A bill moving through the state legislature threatens the wages and wellbeing of the workers who feed our communities — many of them immigrant and Latine.
Colorado Senate Bill 26-121 is moving quickly, and its consequences deserve a clear-eyed look. If passed, the bill would weaken overtime protections for agricultural workers, raising the threshold of hours required before farmworkers qualify for overtime pay.
That might sound like a technical policy adjustment. It isn’t. Behind every extra unpaid hour is a person: a farmworker, often immigrant, often Latine, often working in heat and physical strain that most of us will never experience. These are the people who grow and harvest the food on our tables, and they are already among the most economically vulnerable workers in the state.
"Overtime protections are not a policy abstraction. They are about health, safety, and dignity."
Overtime rules exist for a reason. They are designed to compensate workers fairly for the physical and personal cost of extended labor and to discourage employers from exploiting workers by simply working them longer rather than hiring more people. When those protections erode, workers don’t just lose money. They lose time with their families, their ability to rest and recover, and the basic recognition that their labor has limits and their time has value.
Colorado farmworkers already carry outsized economic and physical burdens. Weakening overtime protections doesn’t level a playing field, it tilts one that was never level to begin with.
SB26-121 has its next hearing on April 6 before the Agriculture, Water & Natural Resources Committee. That is an opportunity for Coloradans to make their voices heard and for legislators to remember who they represent.
The people who power our fields and feed our communities deserve overtime pay that honors the full weight of their work and their impact. Colorado should be moving toward stronger protections for farmworkers, not weaker ones.
COLOR has made historical moves when it comes to policy. Click below to send a letter to the Agriculture, Water & Natural Resources Committee to vote NO on SB26-121! Make sure you sign up for our monthly newsletter, where you can get more content like this!
In community,
Nicole Guzman
[Disclaimer: These stories reflect the voices, experiences, and perspectives of the COLOR team shared in the spirit of learning, connection, and collective growth.]