After several weeks of strikes by workers at six fruit-packing facilities in Yakima, Washington, and a number of outbreaks of COVID-19 in food production and processing plants, state officials have demanded stronger protections for agricultural workers.
The new protections, which governor Jay Inslee announced on May 28 and which take effect June 3, require agricultural employers to provide all workers with personal protective equipment at no cost, ensure physical distancing or barriers between workers when distancing is not possible, place hand-washing stations at regular intervals among workers, and implement sanitation and distancing on employer-provided transportation.
The requirements expand on a prior guidance which worker advocates had criticized because it was voluntary and confusing, according to a lawsuit brought against the state by three unions on April 15. The May 28 announcement applies to orchards, farms, dairies, fruit and vegetable packing houses, and employer-provided transportation and housing, but not to meatpacking plants or other food processing facilities.
There have been nearly 500 cases of COVID-19 among Yakima’s agricultural workers during the pandemic. Latinos comprise over 60 percent of the COVID-19 cases in Yakima County, which has the highest infection rate and second-highest number of cases in Washington State.
Source: thefern.org
