Monday law makers passed a bill that would require over time to kick after eight hours of work instead of ten. Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, D-San Diego, reintroduced her proposal into a separate bill and gained support by adding amendments calling for the overtime laws to be phased in.
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Republican Devon Mathis of Visalia, the Assembly Agriculture Committee vice chairman, said the outcome will actually hurt, not help, farmworkers.
Because farmworkers are unable to work some days due to weather or harvest schedules, they have historically preferred to work as many hours as possible on any given day.
“Notably, my opponent Assemblyman Bill Dodd once again sided with wealthy agricultural interests and voted against farm workers and their families”, Yamada said. Each year, the daily threshold would decrease by a half hour until 2022, when farmworkers would receive overtime for working more than eight hours in a day or 40 hours in a week.
On Monday, lawmakers also sent Brown SB450 by Sen. Jerry Brown a hard-fought expansion of overtime rules for farmworkers, but it remains uncertain whether the Democratic governor will sign off on the measure.
“We are asking for equality – eventually”, Gonzalez said. They may see their hours slashed to 40 so employers can avoid overtime payments if Gov.
They cited the historical exemptions the United States has granted farms when it comes to labor because of the seasonal nature of the work, and how it often must be performed in short, intense bursts when the ground or crops are ready. They make sense and show the pressure that continues to squeeze farmers.
George Radanovich, president of the Fresno-based California Fresh Fruit Association (CFFA) that represents many farmers who rely on hand labor, stated, “It’s a clear example of people who live on black top and cement and who never talk to people in the vineyards or in the fields”.
California lawmakers are passing dozens of bills in a flurry of end-of-session activity, including full overtime pay for farmworkers, and an overhaul of how we vote in elections.
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We are deeply concerned with the passage of AB 1066 today and the devastating impacts this bill will have on our small, independent farmers and the workers they employ. He signed the landmark Agricultural Labor Relations Act when he was governor from 1975 to 1983 and has frequently mentioned his personal relationship with Cesar Chavez, the late labor leader.
