Agricultural Worker Justice Act: Safety, Fair Pay, and Accountability in Food Production.
This legislation introduces sweeping changes to protect agricultural and meatpacking workers by mandating new safety standards, particularly concerning ergonomics and production line speeds. It also imposes strict requirements on companies receiving federal contracts, ensuring prevailing wages are paid and prohibiting stock buybacks. Crucially, it strengthens anti-retaliation measures, giving workers the right to sue employers directly for safety violations.
Key points
Enhanced Workplace Safety: Mandates new ergonomic standards and prohibits increasing line speeds in meatpacking plants without certification that worker safety will not be harmed.
Stronger Anti-Retaliation: Significantly increases protections for workers reporting hazards, including a ban on threatening to report a worker's immigration status as retaliation.
Fair Federal Contracts: Companies selling food products to the government must pay prevailing local wages and are barred from using federal funds for stock buybacks.
Worker Rights: Requires prompt access to toilet facilities without penalty and prohibits "no fault" attendance policies from penalizing legally protected leave.
Expired
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