PASCO — A Yakima County judge last week blocked some COVID-related restrictions on farms and orchards.
Superior Court Judge Blaine Gibson issued an injunction stopping the state from enforcing a series of regulations that are meant to protect farmworkers.
The injunction included rules that:
• Required twice-daily visits from medical staff to isolated workers.
• Required workers to be within 20 minutes of an emergency room and an hour from a ventilator.
• Provided open access to people from the community.
The ruling left in place restrictions on bunk beds, which continues to be an issue for the two groups that brought the suit — the Washington Farm Bureau and Wafla.
Wafla is an human resources firm that helps supply laborers for farms. They also manage housing the workers.
Washington state’s COVID emergency rules were set to expire on May 8, and the state could have renewed them for another 120 days.
Farmers potentially face steep fines for violations.
Franklin County Farm Bureau President James Alford said the state restrictions seemed to be created by someone who doesn’t understand the industry.
But both sides are claiming a partial victory in the recent ruling.
Farm groups said it eased the pressure on them, and the governor’s office was glad the decision stayed relatively narrow.
“After a year of asking the state to work with the farm community to make science-based adjustments to the COVID-19 emergency regulations, we’re very pleased with this common-sense ruling,” said John Stuhlmiller, chief executive officer of Washington Farm Bureau.
Inslee’s Deputy Communications Director Mike Faulk said the governor also is pleased with the outcome and the state was already considering similar adjustments.
The governor’s office and the departments of Health and Labor and Industries are working on permanent and emergency rules for the agriculture industry.
“Because the judge’s ruling did not substantively alter the state’s approach to farmworker protections, the governor intends to continue his efforts around the COVID-19 response as planned,” Faulk told the Herald in an email.
The only group not claiming victory at this point are the workers, said Elizabeth Strater, the director of strategic campaigns for the United Farm Workers.
“Our concerns at the state level have not diminished,” she said. “These aren’t tools. These are human beings. … We really need to do the bare minimum to make sure they’re safe.”
She said the additional steps to keep farm workers monitored while they are sick is the least that farm groups should do.
She also pointed out many of the farm workers are coming from areas where they don’t have access to the vaccines, and the only ones available now take weeks to take full effect.
Farm workers arrival
Washington state farms rely on more than 20,000 people coming to work as part of the federal H2-A program. All workers are tested for COVID-19 when they arrive and they are quarantined to make sure they don’t have symptoms when they start work.
If they develop symptoms, they are guaranteed a salary if they are sickened by COVID.
Workers also are being scheduled for vaccinations, and farm groups have called on the state to support efforts to quarantine workers until they receive the vaccine.
While farm groups are pushing for easing the regulations, United Farm Workers believe farm workers need additional protection.
Strater previously cited a University of California-San Francisco study that found food and agricultural workers have one of the highest risks of dying during the pandemic compared to other essential workers because of close living and working conditions, accessibility to testing and vaccines and other issues.
