Home > ADVOCACY > Where We Stand > Farmworker Bill Letter

January 19, 2010


Senator William T. Stachowski (sent to all members of the WNY State delegation)
New York State Senate
918 Legislative Office Bldg.
Albany, NY 12247

Dear Senator Stachowski:

On behalf of the 2,500 employer members of the Buffalo Niagara Partnership, I strongly urge you to oppose the proposed “NYS Farmworker Fair Labor Practices Bill.” As a multi-billion industry that supports hundreds of thousands of jobs, agribusiness is a foundation of New York State’s economy – and has been identified as one of Buffalo Niagara’s target industry sectors. This proposed legislation would have a dire effect on family farms in the Buffalo Niagara region and, thus, on our regional economy.

In political circles, the farmworkers legislation is being described as a “compromise” bill, but that definitely is 100% not the case. Our members in the agribusiness industry assure us that this downstate-driven legislation is by no means reflective of the interests of farmers in Buffalo Niagara. For example, responsible farm labor legislation must reflect the unique needs of agribusiness by recognizing the implications of the seasonality of the industry – New York City-based interests pushing this legislation are in no position to understand such intricacies.

Moreover, the bill’s provisions regarding collective bargaining rights, while perhaps applicable to other industries, are not so to agribusiness. The proposed collective bargaining rights fail to include any protections against strike in the middle of harvest, nor are they appropriate for farm workers charged with the daily care of animals. Farmworkers simply cannot walk off the job leaving hundreds of cows to be milked or crops to be harvested.

The overtime pay provision in the bill also is irreconcilable with the seasonality of agribusiness. The pressure to harvest an entire year’s work in a short amount of time, factoring weather conditions, does not afford farmers the ability to guarantee a forty-hour work week. As a result, only three states currently offer overtime pay provisions, each of which have been adapted to the unique requirements of the state’s agribusiness industry. The state of Wisconsin, in fact, repealed its overtime pay provision on the agribusiness industry in 2003.

In addition, the proposed new state threshold on unemployment and disability insurance for seasonal farmworkers is both impractical and unnecessary as New York State has already adopted the federal threshold. Workers compensation is already required for farm employees when the farm has 10 or more employees or a quarterly payroll of over $20,000. We believe this is a reasonable threshold; only a handful states across the country have imposed a lower threshold than that of the federal government.

The $200 million impact this proposed legislation would have on the state’s agribusiness industry could force many family farms to close, and the jobs they provide to leave with them. The increased costs and regulation that bill calls for also would put New York’s agribusiness industry at a competitive disadvantage nationally and globally at a time when “Buy Local” efforts have clearly become a staple of economic development in Upstate.

In sum, New York’s agribusiness industry – specifically agribusiness in the Buffalo Niagara region – cannot afford this proposed legislation. Thus, I strongly urge you to oppose the Farmworkers Fair Labor Practices Bill.

Sincerely,

Andrew J. Rudnick