BOARD/COMMISSION:  Governor's Committee on the Safety, Health, and Wellbeing of Agricultural and Food Processing Workers (expired 04-03-2023)

The members of the Committee are:
    a. The Commissioners of the following agencies or their designees:
        i. Department of Agriculture (“MDA”)
        ii. Department of Employment and Economic Development (“DEED”)
        iii. Department of Health (“MDH”)
        iv. Department of Labor and Industry (“DLI”)
    b. United Food and Commercial Workers (“UFCW”) Local 663, Director of Organizing
    c. United Food and Commercial Workers (“UFCW”) Local 1189, President
    d. Southern Minnesota Regional Legal Services (“SMRLS”), AWP Project Manager
    e. Unidos MN, Executive Director
    f. HACER, Executive Director
    g. Minnesota Farm Bureau, President
    h. Minnesota AgriGrowth Council, Executive Director
    i. Minnesota Farmers Union, President
    j. Meeker-McLeod-Sibley Community Health Services, CHS Administrator
    k. Waseca County Public Health Director
    l. Community Health Service, Inc., Executive Director

The Commissioners of Agriculture and Employment and Economic Development, or their designees, will serve as the Committee’s Co-Chairs.

The Committee’s objectives are to:

    a. Respond to the COVID-19 pandemic by coordinating resources and outreach for the 2021 growing, harvesting, and processing season, starting as soon as possible.
    b. Support and assist the Minnesota Department of Health, local public health departments, and community organizations with the coordination of the

COVID-19 response, including testing, vaccination, access to health care, and necessary assistance for the quarantine and isolation of workers and their families if they test positive or become ill.

    c. Design a proactive strategy and plan to effectively deploy public, private, and non-profit compliance resources to protect and promote the safety, health, and wellbeing of agricultural and food processing workers. The focus will be on housing, transportation, and workplaces.
    d. Develop a system for effective communication between state agencies, community organizations, advocacy groups, and agricultural and food processing employers and workers, including the workers’ families and communities.
    e. Provide government agencies, community organizations, advocacy groups, employer and worker organizations, employers, and workers a forum to engage, collect and analyze data and information, coordinate resources, and plan for future agricultural growing, food production, and processing seasons.