The bill intended to provide farmworkers with labor rights similar to those that employees in other industries are entitled to is headed to the Agriculture Committee.

The Farmworkers Fair Labor Practices Act was deferred to the committee at the request of state Sen. Darrel Aubertine, D-Cape Vincent, head of the committee, who has stressed the need for further examination of the impact the bill would have.

“In the Ag Committee it will get the thorough review it deserves considering the impact it would have on farmers,” said Drew Mangione, communications director for Aubertine.

“There has been no real study of this bill,” he added. “In the Agriculture Committee it will be subject to a hearing, study and discussion so that we can better provide every lawmaker on the committee with the information they need to make an informed decision on the future of the bill.”

On Jan. 20, the Senate’s Labor Committee passed an amended version of the bill, which has undergone criticism largely from members of the New York Farm Bureau, who have stated that agricultural labor is unique, and as such, necessitates unique employee regulations. Opponents have also stressed that the bill would harm New York farmworkers more than it would help them.

The bill proposes that farm owners pay their employees overtime if they work in excess of 10 hours a day, or 60 hours a week. The bill would also allow farmworkers on a small percentage of New York state farms to unionize; allow “cooling off” periods for workers during harvest times; and would eliminate existing tax liability on guest worker wages.

“This is flawed legislation,” said Erik Behling, New York State Farm Bureau director, and the owner of Behling Farms, located in Mexico. Behling has stressed that such a bill would put New York state farms at a disadvantage to other farms throughout the United States, sending skilled farmworkers, who would otherwise work on New York state farms, to work elsewhere in the country.

“We need to better assess that impact and be sure that every member in the Senate before voting has the facts regarding the (consequences) this bill (would have) on our economy, the potentially devastating unintended consequences for farm workers and expansive changes it would impose on New York’s family farms,” Aubertine said earlier this month.

Those who have favored the bill have noted that it provides basic rights farmworkers deserve.

“I understand the concern, but we can’t find the moral argument as to why agriculture should be treated differently than any other industry,” said Richard Witt, executive director of the Rural and Migrant Ministry, a group that has encouraged the bill’s adoption.
“I’m sure if you went and talked to the woman that owns the local drug store, she would say she would be much better off economically if she didn’t have to pay overtime and she would probably also point out that it is tough to compete against the big drug store prices,” Witt added. “We struggle to see why it should be different for agriculture.”

Prior to the bill’s recent deferment, the Farmworkers Fair Practices Act had been on its way to the Senate floor for a vote after a review by the Codes Committee on Jan. 25. The Agriculture Committee will review the details of the bill and hold a hearing in approximately six weeks, according to Mangione.

Author:  Aaron Curtis