# Summary of S. 2601, Agricultural Worker Justice Act
This bill establishes new protections and requirements for agricultural and meatpacking workers across multiple areas. The legislation prohibits the Department of Agriculture from purchasing meat and poultry products from workers paid below prevailing local wage rates and prevents companies receiving USDA contracts from buying back their own stock or paying dividends. It requires USDA contractors to disclose labor violations from the past three years and creates an ineligibility list for companies with serious workplace violations, barring them from federal contracts for up to five years.
The bill implements significant protections for meatpacking workers by restricting line speed increases at meat and poultry processing facilities unless a safety assessment certifies worker safety will not be harmed. It prohibits "no fault" attendance policies that penalize workers for absences related to legally protected leave such as medical conditions or family emergencies, and requires employers to clearly communicate this protection to employees. The bill allocates $60 million annually through 2029 to hire additional OSHA inspectors and mandates new occupational safety standards for ergonomic hazards and medical referral protocols in covered establishments.
Additional provisions address worker access to toilet facilities, establish enhanced retaliation protections with stronger remedies for workers who report safety violations, and require a Government Accountability Office report on racial and ethnic disparities in meat and poultry processing. The legislation also authorizes $400 million annually for a local food purchase assistance program and requires disclosure of all federal funding recipients.
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