June 23, 2020 9:30 a.m.

Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley has introduced legislation he says will help hard-hit agricultural workers.

A release from Merkley said the Frontline At-Risk Manual Laborers Protection Act establishes critical protections including 10 days of paid leave and hazard pay for those workers.

Merkley said every worker deserves the same fundamental protections in the workplace. He said millions of America’s farmworkers, are without those safeguards. He said “these workers feed our families”. “Now, its our job to make to make sure they have the protections they need to stay safe”.

The release said although the Families First Coronavirus Act expanded paid sick leave to millions of workers, a provision exempting employers with fewer than 50 employees from providing the leave to their workers, has left millions of farmworkers at risk. It said the legislation would provide ten days of paid sick leave to agricultural workers, provide pandemic premium pay at an additional $13 an hour to those workers, help maintain payrolls and limit layoffs and furloughs. The release said the bill would also implement recommendations made by the Centers for Disease Control regarding sanitation and social distancing in work sites, employer-paid housing and transportation.

Six other Democratic senators have signed on to support the legislation.