The New York Senate will be in session tomorrow and Majority Leader Pedro Espada is apparently looking to score points with New York City labor unions -- he's calling for passage of what upstate legislators call "the farm death bill."
The bill, the Farmworkers Omnibus Labor Standards Bill, AB 1867, has already passed the Assembly.
If it becomes law, the bill will require farmers to pay time-and-a-half for over time, allow farm workers to join labor unions and require a day off during harvest season. It will also require farmers to pay into the unemployment system, among other provisions.
The bill is sponsored by Catherine Nolan, who represents Queens. Assemblyman Steve Hawley once pinned her down during a floor debate into admitting that in her district contains "less than one farm."
Sen. Mike Ranzenhofer plans to vote Nay if the bill does come to a vote. He said even upstate farm workers he's spoken with are concerned that passage of the bill will cost them their livelihoods.
"They are alarmed about the bill," Ranzenhofer said. "They're concerned about losing their jobs because farms will be going out of business."
Area farmers and farm workers alike tell both Hawley and Ranzenhofer that many of the issues the bill is trying to address is already taken care of by farmers. Most farmers do supply workers with adequate housing and health care. Workers are paid for all the hours they work, but not necessarily time-and-a-half. Because farm work is seasonal, the legislators note that a great deal of work must be packed into a short amount of time.
But by mandating such services, allowing labor unions to get involved and increasing government oversight, the bill will drive up costs on farmers tremendously.
The supporters of the bill just don't understand farming and that without farms, there is no food, both Hawley and Ranzenhofer say.
"The sponsors are from New York City," Ranzenhofer said. "They don't understand that the relationship between farmers and workers is mutually beneficial. This is a New York City union issue and really has nothing to do with farming in Upstate New York."
It's unclear just how the Senate will vote on the measure. It could go either way.
How loud will these NYC
How loud will these NYC politicians squawk when potatoes cost 10 bucks a bag and milk is 5 bucks a gallon and bread is 5 bucks a loaf, etc, etc. I think everyone deserves a fair paycheck for a hard days work, but with unemployment at 9.7% and farmers in NY State barely able to keep going, they should consider what they're proposing. Are we destined to import everything? Who's gonna be here to pay the taxes that those jerks live on?
right the farmers are having
right the farmers are having to ruff, i believe they should pay a far wage but to force them to pay over time right now is foolish.it prob put lot of farmers out of bueseness
Howard - This
Howard -
This paragraph:
"But by mandating such services, allowing labor unions to get involved and increasing government oversight, the bill will drive up costs on farmers tremendously."
contains no attribution, so I guess it's your opinion. Didn't know you have expertise in agricultural economics.
Dennis, If you tell the
Dennis,
If you tell the farmers they have to pay more money, that drives up their cost.
it does not take a great deal of common sense to see the cost will have to go up.
Dennis, the statement doesn't
Dennis, the statement doesn't need attribution.
Howard - I disagree. Someone
Howard - I disagree. Someone shouldn't be able to say that something is going to drive up costs tremendously, without backing it up. Mandates likely will cost farmers more, but "tremendously?" — especially since most farmers seem to be already doing the things that the mandates would require.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not necessarily in favor of mandates. In fact, this looks like a solution in search of a problem. But such comments should be backed up with facts or not made at all.
Blogging comes with a certain license for opinion journalism, but still should live within the confines of honest reporting, in my opinion.
I'd call $200 million
I'd call $200 million tremendous. Here's one <a href="http://www.legislativegazette.com/read_more.php?story=3925&searchstr=">… source</a> for that figure, though I've reported that figure previously.
Get off it farmers have been
Get off it farmers have been supported by government subsidies for ages. I particularly like the deal some get to leave land fallow, do nothing mr. green jeans and we'll mail ya some cash. Their always whining or beggin about somethin to get more cash from the government. Now they might finally have to pay a fair wage boo hoo. Why are farm businesses considered to be different than any other industries. Its about time they stopped treating farm labor like modern day slaves. Here's an idea for ya Howard drive out to Orleans County during the harvest and tour some migrant labor camps to get a look at how they live.
Richard, I covered migrant
Richard, I covered migrant issues in California. I'm quite familiar with the issues. My coverage was actually used quite a bit in a book on migrant workers in California (of course it didn't sell well (as most books don't, especially of a scholarly nature), and I don't remember the title, but I still got it in a box somewhere). I've been to a few migrant camps.
But this is an issue that goes beyond just migrants, but also non-migrant farm workers, who are numerous in these parts.
Subsides aside, more and more farms are going out of business all the time. In times like these, is driving up their costs really going to help put food on our tables?
And it's important to remember, this legislation was crafted by New York City legislators who are in the pockets of Big Labor and benefited from absolutely no input upstate legislators. NYC shouldn't be telling Upstate how to run its businesses.
Howard - Thanks for the
Howard - Thanks for the third-party source on the $200 million stat. I may be too skeptical, but it sounds like Kolb pulled this number out of the air.
$200 million sounds like a lot, but comes out to $5,400 per farm in the state.
I second Richard's idea about going out to real farms and reporting how worker live.
This would make a good
This would make a good YouTube video! Yes?
It is a good idea. Too bad
It is a good idea. Too bad the Daily doesn't have Tom Rivers series on the Web. Tom did a great job with that.
For those who favor the 'farm
<b>For those who favor the 'farm death bill':</b> Do you know any farmers personally? Not farms you drive by or know someone with a farm, but within your own circle? Did a farmer cause you emotional pain somewhere in your childhood and you just cannot move past it?
My brother-in-law is a dairy farmer in central New York. He has no migrant workers. He employs a handful of men to help him run the farm - milking, cutting hay, bailing, planting, etc. He is only making enough with milk sales to feed the cows and pay his help. They pay all of the other bills with his wife's paycheck - which is not much. They live week to week just like most of us. When the hay or feed corn is harvested, they put in a ton of extra hours to try to beat the weather. He could not pay the men overtime - he simply COULD NOT. Then when the only work to be done is milking, bedding and feeding, the hours are much less - less than full-time even. Unions? LOL. Those men depend upon their jobs at his small dairy farm to help their families as well. If you work at a place like Comstock or some other food processing plant, you know what you have chosen for a job. Just as waiters depend upon tips to complete their pay, agriculture workers understand that there are some sacrifices to be made in order to work in their chosen profession.
To someone dropping by The Batavian, it would appear that many prefer strip malls and cookie-cutter housing developments to agricultural businesses.
It takes a special person to work in the agriculture business. It certainly isn't for many people, and for those who work in the business, they know that overtime pay and unions are not part of it. They do the work anyway. Look in your freezer and refrigerator. Look at your table tonight and think about what the farmers provide for you and your family. Agriculture is the largest industry in Genesee County.
i agree with you & richard
i agree with you & richard completely. it also appears that howard disturbingly is getting more & more partisan on this site. what happened to objective journalism & presenting both sides of an issue. seems howard is converting "the batavian" into an anti-progressive offshoot of fox news in terms of his presentation of issues & his comments. i visited migrant worker camps as a child in elba with my mom in the '50's & conditions were deplorable & shocking. nobody then seemed to care except the catholic church diocese of buffalo.
Posted by David Lazik on
Posted by David Lazik on September 10, 2009 - 7:08pm
i agree with you & richard completely. it also appears that howard disturbingly is getting more & more partisan on this site. what happened to objective journalism & presenting both sides of an issue. seems howard is converting "the batavian" into an anti-progressive offshoot of fox news
If Howard was making this an adjunct of Fox News then he wouldn't allow the following posts:
http://thebatavian.com/blogs/bea/president-obamas-health-care-reform-sp…
http://thebatavian.com/blogs/bea/you-lie/9365
http://thebatavian.com/blogs/bea/were-number-37/9364