New law will give Maine farmworkers more rights

By Elizabeth Walztoni, Bangor Daily News Staff

A bill setting a state minimum wage for Maine farmworkers was signed into law on June 10.

Agricultural workers have long been exempted from the labor protections extended to most employees, and similar bills have been proposed over the past two years, with supporters arguing that they would correct historical injustices.

Now, with the approval of the legislation, Maine joins more than 20 other states with minimum wage laws for farmworkers, according to the National Agricultural Law Center, although some of those have exemptions. Previously, farm employees in Maine only had to be paid the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, unchanged since 2009. They will now make $14.65 per hour starting on Jan. 1 with annual cost-of-living adjustments. 

“We are not just catching up — we are affirming that no one should be paid poverty wages to do essential work,” said Sen. Rachel Talbot Ross, D-Cumberland, who sponsored the minimum wage bill. “Our laws now better reflect our values.”

In written testimony on the bill and another that hasn’t been signed yet — which would allow farmworkers to organize for concerted activity — some farmers said they already offer workers above minimum wage, but they argued that requiring overtime wouldn’t make sense with the unpredictable and time-sensitive nature of farming.