PCUN
Ending a Racist Exclusion
The Challenge
In 1938, the Federal Labor Standards Act (FLSA) failed to guarantee overtime pay for farmworkers despite the difficult work and dangers inherent in the industry. This exclusion was part of a shameful legacy of racism targeting southern Black farmworkers, who made up 85% of the farmworker workforce at the time. Oregon lawmakers had the opportunity to join California and Washington and end this racist exclusion by extending overtime pay for our essential farmworkers. The talented team at PCUN, Oregon’s farmworker union, had the goal of passing a farm worker overtime bill in a politically complex environment, while continuing to deal with a myriad of other obligations and priorities.
Our Strategy
Stuart Collective created a centralized space for strategizing with a broad coalition of supporters and legislative policy experts to weigh the political options and determine the best way forward. Then we crafted values-based messaging, and ensured that messaging was consistent and coordinated across all channels and coalition members. We helped PCUN’s leadership team, and the broader coalition, build lasting political power by facilitating relationship building, establishing trust, and building collaboration. Throughout the campaign, Stuart Collective kept the coalition focused on its short, medium, and long-term goals, while continuing to support members as they confronted challenges that arose along the way.
The Impact
In 2022, Oregon passed HB 4002, and became the fourth state to guarantee farmworker overtime. HB 4002 ended 84 years of racist exclusion in Oregon, and gave some of the lowest-paid workers in the state the protections that all workers deserve - a change with real-world impacts for many Oregon families.