Legislators in New York state are hopeful of victory in the near term to require farmers to pay overtime wages to agricultural laborers, said the New York Times. “Only California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota and Oregon require time-and-a-half pay for overtime — though in some cases after 60 hours of work a week — and only a dozen states explicitly give farmworkers the right to unionize,” says the Times, which says agricultural work was excluded from the bedrock federal wage, hour and labor relations laws enacted in the 1930s.
State Sen Diane Savino sponsored a bill to mandate overtime pay after 60 hours and a day off each week. Farm groups have opposed such legislation on grounds much of the work is seasonal, when it is urgent to harvest crops as they ripen.The New York Farm Bureau opposes collective bargaining for farm workers, says the Times.