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QUEENS WEEKLY, JULY 28, 2019
Governor Cuomo signs Farm Workers Bill into law
BY BILL PARRY
Two Queens lawmakers
beamed with pride
alongside Governor Andrew
Cuomo as he signed their
Farm Workers Bill into law
July 17.
A s s emb l y woma n
Catherine Nolan
has worked on the
“fundamental human
rights issue” since she
was first elected to Albany
in 1984.
“This law represents a
huge victory for the farm
workers of our great state,
for their families, and for
everyone who fought to
end the injustices that our
farm workers faced; their
efforts are realized today,”
Nolan said. “I am very
proud to have carried this
legislation for many years,
and I am thankful for all
the work done by so many
in the effort to see this bill
be signed into law.”
The Farm Workers
Bill establishes the Farm
Laborers Fair Labor
Practices Act to protect
farm worker rights and
ensure equitable housing
and working conditions.
The bill grants farm
workers overtime pay, a day
of rest each week, disability
and Paid Family Leave
coverage, unemployment
benefits and other
labor protections.
“This new law is not
just a great achievement in
terms of the effect on the
human condition; it’s also
a milestone in the crusade
for social justice,” Cuomo
said. “By signing this bill
into law, 100,000 farmers
and their families will have
better lives and will finally
have the same protections
that other workers have
enjoyed for over 80 years.
This powerful and practical
achievement is even more
significant in the era of
President Trump who
continually diminishes
workers’ rights, attacks
labor unions, disrespects
the disenfranchised and
has made divide and
conquer, rather than
unify and grow, the credo
of America.”
Nolan explained often
how the farm workers were
excluded from the Federal
Fair Labor Standards
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Act of 1938 to appease
members of Congress from
the south. Her legislation
passed in the Assembly
for years but was blocked
for decades in the Senate
by upstate Republicans
who warned the bill would
do irreparable harm
to the state’s $6 billion
agriculture industry.
The Democrats seized
the majority in the Senate
during last November’s
blue wave that sent Senator
Jessica Ramos to Albany.
As chair of the Senate
Labor Committee, Ramos
carried the legislation
in the upper chamber
pushing for “the end of the
last vestiges of Jim Crow
discrimination” by touring
farms across the state and
holding multiple hearings
in farm communities.
“Today we are
recognizing farm workers
as the backbone of New
York’s multibillion-dollar
agricultural industry
and acknowledging the
dignity in their work,”
Ramos said. “With the
governor’s signature on
this bill, we are finally
granting farm workers a
day of rest, overtime pay,
the right to collectively
bargain, and recognizing
them as workers under the
Labor Law.”
Reach reporter Bill
Parry by email at bparry@
schnepsmedia.com or by
phone at (718) 260–4538.
State Senator Jessica Ramos (l.) and Assemblywoman Catherine Nolan react after Governor
Andrew Cuomo signs their Farm Workers Bill into law. Courtesy of Governor’s office
/schnepsmedia.com
