Biden Boosts Momentum for Farmworker Overtime Pay Long Denied

President Joe Biden’s recent support of overtime pay for farmworkers—a right denied under federal law and in most states—signals potential traction for proposals that would grant broader protections, although an uphill battle remains to upend a decades-old system.

Biden issued a May 11 statement praising Washington state for joining a handful of states in enacting a law that guarantees some time-and-a-half overtime pay to farmworkers.

The president’s push comes at a time when farmworkers are deemed essential during the Covid-19 pandemic, which worker advocates say trains a spotlight on decades of exclusion from basic rights rooted in structural racism and ...