Written by Bruce Goldstein
Friday, 22 January 2010 09:06
The NY state senate's labor committee approved the revised version of a proposed farmworker labor rights bill with plans to move it toward a vote. But an effort to avoid review of the bill by the state senate agricultural committee failed. The chair of the ag. committee is a strong opponent of the bill. "The bill's aim is to provide overtime pay, rest days, collective bargaining and unemployment benefits to farm laborers. Opponents, including the New York Farm Bureau, have argued that those regulations would force farmers to cut jobs, limit employees' hours or close their farms." See the
Waterdown Daily Times article from Jan. 22. An earlier article also describes the process.
The Justice for Farmworkers Campaign in New York is a coalition that is leading the legislative effort. http://www.justiceforfarmworkers.org/pages/releases.html
