Federal law excludes agricultural labor from the National Labor Relations Act’s collective-bargaining framework. That exclusion does not prohibit farmworker unions; the central policy question is whether a proposed state system can accommodate agriculture’s seasonal, weather-dependent, and time-sensitive operations.

The proposed 2027 farm labor framework would place covered workers under the Public Employment Relations Commission, allow certification or elections, require bargaining before certain operational changes, and send unresolved contracts to binding arbitration after three months.

These requirements are being considered while Washington agriculture faces severe financial pressure. Washington ranks 50th nationally in operator net returns; farm operating expenses have risen 72.6% over the last decade, and the state lost 3,717 farms and more than 102,000 acres in five years. Additional legal, arbitration, and administrative costs could hit independent family farms especially hard.

The Washington State Potato Commission opposes advancing a mandatory agricultural bargaining framework that does not fully account for farm viability and the operational realities of producing and protecting a crop.

Any proposal must preserve growers’ ability to respond to weather, harvest timing, equipment failures, and storage needs; maintain the flexibility to move qualified employees where they are needed; address seasonal-worker representation; and account for the financial and administrative capacity of family farms.

Protecting agricultural workers, local food production, and food security requires policies that also keep Washington farms viable.

Sources and Supporting Information: Business impacts are WSPC policy analysis. Bill references concern the introduced 2026 HB 2409, which

did not advance that session; future language may differ. [3]

[1] HB 2409, sections 9-10, 13-16. [2] L&I agricultural wages and overtime. [3] Bill history. [4] National Labor Relations Act,

section 2(3), 29 U.S.C. 152(3).