Farm and migrant workers perform the most difficult, dangerous work in Virginia, yet receive some of the lowest wages in our Commonwealth. While Virginia passed a law to ensure that the Commonwealth’s workers receive a much-needed increase in the minimum wage in the 2020 General Assembly session, farmworkers were left behind from those protections.  This exemption has historically racist roots, and Virginia needs to remove this exemption as tangible proof that Black and Brown Lives matter in the workplace.  Even worse, the General Assembly added an exemption for workers on H-2 visas in the 2020 session. Passing that exemption is a step in the wrong direction.  This year, Virginia’s General Assembly should remove these exemptions.   

Also, farmworkers and migrant workers in the Commonwealth toil in harsh heat without required breaks and mandated cold water on the jobsite. This increases the risk of heat exhaustion, stroke, and injury. As the temperature rises every year, Virginia should pass comprehensive, enforceable heat stress protections for all workers in Virginia.  

Fill out the form below to call or email your legislators and ask them to support these bills!