Virginia Democrats are hoping that their new grasp on legislative power in the state — including the governor’s office — will allow them to push through a new minimum-wage bill focusing on currently exempt farm workers. This is the third time in as many years that the bill has been introduced, but only the first time it doesn’t risk a veto at the highest level.
Virginia’s minimum wage is $12.77 an hour, but farm laborers and employees have been excluded from the Virginia Minimum Wage Act since it was adopted in 1975. That said, they still must meet the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, which requires employers to pay at least $7.25 per hour.
Advocates for these workers, however, say that many workers don’t get their fair share and blame larger ag operations for being the stingiest with pay.
“This bill is supposed to target the bad actors that are paying some of the lowest wages to some of the hardest workers who can’t even afford to put the food that they harvest on their own table,” Del. Adele McClure, according to The Virginia Mercury. “This would ensure that they could afford to work and support their families and themselves.”
McClure has introduced the House version of the bill, H.B. 20, while state Sen. Jennifer Carroll Foy introduced S.B. 121, which is that chamber’s version. H.B. 20 has already passed the House and is being considered by the Senate. If the legislation is enacted, fines would be extremely modest — between $10 and $200 against the employers.
As much as anything, the effort to push this through seems more about “making a statement” than it does effecting real change in the wage system.
“I’ve spoken with a vast amount of farmers, large and small, and a lot of small farmers support this bill because they wouldn’t dream of paying anything below $15 an hour,” McClure said. “They need those workers. They depend on those workers, and they can’t afford not to have that work.”
Critics to the bill are outspoken, arguing that this will make things more expensive on the consumer end.
According to TV station WSET, Del. Wendell Walker, who voted against the bill, said, “Increasing the wages, the minimum wage, that is gonna be passed on to the consumer, which means you’re gonna be paying more when you go to the grocery store, or whatever the products are that you’re going to be purchasing.”
