by Erick Bengel, Washington State Standard
February 19, 2026
A bill that would have made it easier for Washington’s farmworkers to form a union will not become law this year.
Tuesday, Feb. 17, was the cutoff for bills to be voted out of the chamber — the Senate or House of Representatives — where they originated.
The bill introduced by state Sen. Rebecca Saldana, D-Seattle, would have given farmworkers a legal framework to engage in collective bargaining with their employers. The bill made it through the first round of Senate committees but not to a floor vote that would have advanced it.
Saldana said in a statement that, although she is disappointed, her bill marked “the first time since 1992 that legislation addressing collective bargaining for agricultural workers was introduced for consideration” in the Legislature.
“That alone represents an important step forward in elevating an issue that has gone unaddressed for decades,” she said.
The federal National Labor Relations Act grants collective bargaining rights to most private-sector employees, but the law does not apply to farmworkers. And although state law allows workers to unionize, it lacks a formal process to enforce that right, according to advocates.
Saldana’s bill would have provided that process by putting farmworkers under the purview of the state Public Employment Relations Commission, which already covers agricultural cannabis workers.
Supporters said the proposed law would have offered stability and predictability in the relationship between farmworkers and the growers who employ them. Farmworkers could have negotiated for higher wages and better working conditions without strikes, boycotts and litigation, supporters said.
During the bill’s first hearing at the Senate Labor & Commerce Committee — which Saldana chairs — Lucy Madrigal, a daughter of farmworkers, said, “This isn’t just about a paycheck, it’s about dignity.”
Workers at the Windmill Farms mushroom plant in Sunnyside have been trying since 2022 without success to form a union there. The United Farm Workers has called for a boycott of Windmill Farms mushrooms in response.
Concern about farms
Opponents, including growers and industry representatives, said the bill didn’t account for the grim reality of Washington’s farms, which they said are already vulnerable to high costs and low revenues and frequently face closures. Some growers expressed fear that worker actions could disrupt the narrow harvest window during which farms make most of their income.Mike Gempler, executive director of the nonpartisan Washington Growers League, said introducing a new unionization system would push out some farming operations, causing economic damage that would hurt both growers and farmworkers.
“But the bottom line is actually the bottom line: This bill has extraordinarily bad timing due to the horrendous financial condition that Washington agriculture finds itself in right now,” Gempler said.
Saldana, who chose not to run for reelection, is in her final year as a legislator and won’t be around to reintroduce the bill in the next biennium.
She said in her statement that “the discussions it sparked make clear that more education and outreach are needed so legislators understand that there can be no fair bargaining table if agricultural workers do not have a functional pathway to collectively organize and negotiate.”
Erick Bengel, reporting on Eastern Washington issues during the legislative session, is with the Murrow News Fellowship.
Washington State Standard is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Washington State Standard maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Bill Lucia for questions: [email protected].