AB 1066 is officially introduced by Assemblymembers Gonzalez and joint authors Rob Bonta (D-Oakland), Cristina Garcia (D-Downey), Roger Hernández (D-West Covina), Reginald Jones-Sawyer, Sr. “You could work 16 hours, 20 hours, and not be paid any overtime”. Now, it is up to the California State Assembly to decide on the future of the agricultural industry in California. “It is outrageous that California’s farmworkers perform some of the hardest work; work that helps to feed the nation”.
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Agricultural workers already receive some overtime pay under California law thanks to a 2002 state directive that entitles them to extra wages if they work more than 10 hours in a day or more than 60 hours in a week.
Phased in over four years, the law – if signed – starts the overtime requirements at nine-and-a-half hours per day or 55 hours per week on January 1, 2019. “This is bill for the [United Farmworkers Association]”, said Republican Assembly Leader Kristen Olsen in response. They predicted that farmers would be forced to cut workers’ hours to just 40 hours a week to avoid having to pay time-and-a-half or double-time overtime.
Some have even said this will force farmers to leave California for states with more favorable business policies. In an olive branch to opponents, this version of the bill would give farms with 25 or fewer employees until 2022 to start to complying, while larger farms would need to start paying more in 2019. He predicts the law will only reduce the number of available working hours available for farm employees and thus decrease their earnings. Agriculture is a seasonal industry with limited opportunities for farmworkers to earn full paychecks during peak harvest.
This isn’t the first time the Assembly will discuss the issue of overtime for farmworkers. “Everyone I spoke to asked me to vote against this bill and they understood that if AB1066 passed, it would equal lost hours and wages for them”.
California lawmakers passed a similar bill in 2010 that would have deleted the exemption of agricultural employees from overtime requirements.
17 News reached out to Rudy Salas about the bill’s passage and his spokesman Teodoro Martinez said the assemblymember supported the bill. She says there are harmful consequences under the surface of the legislation.
She and several hundred other farm workers and supports of the United Farm Workers Union cheered on the Capitol steps. Recent studies show that Golden State farmers and ranchers brought in more than $54 billion in revenue in 2014 despite the state’s devastating drought.
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In 1938, Congress passed the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), which established the minimum wage, recordkeeping, child labor standards and overtime pay eligibility.
