COLORADO GOV SIGNS FARMWORKER RIGHTS AND WAGES LAW

Thousands of immigrant farmworkers in Colorado will soon have state minimum wage, overtime and labor organizing rights under a bill signed into law by Democratic Gov. Jared Polis, James Anderson reported for the Associated Press (AP).

Polis also signed into law a measure to create a state fund to help indigent immigrants get legal representation in deportation proceedings. The twin measures are part of a raft of bills passed by the Democrat-controlled Legislature to boost immigrant rights.

Other measures becoming law Friday will make it easier for immigrants to obtain state and local benefits; obtain licenses to work as child care providers and other professions as well as business licenses; and prevent state agencies from sharing personal information with federal immigration enforcement authorities, with certain exceptions such as criminal investigations or under court order.

Under the farmworkers law, agricultural business owners must provide employee housing that conforms to pandemic guidelines issued by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

They must provide meal and rest breaks and limit the maximum number of hours worked by their employees. Farmworkers in several U.S. states have collective bargaining rights to some extent -- rights originally denied them on the basis of skin color under US labor laws first adopted in the 1930s. Colorado now joins that group.

The law also offers whistleblower protections for workers reporting unduly harsh or unsafe conditions.

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