.”

Roeder continued, “When asked if they had any objections to their workers being protected for discussing working conditions and wages, we heard the same response more than once: ‘I don’t mind. I’m not afraid of my employees.’ If the farmers who testified aren’t worried about this modest protection, then I have to wonder if it’s just the Governor who’s worried.”