SALEM (Oregon) STATESMAN-JOURNAL February 20, 2007 Bill targets seasonal workers' insurance On-the-job injuries could be covered Seasonal and year-round farmworkers in Oregon who suffer work-related injuries could soon enjoy full workers' compensation insurance coverage to help pay for medical treatment and lost wages. The state's Senate Committee on Commerce unanimously approved a bill Monday that would require farm labor contractors to provide workers' comp coverage for hired farmworkers. In January, the proposal, SB 202, won unanimous approval up by the Management-Labor Advisory Committee. Under the measure, contractors would have to provide proof of workers' comp insurance in the form of a corporate surety bond from a company licensed to conduct business in Oregon. Contractors also would have to deliver proof of such coverage to the commissioner of the state's Bureau of Labor and Industries before they could obtain or renew a license to operate in Oregon. The agency has previously said the bill is needed because some insurance policies carried by out-of-state contractors often do not cover workers in Oregon. Ramon Ramirez, the president of the Woodburn-based PCUN farmworkers' union, said the measure also helps cover a big loophole. "What we've seen in the past is that the farm labor contractor will say the grower needs to carry the insurance and the grower will say the farm labor contractor has to have it," Ramirez said. "If this bill becomes law, both of them will have to have it." It's estimated there are some 200 farm labor contractors registered in Oregon. Workers' compensation benefits are needed, Ramirez said, because without it farmworkers injured on the job often forgo needed treatment. Current state law requires agricultural employers or labor contractors to provide workers' compensation insurance coverage for farmworkers. But it does not require proof of such coverage.
|