OLYMPIA [By Annika Hauer]— Under a bill before the legislature, a state agency would step in to protect workers under collective bargaining should a federal board fail to do so.
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) enforces labor laws and rights in the private sector with the exemption of agricultural workers.
In January 2025, President Donald Trump fired Gwynne Wilcox, a member of the NLRB, before her term was over, which had never been done by a president. This put the board under the required three-person staffing to hear labor cases, rendering it “paralyzed” for the 345 days until Trump-appointed members were sworn in January 2026.
In April 2024, Elon Musk’s SpaceX filed a lawsuit that the NLRB itself is unconstitutional. A federal court presiding over Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas agreed in 2025, making labor laws effectively unenforceable.
The Washington state bill, Senate Bill 6117, states that if courts further decide to remove the NLRB from labor law enforcement, or if the NLRB ceases to protect workers it has historically covered, or if the NLRB should “decline to exercise jurisdiction, or be deprived of its previous jurisdiction,” that enforcement would fall to Public Employment Relations Commission (PERC), a state agency.,
“This is a proposal for Washington State, regardless of what’s happening elsewhere, that we do believe that we should have everyone within a system that is clear, that is fair, that’s transparent, and that allows for good faith negotiations,” said prime sponsor of SB 6117 Sen. Rebecca Saldaña, D-Seattle.
Some supporters of SB 6117 said in January 19 testimony that NLRA’s current functioning does not uphold their rights.
Dakota Bartosch works for Citizen Access Residential Resources (CARR) in Olympia, caring for adults with developmental disabilities who require 24-7 support. Bartosch said because of low wages and high turnover, workers voted to form a union. CARR labeled many of the caregivers as “guards” to contest their votes. The other workers succeeded in forming a NLRB-certified union, but the NLRB has not acted on those whose votes were contested. A year later, Bartosch said, those denoted as guards are still barred from union representation.
“They failed me and my coworkers,” Bartosch said. “We are losing our right to organize in this country.”
If the NLRB were to stop functioning and this bill triggered, would agricultural workers become covered?
As drafted now in a substitute bill, farmworkers are not covered, though they were in the original bill. There is concern agricultural exclusion is not explicitly stated in the substitute.
In its first public hearing, multiple farm owners testified against the bill, saying that the inclusion of agricultural workers within PERC, which would give farmworkers labor protections they have never had, would hurt farmers’ already-struggling businesses.
Kevin Knight, a fourth generation fruit grower on 250 acres from the upper Yakima Valley, said he wants to pass on his farm to the fifth generation. Farming hasn’t been great in the last few years, he said.
“I’m opposed to anything that would add a layer to keep us from harvesting because there’s just not that much time,” he said, for the fruit’s harvest window. “We already bargain, so having a third party doesn’t make sense.”
Data from the USDA Census of Agriculture show that Washington state lost an average two farms per day from 2017 to 2022, and Washington ranked last in farmer take-home pay in 2024.
In her first public comments on the bill January 19, when the bill still included agricultural workers, Sen. Saldaña, a daughter of farmworkers, said striking and organizing happens whether workers have legal protections or not, and that this bill does not make striking any more legal or illegal than it already is. The bill, however, is about establishing a clear framework so workers and businesses can operate with respect and clarity.
She went further, saying agricultural workers have been without that framework and from a justice and fairness perspective, there is good reason to include them.
After meeting with farm owners and others in the agriculture industry, Saldaña changed the bill to continue excluding those currently uncovered by the NLRB. She explicitly said in a February 9 executive session that agriculture workers are no longer included in the bill.
As the bill is currently written, it would most likely be up to PERC whether or not to include agricultural workers in its hypothetical coverage. In the most recent fiscal note published February 6, PERC does not state the cost of agricultural worker protections, a change from original fiscal notes, implying that ag workers would be excluded should the bill come into effect. The exclusion of farmworkers is not explicitly stated in the bill, however.
“There is quite a bit of concern by folks in ag that they are still included based on the current language,” Sen. John Braun, R-Centralia, said in the bill’s most recent executive session February 9. “I hope if this bill moves forward that [Sen. Saldaña] continues to work on that.”
The bill passed out of the Ways & Means Committee on a party line vote, with eight Republicans voting nay seemingly because of the issue.
The Senate substitute bill, as well as its companion House Bill 2471, which has faced similar development, passed through their required committees and now await a floor vote in their respective chambers, where each will die or pass to the opposite chamber for further committee review.
SB 6117 is modeled after one proposed in Massachusetts, which is currently awaiting a floor hearing, though its prospects look unlikely. Other “trigger laws” have been enacted in California and New York, but with different criteria and protections.
As a “trigger bill” that hinges on a hypothetical, there is no cost in the immediate future and the bill does not explicitly factor into the current budget.
The Washington State Journal is a nonprofit news website operated by the WNPA Foundation. To learn more, go to wastatejournal.org.
Author: Washington State Journal
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