Agricultural Worker Justice Act of 2026
Sponsored By: Senator Welch, Peter [D-VT]
Introduced
Summary
Protect worker safety and tighten USDA buying rules. This bill would bar USDA from buying meat, poultry, and processed foods made by workers paid below the local prevailing wage, require annual labor and safety disclosures from contractors, ban stock buybacks and dividend payments while under contract, and push new safety, inspection, and ergonomic standards for meat and poultry plants.
Show full summary
- Families and schools: School food authorities could get waivers to buy foreign commodities when domestic items are unavailable or when price or quality justify it, but must post waivers publicly and notify parents at least once per school year.
- Workers in meat and poultry plants: Would require ergonomic standards, medical management programs, limits on increasing line speeds without independent safety inspections, stronger anti-retaliation rules, and a GAO study on racial and ethnic disparities in the sector.
- Farmers, contractors, and grant recipients: USDA contractors must disclose recent labor and safety violations or face corrective measures and a public ineligible list that lasts 4 years, and contractors under USDA contracts may not repurchase stock or pay dividends.
- Local producers: Authorizes $400.0 million for fiscal year 2026 and each succeeding year for the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Program to boost local purchases.
*Authorizes at least $400.0 million per year starting in FY2026 for local food purchases and $2.0 million for OSHA standard work in FY2026, increasing federal spending by those amounts.*
Personalized for You
How does this bill affect your finances?
Personalize government policy and PRIA will tell you what this bill means for your household, plus every other piece of legislation we track. PRIA reads each provision against your financial profile to show you exactly what matters to your wallet.
Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
8 provisions identified: 6 benefits, 0 costs, 2 mixed.
Weekly pandemic reporting at plants
If a pandemic is declared, the bill would require covered establishments to report weekly infection and death counts to OSHA. Reports would include weekly and cumulative case counts, racial demographics, and employment status. OSHA would issue reporting forms within 1 year or within 7 days after a pandemic declaration, whichever is sooner. Reported information would be made public, and establishments could not hide information other than employee names.
Annual funding for local food purchases
The bill would authorize $400 million to be appropriated for fiscal year 2026 and each fiscal year thereafter for the Local Food Purchase Assistance cooperative program. This would provide recurring federal buying power to support local producers and purchasers under the program.
USDA contracts: worker pay and rules
This bill would stop USDA from buying meat, poultry, or processed foods unless the workers who made them were paid at or above local prevailing wages as set by the Department of Labor. Two years after enactment, businesses entering USDA contracts would have to annually disclose certain labor and safety judgments or awards from the prior three years. DOL could require corrective steps and put serious or repeated violators on a public ineligible list that blocks USDA contract solicitations and some inspections for that year and the next four years. Knowing failure to disclose would be treated as a federal criminal offense under 18 U.S.C. 1031. The bill would also require USDA to publish an annual list of funding recipients and bar agricultural issuers that have USDA contracts or funding from repurchasing equity or paying dividends while the funding or contract lasts.
Limits on meat and poultry speeds
The bill would bar any USDA waiver or use of funds that increases line speeds at covered establishments unless the plant agrees to an inspection by the OSHA Assistant Secretary or NIOSH Director. That official would have to certify that higher line speeds would not harm worker safety. Inspections would require detailed ergonomic analyses per minute and per hour, review of current musculoskeletal disorder rates, and review of medical management and mitigation.
New ergonomics rules and inspections
The bill would require OSHA to propose an ergonomics program within 1 year and finalize it within 30 months. It would also require new medical-referral rules quickly and restore a musculoskeletal-disorder recording column within 1 year. OSHA would set a regional inspection program in every State within 30 days covering amputations, ergonomics, line speeds, bathroom access, certain chemicals, and extreme temperatures. The bill would provide money to hire more OSHA inspectors, including $60 million a year for 2026–2031 and $2 million to support the standards work in 2026.
Stronger anti-retaliation and legal rights
If enacted, the bill would give workers at covered meat and poultry plants stronger anti-retaliation protections and faster investigations. Workers would generally have 180 days to file complaints, and OSHA would have deadlines to decide reasonable cause and issue preliminary relief. The bill would let harmed workers sue in federal court for damages and fees, allow employees to intervene in injunction cases, and create expedited hearing timelines. It would also limit no-fault attendance policies unless employers put required protections in writing in each worker's primary language.
GAO study on processing disparities
The bill would require the Government Accountability Office to report to Congress within 180 days on racial and ethnic disparities in meat and poultry processing. The report must review injuries, repetitive musculoskeletal disorders, mental health, chemical exposures, use of temporary and incarcerated workers, and predatory practices affecting noncitizen workers.
School meals: foreign purchase limits
The bill would require school food authorities to request a USDA waiver before buying foreign commodities, except where items are not produced or available domestically. USDA could grant a waiver only if domestic supply, quality, or price is insufficient. Schools that get waivers would have to post the waiver on their website within 30 days and email parents at least once each school year.
Sponsors & CoSponsors
Sponsor
Welch, Peter [D-VT]
VT • D
Cosponsors
Sen. Booker, Cory A. [D-NJ]
NJ • D
Sponsored 7/15/2026
Sen. Fetterman, John [D-PA]
PA • D
Sponsored 7/15/2026
Sen. Wyden, Ron [D-OR]
OR • D
Sponsored 7/15/2026
Sen. Sanders, Bernard [I-VT]
VT • I
Sponsored 7/15/2026
Roll Call Votes
No roll call votes available for this bill.
View on Congress.gov