The Northeast Agribusiness and Feed Alliance (NEAFA), a charter member of the Grow NY Farms Coalition, joins other Coalition members in condemning the Farm Laborers Wage Board action to recommend lowering of the overtime threshold for farmworkers in New York from 60 to 40 hours per week.
Despite hundreds of hours of testimony from farmers and farmworkers, supporting and justifying the 60-hour overtime threshold, the report erroneously presents an argument, based on opinion rather than fact, that farmers and farmworkers will be better off with a lower overtime threshold. The 60-hour overtime threshold was a hard-fought compromise in the 2019 law and the farm community made tough adjustments to make it work. New York farmers have never been given recognition for this compromise and have not been given time to determine if a 40-hour overtime threshold can work for NY agriculture.
The Northeast Agribusiness and Feed Alliance calls on DOL Commissioner Reardon to reject the Wage Board’s recommendation and keep the 60-hour threshold.
Contact: John Mitchell, Executive Director; jmitchell50@gmail.com; 315 725 2843
Find the Submitted Letter to Commissioner Reardon here: https://northeastalliance.com/s/Farm-Laborers-Wage-Board-Comments-9-26-22.pdf