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CapitalPress.com
Friday, February 11, 2022
Overtime: ‘I have to be honest, I can’t make it pencil’
Continued from Page 1
“We will not be able to absorb the
costs this would incur,” said Molly
McCargar, who farms near Gervais,
Ore. “I have to be honest, I can’t make
it pencil.”
Proponents of House Bill 4002
argued the agricultural overtime exemp-
tion is “explicitly racist” and must end
to ensure fairness for farmworkers
while protecting their health and safety.
“Farmworkers are treated as dispos-
able,” said Miguel Carlo-Sosa, a farm-
worker. “We are not disposable. We
deserve fair pay.”
Under HB 4002, growers would be
required to pay overtime after 55 hours
per week in 2023. After two years, the
weekly threshold would drop to 48
hours, and then to 40 hours beginning
in 2027.
Farmers would be eligible for tax
credits to compensate them for the
added labor expenses. The rate would
decrease from 50% to 20% over six
years, ending after 2028.
Under a proposed amendment to
the bill, the tax credits would shift from
75% to 15% of overtime expenses for
smaller farmers and from 60% to 15%
for larger farm employers.
As California has ended its over-
time exemption for agriculture,
migrant workers are coming to Ore-
gon earlier in the year to earn added
Andrea Johnson
Farmers overwhelmingly opposed
a bill to end Oregon’s agricultural
overtime exemption during a leg-
islative hearing Feb. 8 despite pro-
posed tax credits to help with the
transition.
income, McCargar said.
“They appreciate the opportunity
to earn a little extra they can’t when
they’re at home,” she said.
The bill would likely prompt farm-
workers to simply switch between oper-
ations after reaching the weekly cap,
rather than working longer hours for the
same farm at a higher rate, said Doug
Krahmer, a blueberry farmer based in
St. Paul, Ore.
“It will cause increased mobility of
workers,” he said.
Supporters of HB 4002 argued that
farm organizations have similarly pre-
dicted dire consequences from paid
employee leave and minimum wage
increases.
Despite those claims, the value
of Oregon’s agricultural output has
increased in recent years, said Gordon
Lafer, a professor at the University of
Oregon who studies labor policy.
Likewise, California has ended the
agricultural overtime exemption with-
out suff ering large-scale job losses, as
predicted by opponents, he said.
Limits on weekly hours largely hav-
en’t materialized in California — farm-
worker hours have declined but remain
over 40 hours weekly on average, said
Paul Sonn, state policy program direc-
tor for the National Employment Law
Project.
“The California data does not seem
to bear that out,” he said.
While farmworkers were recognized
as essential during the coronavirus pan-
demic, labor policy has not refl ected
that reality, said Susannah Morgan,
CEO of the Oregon Food Bank.
It’s “gut-wrenching” that workers
who put food on the tables of Orego-
nians face food insecurity themselves,
she said.
“Farmworkers are some of the low-
est paid workers in Oregon, with an
income of $28,000 per year,” Morgan
said.
Farmworkers endure heat, cold,
rain and snow while performing diffi -
cult physical labor without an opportu-
nity to recuperate, said Angelica Ortiz,
a farmworker.
Fire: ‘People like Austin are
just so important to these
small rural communities’
Continued from Page 1
Protection District — he as
a volunteer fi refi ghter, and
she as an emergency medical
technician.
“People like Austin are just
so important to these small
rural communities to keep
them functioning the way
they do, and to keep everyone
safe,” Frketich said. “It was so
great to see someone like that,
who was willing to stay in his
community and work to make
it better.”
Mark Daniel, a fellow
EMT and spokesman for the
fi re district, remembers train-
ing with Smith when they
joined in 2015. The district
has between 30 and 35 volun-
teers, Daniel said, along with
a cadre of part-time paid med-
ics providing an ambulance
service.
Daniel said Smith was
“your typical hometown kid
who does very well, and wants
to be involved with what hap-
pens in his community.”
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MEMORIAL
SERVICE
A public memorial service
and procession will be held
at 1 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 12,
for fallen fi refi ghter Austin
Smith at the St. Paul Rodeo
Grounds, 4174 Malo Ave. NE.
Those with questions about
the service can contact Gert
Zoutendijk at
503-807-8207.
DONATIONS
In lieu of fl owers, donations
in Austin Smith’s name may
be made to the St. Paul
Rural Fire Protection Dis-
trict or the Smith family for
funeral expenses. Links to
donate can be found online
at www.stpaulfi re.org.
“That’s why everybody
is hurting as much as they
are,” Daniel said. “We are a
family.”
On the farm, Smith was a
dedicated and forward-think-
ing hop grower alongside
his father, uncle and cous-
ins. B&D Farms is Oregon’s
third-largest hop farm by
acreage, said Michelle Pala-
cios, administrator of the Ore-
gon Hop Commission.
Just two weeks earlier,
the farm took home the Cas-
cade Cup at the annual Amer-
ican Hop Convention held in
Tampa, Fla. The Cascade Cup
is a coveted industry award,
given to the farm with the best
Cascade hops as judged by
the Hop Quality Commission.
It was the third time B&D
Farms has won the award
in the 10 years since it was
introduced.
Palacios said Smith was a
rising star within the new gen-
eration of young hop farmers.
When he couldn’t get a seat
on the Oregon Hop Commis-
sion, Smith instead joined the
Hop Growers of America,
serving on a national com-
mittee to study best growing
practices for the crop.
A short time after that,
Smith was elected as one of
two representatives from Ore-
gon on the Hop Growers of
America board.
“What struck me with
Austin is that he had no hes-
itation to help,” Palacios said.
“He was always willing to do
what needed to be done. He
was so service-minded.”
Charron, owner of Willa-
mette Ag Solutions, a com-
pany that designs and builds
farm equipment, remembers
long visits with Smith in his
offi ce or at the B&D Farms
hop dryer during harvest,
where they would talk busi-
ness for hours at a time.
At the same time, Charron
said Smith was “notorious for
somehow fi nding the time to
play hooky,” especially for
fi shing trips to the Oregon
Coast.
“If there was an opportu-
nity to have a good time with
good friends, he didn’t skip
it,” Charron said.
In addition to growing
hops, Smith was an avid home
brewer and even opened a
small on-farm brewery, Trel-
lis Brewing Co., in 2018.
Last year, Smith and Bruce
Ernst, of Ernst Nursery &
Farms, purchased a building
previously owned by Mar-
ion Ag Service in St. Paul that
they planned to reopen as a
taproom. Smith came up with
the name, Harvester Taproom,
and an opening date was ten-
tatively scheduled for June 1.
Ernst, who is Dave Smith’s
cousin, said he will talk with
the family about if and when
they want to proceed with the
project.
“From what I under-
stand, they still want to open
it,” Ernst said. “(Austin) was
going to be the face of the
place.”
The Oregon Farm Bureau
said in a statement that Smith
was “a prime example of the
spirit of giving back that’s
so evident in Oregon’s small
agricultural towns. ... He will
be deeply missed.”
Charron said he expects
his friend will be memorial-
ized and remembered for a
long time to come in St. Paul.
“He’ll never be forgotten,”
Charron said. “There’s going
to be stuff named after him all
over. He’s going to be remem-
bered in every way.”