The Fairness for Farmworkers Coalition applauds favorable report from the Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development for Fairness for Farmworkers Act ("FFA") bill H.2018

For Immediate Release

February 09, 2026

Contact:

Claudia Quintero, Esq. Director, Central West Justice Center, cquintero@cwjustice.org

Maya McCann, Esq.Staff Attorney Central West Justice Center, mmccann-som@cwjustice.org

Claudia RosalesExecutive Director, Pioneer Valley Workers Center (Spanish), claudia@pvworkerscenter.org

The Fairness for Farmworkers Coalition applauds favorable report from the Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development for Fairness for Farmworkers Act ("FFA") bill H.2018 An Act Establishing Fairness for Agricultural Laborers

January 2026, the Massachusetts State House Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development favorably reported bill H.2018, An Act Establishing Fairness for Agricultural Laborers in Massachusetts, one of the bills that comprises the Fairness for Farmworkers Act, out of its committee taking a much-needed step toward ending the exclusion of Massachusetts farmworkers from basic wage and hour protections.

The Fairness for Farmworkers Coalition, a coalition of farmworkers, advocates, and labor and community organizations across Massachusetts, celebrate the committee’s actions and thank House Chair Rep. Paul McMurtry and the entirety of the committee for their support.

H.2108, sponsored State Representatives Carlos Gonzalez and Frank Moran, will significantly improve the lives of farmworkers and their families.

Farmwork is skilled, difficult, and essential work. In Massachusetts, much of the food residents buy comes from local farms. Farmworkers work very long hours in challenging conditions to bring these fresh, local products to our tables. Unfortunately, the Massachusetts law excludes farmworkers from critical labor protections like the right to earn the state minimum wage of $15/hour, to earn overtime pay, to a day of rest, or to comprehensive and effective protections from extreme conditions like heat, sun, pesticides, and long hours of repetitive labor.

H. 2108 aims to remedy these exclusions by:

1. abolishing the agricultural subminimum wage of $8/hour for farmworkers and entitling farmworkers to the state minimum wage of $15/hour;

2. entitling farmworkers to two paid breaks on either side of the lunch break when working eight or more hours in a day; and

3. providing farmworkers with the ability to earn up to 55 hours of paid time off.

Farmwork is skilled, difficult, essential labor performed under extreme conditions; farmworkers deserve fair treatment and wages. “The state of affairs for such an essential workforce – farmworkers – in Massachusetts is a moral failure, farmworkers are exempt from the state minimum wage and deserve to be dignified with a livable wage and strong workers’ protections,” says Claudia Quintero, co-lead of the Fairness for Farmworkers Coalition and Director of the Central West Justice Center.  “The time has come to eliminate the $8.00/hr. subminimum wage that has been inscribed in our laws for far too long.”

H.2108 is part of a package of bills collectively referred to as the Fairness for Farmworkers Act (FFA), including S.2012/H.2108 “An Act Establishing Fairness for Agricultural Laborers,” and S.2011/H. 3107 “An Act Relative to Overtime for Agricultural Laborers,” sponsored by State Representatives Carlos Gonzalez and Frank Moran, and State Senators Adam Gomez and Jamie Eldridge, that together guarantee critical workplace rights for farmworkers.

In addition to the improvements created by H.2108, the FFA will also:

1. allow farmworkers to earn overtime pay after working 55 hours in a week - with limited exception for certain secondary work in indoor, controlled environments for which workers will continue to be entitled to overtime after 40 hours; and

2. provide a refundable tax credit to farm employers to offset a portion of the cost of the overtime wages paid.

   
   

Often on the front lines of climate crises like floods and heat waves, farmworkers are directly impacted by changing weather patterns.  Where others can recoup losses, farmworkers are often forgotten, or worse lose their jobs if crops cannot be harvested. Because farm work requires strenuous labor in hot temperatures, often without sufficient water, rest, or shade, “farmworkers are at critical risk for heat stroke and illnesses related to excess heat. Frequent breaks for hydration are necessary in these times,” says Dr. Norbert Goldfield, Attending Physician at Baystate Medical Center (Baystate). The FFA will provide farmworkers with paid breaks during which farmworkers may rest, drink water, use the restroom facilities, and cool-down in the shade.

Despite their essential labor, farmworker families experience severe poverty at twice the rate of other families in Massachusetts. Farmworkers often struggle with housing and food insecurity – sometimes unable to purchase the very foods they grow and harvest. Further, farmworkers are not entitled to a day of rest, often working seven days a week. By ensuring that farmworkers receive these fundamental wage and hour rights, the FFA will improve farmworkers’ wages, enabling them to purchase nutritious food, and better positioning them to be able to afford and maintain safe and stable housing. H.2108, will allow workers the ability to take time off to rest and recover from the strenuous work of laboring in the field, without losing wages that they very much rely on to survive. 

“Our farmworker community is grateful to Senator Gomez, Representative Gonzalez, Representative Moran, and Senator Eldridge for their full support on [these bills], for seeing our circumstances and standing with us as we try to achieve recognition and respect for farmworkers here in Massachusetts and set an example for other states across our nation,” said the Executive Director of the Pioneer Valley Workers Center.

As H. 2108 moves forward into the next step for consideration of becoming a law, the Fairness for Farmworkers Coalition hopes to receive similar support and favorable reports on the remaining three bills that comprise the Fairness for Farmworkers Act which are before the Joint Committee on Revenue.

To learn more about the FFA and other ways to get involved in the campaign, please visit the coalition website:https://www.fairnessforfarmworkersma.org/.