Oregon GOP money machine fails to block life-saving farmworker protection rules
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Oregon GOP money machine fails to block life-saving farmworker protection rules
Three groups behind a recent attempt to block life-saving farm worker protections are big GOP donors, especially in Marion County.
Farmworkers are 20 times more likely to die from heat-related illness than other workers.
On a 104-degree day in late June of 2021, Sebastian Francisco Perez was found unresponsive by his coworkers, face down in a field in Marion County, Oregon.
The 38 year-old died while he and his crew moved an irrigation line on a St. Paul farm. Heat exhaustion & dehydration were reported as the cause of death. State investigators found the farm and a contractor both failed to take steps to protect workers, and were fined less than $5k total.
Perez’s tragic death added to momentum for increased farmworker protection, calls that had strengthened with the summer heat and harsh wildfire smoke of 2020. That year, former Governor Kate Brown issued an executive order directing OSHA to develop better protections for farm workers.
Since that order, a trio of powerhouse GOP business groups have been trying to persuade Oregon courts to block the slate of increased protections. They argue the rules are too vague.
And, they suggest, their 14th Amendment rights were violated because following rules designed to protect their own workforce from dropping dead on the job deprived their member businesses of “life, liberty or property without due process.”
And tucked away on page 9 of the 19 page complaint shows how low these big-money industry groups were willing to stoop in their losing efforts to dash these farmworker protection rules. They didn’t want to be on the hook for paying their workers for health-related breaks - breaks that could save their lives in extreme weather.
Let that one marinate a bit.
Just think about how absolutely craven and callous you would have to be, as a human being, to argue that your right to make a buck is more important than a the lives of the people on whose backs you make the buck.
Who cares? The industry groups lost. The rules are in effect.
So, these three business groups — Oregon Manufacturers and Commerce, Associated Oregon Loggers, Inc. and the Oregon Forest Industries Council — that put their names on this despicable case challenging these life-saving measures…they lost.
In a December 20, 2022 hearing in a U.S. District Court in Medford, Judge Mark Clarke ruled against the industry groups and dismissed their claims. Ultimately, the court decided the safety and lives of farm and agricultural workers outweighed industry profit.
But despite the ugly loss, these industry groups still exercise enormous influence & power over all level of policy and decision-making in Oregon, specifically at the local levels.
And you might not be surprised at all to know that:
This influence comes in the forms of huge checks written to politicians and PACs
Nearly all of that money goes to Oregon GOP candidates, with a focus on high-powered, state-level politicians.
But we’ll also see how these industries spend big to influence local politics - specifically Marion County, where Sebastian Francisco Perez died from heat exhaustion as county leaders stuffed their pockets with industry cash.
Of the nearly $665k this anti-labor alliance paid to buy political favor in 2022, almost all went to GOP candidates.
The top ten recipients of cash from these industry groups account for nearly half of all money the industry groups used to purchase political favor in 2022.
The top 5 folks on the above list represent what amounts to the most powerful Republicans in the Oregon Legislature - an expensive stake for these industry groups in a minority position, for sure.
Further on down that list, there are a few Democrats who accepted money from one of the three business groups that challenged the OSHA rule. If they were interested in walking the walk, they’d return that money. Better yet, donate it to an organization that actually helps farm workers.The influence of these anti-labor groups extends deeply into Marion County
The tragedy of Sebastian Francisco Perez dying in triple-digit temps happened in a county where top elected officials are backed by money from the very industry fighting to dishonor his life & legacy.
In a December 2022 article, we looked at the financial forces that have powered nearly 50 years of Republican dominance in Marion County Commissioner elections.
In that exploration of campaign finance data, we found the Freres Lumber Company pouring significant amounts into electing the current slate of County Commissioners. With agriculture playing such a key role in Marion County, and with such a significant population of farm workers - it’s hard to imagine county leaders prepared to protect vulnerable essential workers when their bosses are stuffing cash in their campaign coffers.
Why does this lumber money trail matter?
The President of Freres Lumber also happens to be one of two directors of Oregon Manufacturers PAC, one of the industry groups that brought the suit to prevent enacting live-saving protections for farm workers.
Based on the amount of money Freres, his businesses, and family dump into county leadership races, it’s reasonable to wonder whether our three Marion County Commissioners, each heavy with Freres family cash, are capable of actually representing a key constituency — agricultural laborers.
Two of these commissioners — Colm Willis and Kevin Cameron — were recently re-elected in 2022 and the third seat, held by Danielle Bethell, is next up for election in 2024. Here’s how much cash they each took from the Freres Lumber till (and other related groups):
Bethell ~$15k
Willis ~$25k (plus about $1k each from Oregon Manufacturers & Oregon Forest Industries Council PACs)
Cameron ~$20k from Freres (plus another ~$20k or so directly from the Oregon Forest Industries Council’s PAC, one of the three industry groups)
And for a bonus, Marion County District Attorney Paige Clarkson netted nearly $10k from the Freres’ money machine.
Accountability can be difficult to attain with private companies & industry groups
But that doesn’t mean there’s no way to effect change and create accountability for groups like Oregon Manufacturers and Commerce, Associated Oregon Loggers, Inc. and the Oregon Forest Industries Council.
Part of their power is that they act in relative anonymity. They quietly filed a lawsuit in Medford and hoped to find a judge sympathetic to thirst for profit at any cost - including the health & lives of their workforce.
And these three groups are financially supported by their member businesses from across (mostly) rural Oregon. So applying economic or social pressure to such a loyal, dispersed base of support would be a heavy lift.
But these groups, and their member businesses, are tied directly to the political structures across the state — including here in Marion County — through extensive political campaign financing.
And every politician — regardless of party affiliation — should be held accountable for taking money from these groups. It’s unconscionable that Marion County is effectively controlled by a group of Republicans who gladly accept support from groups that seek to put their own constituents in life & death danger just to turn a slightly larger profit.
But when you shine a bright light on what that support actually means for our community and our agricultural workers and their families - you can attach a decent amount of risk to accepting money from these groups.
Would you want to be a politician that takes thousands & thousands in campaign cash from groups that seek to knowingly put their workforce in danger? And the riskier it is to accept that money — the fewer outlets these industry groups have to flex their influence. And, in this case, as their influence shrinks the outcome is better and more humane conditions for our agricultural communities.
How do you hold a politician accountable? Simple, you vote them out.
There is no moral defense for taking money from groups that file lawsuits to escape treating their workforce humanely. Especially when we already know these types of works die from heat-related illness at 20 times the rate of other occupations.
Lawmakers that accepted money from these industry groups should return it - especially those that represent all or portions of agricultural powerhouse Marion County.
So here’s a template message you can use to send to people like Marion County Commissioners Bethell, Willis & Cameron, as well as state lawmakers Kim Thatcher, Raquel Moore-Green & Tracy Cramer (among others):
Dear {name of politician},
In 2021, a 38 year-old Guatemalan migrant worker named Sebastian Francisco Perez was found unconscious, face down in a field in Marion County during a heat wave where temps topped 104 degrees on the day he died.
Recent campaign finance show that you accepted considerable amounts of support and resources from Oregon Manufacturers and Commerce, Associated Oregon Loggers, Inc. and the Oregon Forest Industries Council (or from key members of these groups).
This trio of industry groups recently filed a lawsuit to claw back basic health & safety measures for farm and agricultural workers created by Oregon OSHA in 2020, under direction from former Governer Kate Brown.
The simple safety measures to help farmworkers survive extreme weather were meant to aid a workforce 20 times more likely to die from heat related illness. They were designed to help prevent deaths like Perez’s.
Your financial backers argued that their ability to profit was more important than the lives and health of their workforce. They argued that providing masks, water, and breaks to their workforce represented a Constitutional infringement on their rights to turn a profit.
A decent person would return any campaign contributions from these groups and their leadership. It’s impossible for you to satisfy your oath of office while fattening your campaign coffers with money from groups that don’t care if your constituents live or die - as long as they can continue to profit.
Do better,
{Your name}And when these folks are up for election again — asking you to trust your vote and future with them — remember if they were willing to return these highly problematic campaign donations.
SKP will reach out to Marion County-based elected officials for a commitment to returning industry cash and refusing it moving forward. And we’ll report back.