S-4668.1
SUBSTITUTE SENATE BILL 6045
State of Washington
69th Legislature
2026 Regular Session
By Senate Labor & Commerce (originally sponsored by Senators Saldaña, Alvarado, Trudeau, Valdez, Wellman, Conway, Stanford, Slatter, Frame, Hasegawa, Lovelett, Nobles, Orwall, and C. Wilson)
READ FIRST TIME 02/03/26.
AN ACT Relating to placing agricultural employees under the jurisdiction of the public employment relations commission for the purpose of collective bargaining; amending RCW 49.32.020 and 5.60.060 ; and adding a new chapter to Title 49 RCW.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. Access to the collective and individual protections afforded by established federal and state labor laws, as well as ensuring stable, effective, and efficient labor-management relations, is a vital state interest that has critical benefit to the state's economic and social development. It is declared to be the policy of the state to guarantee agricultural employees the full freedom of association, self-organization, and designation of representatives of their own choosing, to negotiate the terms and conditions of their employment, and that they shall be free from interference, restraint, or coercion of agricultural employers of labor, or their agents, in the designation of such representatives or in self-organization or in other concerted activities for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protections. Therefore, this act extends collective bargaining rights to agricultural employees.
The agricultural context often poses significant barriers for employees attempting to undertake concerted activity, such as seasonal and short-term employment and high numbers of employees who are limited English proficient and have had limited opportunity for educational attainment. It is the policy of the state to administer agricultural collective bargaining rights in a manner that takes these barriers into account, including by having procedures that are expeditious and linguistically and culturally appropriate.