Farm Workers Day

HOUSE RESOLUTION 26-1004

BY REPRESENTATIVE(S) Duran and Garcia, Bacon, Barron, Boesenecker, Bottoms, Bradfield, Brown, Caldwell, Camacho, Carter, Clifford, English, Espenoza, Feret, Froelich, Garcia Sander, Gilchrist, Goldstein, Gonzalez R., Hamrick, Hartsook, Johnson, Joseph, Keltie, Lieder, Lindsay, Lukens, Mabrey, Marshall, Martinez, Mauro, McCluskie, McCormick, Nguyen, Paschal, Phillips, Richardson, Rutinel, Rydin, Sirota, Slaugh, Smith, Soper, Stewart K., Stewart R., Story, Suckla, Taggart, Titone, Valdez, Velasco, Willford, Winter T., Woodrow, Woog, Zokaie.

CONCERNING CELEBRATING FARM WORKERS DAY.

WHEREAS, Farm workers have long been the backbone of American agriculture; and WHEREAS, Colorado agriculture generates approximately $4 7 billion in annual economic activity and employs between 20,000 and 40,000 workers; and WHEREAS, Farm workers constitute 4.1 % of the total workforce in rural Colorado; and WHEREAS, In Colorado, women make up approximately 25% to 30% of the farm worker workforce, mirroring national trends, but with important local context-roughly 8,000 to 12,000 women are working in our fields, dairies, and packing operations, and making meaningful contributions to their local communities and to our state; and WHEREAS, Many of these female farm workers are Latina and immigrant women, supporting families both here and across borders while often being paid less, given fewer protections, and facing higher risks of harassment and violence; and

WHEREAS, Fann workers are at the core of the Colorado economy, with multiple industries relying on farm products to supply food to everyone from local consumers to international markets; and WHEREAS, Colorado farm workers now enjoy a range ofrights, but many people battled to secure those rights as they exist today. Beginning in the 1960s, the hard work of attaining these rights was pioneered by the National Fann Workers Association and the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee, which eventually merged to become the United Fann Workers (UFW); and WHEREAS, By 1970, the UFW had persuaded grape growers to accept union contracts and had successfully organized workers across the agricultural industry; and WHEREAS, In 1975, the UFW's efforts resulted in the California "Agricultural Labor Relations Act", a groundbreaking law protecting the right of farm workers to unionize; and WHEREAS, Workers at the UFW tirelessly devoted themselves to making people aware of the struggles of farm workers and their need for better pay and safer working conditions; and WHEREAS, Celebrating farm workers is celebrating who we are, what we eat, and the tireless work of the thousands of Coloradans whose efforts make our food culture possible; now, therefore,

Be It Resolved by the House of Representatives of the Seventy-fifth General Assembly of the State of Colorado: That we, the members of the House of Representatives, recognize March 31, 2026, as Fann Workers Day and honor the hard work, safety, and dignity of Colorado's farm workers.

Be It Further Resolved, That copies of this Resolution be sent to Governor Jared Polis, Lieutenant Governor Dianne Primavera, and the UFW Foundation.

Julie McCluskie SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Vanessa Reilly CHIEF CLERK OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES