worker safety

Jon DeVanney, Executive Director of the Washington state Tree Fruit Association, talks about efforts this summer to keep workers safe during record heat. If you have a story idea for the PNW Ag Network, call (509) 547-1618, or e-mail gvaagen@cherrycreekmedia... Read More ...

A farm as well as a labor contractor under investigation after a farmworker died Saturday from heat related issues. Oregon OSHA has opened an investigation into Ernst Nursery and Farms and Brother Farm Labor Contractor after a Guatemalan man, Sebastian Francisco Perez, 38, died while working in the fields at the St ...

When the Washington Supreme court ruled in November that farm workers should receive time-and-a-half pay for work over 40 hours per week, it opened a bit of a Pandora’s Box. In their ruling, the High Court did not indicate if farm workers could seek retroactive pay for the previous three years, which has already triggered several lawsuits against the dairy industry. Cur ...

This was a difficult year for Oregon farmers, but not just because of the coronavirus pandemic. Oregon Farm Bureau President Barb Iverson said the year started off with a difficult legislative session in Salem that focused on climate change, and taxing small businesses ...

Because of the coronavirus pandemic, 2020 has been a year with more questions than answers for the Ag industry across the Northwest and across the country. And as farm county looks ahead to 2021 and the hope of life after the pandemic new questions arise ...

Environmental groups say the EPA should not renew over-the-top dicamba use without further independent research. A new report from the National Wildlife Federation and others suggest dicamba herbicides "pose serious threats to wild plants and the wildlife that depend upon them ...

The Department of Agriculture says U.S. meatpacking facilities are operating at more than 95% of average capacity when compared to 2019. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue applauded the data, attributing the operations to the safe reopening of the facilities ...

Farmers across Washington are under new coronavirus guidelines, via Governor Jay Inslee’s Proclamation 20-57. Many in the Ag community are not happy with the new guidelines, or the way they were established. Bre Elsey, Director of Government Affairs with the Washington Farm Bureau said one of the biggest challenges will be wash station requirements, especially in the state’s tree fruit industry

Negotiations between two Yakima packing companies and their employees are at a standstill over compensation. Employees at Matson Fruit and Columbia Reach Fruit have demanded higher pay since the strikes started last month. According to the Yakima Herald-Republic Matson Fruit co-owner and company manager Jordan Matson said the company has focused on expanding safety measures in response to Procl

Senate Democrats want Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue to provide more worker safety protection to meat processing employees. A group of 29 Senators, led by Democrat Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, penned a letter to Perdue outlining recommendations for ways the Department of Agriculture should improve worker safety ...