California is once again set to lead the nation in how it treats farmworkers.
Advertisement
Reyes, the tomato picker, said the farmers’ claims are political heat aimed at trying to prevent Brown from giving him the same pay protections that the rest of California’s hourly workers have.
After pouring onto the sidewalks around the State Capitol in Sacramento and filling the Assembly chamber as debate continued on an overtime bill said to “be a game changer” for California agriculture, farm groups on Monday reacted quickly and in unison to the bill’s passage. Nationally, farm workers earn an average of less than $18,000 a year, according to Farm Worker Justice.
The arguments were strong from a farm industry seeking to maintain an 80-year-old exemption from labor laws that created the eight-hour work day for American workers.
Monday’s approval of legislation to phase in state overtime rules for farmworkers again underscored the urban-rural divide on numerous issues that come before the California Legislature.
Flipping the proponents’ argument, critics said the well-intentioned measure would hurt laborers by leading to cuts in their hours and economic hardship for the farms that employ them. In what Gonzalez has described as an unprecedented move to revive the bill, she worked around the Legislature’s rules and reinserted the proposal in another bill, angering Republicans who objected to the breach in procedure. “In contrast, this will most likely ensure that employers will limit work hours to 8 hours instead of 10 and avoid expensive overtime pay”. Jerry Brown, who is expected to sign it into law. She says the United Farm Workers Union represented a vocal minority.
“I challenge Assemblymember Dodd to work a day in the fields with me, so he can experience the realities of this backbreaking work”, said Yamada, who was termed out of the Assembly in 2014 after three terms. It was the second time this summer that lawmakers considered whether to expand overtime wages to the Golden State’s estimated 800,000 farmworkers. This “sleight of hand”, as Groot called it, is called “gut and amend”.
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.
Existing law sets wage, hour, meal break requirements and other working conditions for employees.
Brown, now serving in an unprecedented fourth term as California governor, first ran for the job on the heels of the nation’s largest agricultural labor strike. Former Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed it.
“We’ve been waiting for this change”, he said.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
Advertisement
Senate: Anthony Cannella, R-Ceres, No; Bill Monning, D-Monterey, Yes.
