New York State farmworkers are supporting the Farmworker Fair Labor Practices Act, which would require employers to pay overtime, give a day off each week, provide collective bargaining protection, report on-the-job injuries, and apply sanitary codes to all farm and food processing facilities where workers live. The bill has already been passed in the Assembly and now the farmworkers and their supporters are turning their attention to the Senate. The country's biggest agricultural state, California, gave farmworkers the same rights as other workers four years ago. Senate Majority Leader Bruno and other Republicans oppose the Act, along with the New York Farm Bureau.
See "N.Y. Farm Workers Seek State Protections", Associated Press, The New York Times, July 21, 2004