In Maine, laws relating to farm labor can be found in 26 M.R.S. § 580 through 26 M.R.S. § 589 and Agricultural Employees Labor Relations Act. 26 M.R.S. § 580 through 26 M.R.S. § 589 deal with occupational safety and health of farm workers and housing standards for agricultural labor.
Pursuant to 26 M.R.S. § 580, all workers engaged in agricultural labor in the state shall be protected from hazards to their safety or health and that working conditions shall be maintained that will be reasonably free of hazards to their safety and health. The Commissioner of Agriculture, Food and Rural Resources shall have the authority to adopt, administer and enforce standards, rules and regulations to implement section 580 in all other workplaces[i].
Pursuant to 26 M.R.S. § 586, the Bureau of Labor Standards shall adopt rules for the protection of the health, safety and welfare of the agricultural laborers and their families who occupy housing provided, owned or controlled by their employers. These rules apply only to housing facilities of employers of agricultural labor who provide housing to more than 5 employees and whose minimum housing habitability standards are not already established under the regulations on housing promulgated by the United States Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration under the federal Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act.
Pursuant to 26 M.R.S. § 587, any duly designated officer of the bureau may enter a housing facility at any reasonable time in order to determine compliance with the Chapter, Occupational Safety Rules and Regulations Board and the rules made thereunder. No such entry and inspection may be made without the permission of one or more occupants of the facility unless a search warrant is obtained authorizing entry and inspection. If the housing facility is unoccupied, permission of the owner is required before entry and inspection unless a search warrant is obtained.
General provisions do not to a person who, in the ordinary course of that person’s business, regularly provides housing to the general public on a commercial basis and who provides to any agricultural laborer similar housing on the same or comparable terms and conditions as provided to the general public[ii]. Pursuant to 26 M.R.S. § 1323, agricultural employees have the right to self-organize; to form, join or assist labor organizations; to bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing; and to engage in other concerted activities for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection. Agricultural employees also have the right to refrain from such activities except to the extent that this right may be affected by an agreement requiring membership in a labor organization as a condition of employment.
Pursuant to 26 M.R.S. § 1324, agricultural employers are prohibited from interfering with employees in the exercise of the rights guaranteed in section 1323, encouraging or discouraging membership in any employee organization by discrimination in regard to hire or tenure of employment or any term or condition of employment, interfering with the formation, or administration of any employee organization, refusing to bargain collectively, and locking out their employees. Agricultural employees are prohibited from interfering with employees in the exercise of the rights, refusing to bargain collectively with an employer, requiring employees covered by an agreement to pay, as a condition to becoming a member of an agricultural employee organization, a fee in an amount the board finds excessive or discriminatory under the circumstances and participating in a strike against their employer[iii].
Pursuant to 26 M.R.S. § 1326, if there is a dispute between the agricultural employer and an employee or employees over the appropriateness of a bargaining unit for purposes of collective bargaining or between the agricultural employer and an employee or employees over whether a supervisory or other position is included in the bargaining unit, the executive director or the executive director’s designee shall make the determination.
Pursuant to 26 M.R.S. § 1328, any person aggrieved by any ruling or determination of the executive director of Maine Labor Relations Board may appeal to the board, within 15 days of the announcement of the ruling or determination. Upon receipt of an appeal, the board shall hold a hearing, within a reasonable time having given notice in writing 7 days in advance of the time and place of that hearing to the aggrieved party, the labor organizations or the bargaining agent and the agricultural employer. Decisions of the board are subject to review by the Superior Court under the Maine Rules of Civil Procedure.
Pursuant to 26 M.R.S. § 1332, in any judicial proceeding brought under the Act or to enforce the rights guaranteed by the Act, an unincorporated employee organization may sue or be sued in the name by which it is known. Either party may seek a review of a binding determination by an arbitration panel or arbitrator pursuant to the Uniform Arbitration Act, Title 14, Chapter 706[iv].
[i] 26 M.R.S. § 581.
[ii] 26 M.R.S. § 589.
[iii] 26 M.R.S. § 1324.
[iv] 26 M.R.S. § 1333.
