UPDATE, Justice for Farmworkers Campaign, Labor-Religion Coalition of New York State

In New York, farmworkers are excluded from several basic human rights: A DAY OF REST —OVERTIME PAY —DISABILITY INSURANCE —COLLECTIVE BARGAINING PROTECTIONS.

Brooklyn to NY Senator Dilan: Shame on you for betraying farmworkers
NY Senator Martin Malavé Dilan wrote in 2009 that he was “fully in support” of ending the exclusion of farmworkers from basic labor rights—a day of rest, overtime pay, disability insurance and the right to bargain collectively. He had a chance to stand by his word in January but VOTED NO in the Senate Labor Committee. Allies of the Justice for Farmworkers Campaign gathered on Saturday, Feb. 20, 2010 for a vigil and march to Sen. Dilan’s office with the message: “ We don’t want a Senator who’s against equal rights for our farmworker brothers and sisters.”

The reason for this witness is to protest Senator Dilan’s failure to stand tall for farmworkers:

As a member of the Labor Committee, Sen. Dilan voted against moving the Farmworkers Fair Labor Practices Act out of the Labor Committee and onward to the floor of the Senate for a full vote. He was the only Senate Democrat to vote no.
Sen. Dilan was directly involved in stalling the bill by re-routing it to a Senate committee where it doesn't’t belong.
For over a year, Sen. Dilan refused to join 25 fellow Democrats in the NY Senate to sponsor the Farmworkers Fair Labor Practices Act.

View the Feb. 19 news alert here. Also available are leafleting materials in English and Spanish.

Same old politics hurts NY farmworkers
..."Farmworkers, with few exceptions, don't vote. They don't make campaign contributions. The Farm Bureau gives out thousands of dollars in political donations. One can only wonder what caused Senate Democratic Conference Leader John Sampson to suddenly renege [sending the FFLPA to the Agriculture Committee]. Ironically, as he turned his back on farmworkers, Sampson spoke on the Senate Web site about carrying on the legacy of Martin Luther King: "For those who are less fortunate, those who don't have a voice, be a voice for them."

For four decades, Democrats dreamed of the day they would control the Senate.... Finally they won....If a bill like this one can not make it to the floor, precisely because it has enough support to pass, exactly what difference does Democratic control make? ... Full article >>

Excerpts from commentary by Miriam Pawal, published Jan. 29 in the Albany Times Union.

Farmworker rights bill plowed under?
In a surprise move, NYS Senate leaders sent the Farmworker Fair Labor Practices Act (S.2247-B) to the Agriculture Committee chaired by the bill's chief opponent, Sen. Darrel Aubertine, D-Cape Vincent, a dairy farmer. It had been on its way to the Senate floor for a vote after review by the Codes Committee on Jan. 25.

"Under the Senate rules, the Agriculture Committee covers only changes to specific agriculture laws, not amendments to labor laws," said a New York Daily News editorial on Jan. 25. "No matter. Sampson is terrified that Aubertine could lose to a Republican in the fall, so he chose to let Aubertine's panel smother the bill." Read the full editorial here: Plowed under by Sampson: State Senate boss' lie buries hopes of farm worker bill.

Farmworker rights bill one step closer to Senate vote
In a 15-3 vote on Jan. 20, 2010, the Farmworker Fair Labor Practices Act (S.2247-B) was voted out of the NY Senate Labor Committee. For details about the Labor Committee's OK of the bill, read the Jan. 21 article by Jude Seymour of the Watertown Daily Times.

To review the bill, visit http://public.leginfo.state.ny.us/menugetf.cgi, type in S2247-B and select "summary and text". The Reverend Richard Witt, Director of Rural and Migrant Ministry, spoke positively about the amendments in a Jan. 11 News Release [PDF] .

Farmworker rights debate featured on Capital Tonight
View a TV debate (15.25 min.) with Jordan Wells, Coordinator of the Justice for Farmworkers Campaign and Julie Suarez, Public Policy Director for the New York Farm Bureau. Capital Tonight airs on CapitalNews 9, the Capital Region Time Warner cable news station. As introduction, reporter Erin Billups says, "When the legislature returns in January, one of the bills that will be considered in the Senate is the Farm Workers Fair Labor Practices Act. The legislation would provide equal rights to farm workers, who are currently exempt from state and federal labor laws. But, farmers say the bill will lead to much higher costs that could drive many smaller farms into bankruptcy."

A 10-year drought: State Senate has left farmworkers in the dust for a decade
The week of Dec. 14 marks the 10-year anniversary since the last time the New York State Legislature made progress on farmworker rights (equalization of the minimum wage). As the NY Daily News editorial says, "A decade is far too long to wait for equal rights."

Kerry Kennedy, big name allies energize write-in campaign: Legislature must pass Farmworker Fair Labor Practices Act by Dec. 31
"If he has not already done so, state Senate Democratic conference leader John Sampson will soon discover in his mail a note from Bono, leader of the renowned rock group U2..." Read the full New York Daily News editorial published on Sun. Nov. 22, 2009: "John's harvest of shame: Senate boss Sampson must not block justice for farmworkers." [PDF]

October services bear witness to injustice of exclusions from NY labor law
In a series of vigils, farmworker allies across the state will pray for justice for farmworkers in 2009. The list includes Albany (Oct. 15), Middletown (Oct. 16), Millbrook (Oct 16), NYC (Oct. 17), Syracuse (Oct. 18), Monticello (Oct. 18), White Plains (Oct. 19), Ithaca (Oct. 19), Rochester (Oct. 21) and Setauket (Oct. 29). Click here (PDF) for details and Oct. 20 news release (PDF).

Recognize the human rights of farmworkers
The NYS Senate leadership failed to bring the Farmworker Fair Labor Practices Act to the floor on Sept. 10. Nevertheless, we have progress to report, thanks to those who called and faxed Sen. John Sampson (leader of the Democratic Conference) to urge him to bring S.2247 to the floor of the NYS Senate and to the crowd who journeyed from across the state to gather outside the Senate chamber. Why is this bill important? See coverage of the issue in El Diario: Trabajadores agricolas: los nuevos esclavos or in English, Farmworkers: the new slavery.

On the passing of a champion for NY farmworkers
It is with deep sadness that Rural & Migrant Ministry and the Justice for Farmworkers Campaign learned of the passing of Senator Olga Mendez. Senator Mendez was a remarkable and determined leader for the just and humane treatment of New York's farmworkers. In the early 1990's Senator Mendez listened to the outraged concerns of her constituents in East Harlem who had worked in the farm fields of western New York. It was through them that she learned of the difficult working conditions and the unfair labor laws. In 1994 Senator Mendez co-chaired the NY State Senate-Assembly Puerto Rican/Hispanic Task Forces Joint Temporary Task Force on Farmworker Issues. In turn this Task Force issued a powerful report in 1995 decrying the unjust treatment of farmworkers under New York labor law. More in the full news release from July 30, 2009 and in a July 31 editorial in the NY Daily News, "Do it for Olga".

With rules reform, equal rights for farmworkers are finally within reach
The Senate rules reforms hold great promise for action on long-pending, important human and civil rights issues that—despite widespread support—have never been brought to the Senate floor for a debate and vote. With massive popular support and a bipartisan group of 28 sponsors from all across New York, the Farmworkers Fair Labor Practices Act is Exhibit A in this regard. More in the full news release from July 16, 2009.

The Senate's back in business—and so are we
In June, New York state was on the verge of passing historic legislation that would extend equal rights to farmworkers. Some things have changed since then, but not the breadth of support for worker protections. The new Senate Democratic leadership team has pledged to return to the floor of the Senate for as long as it takes to conduct "the people's business." Farmworkers cannot be ignored for yet another year—there are simply too many voices on both sides of the aisle and from all across New York carrying the banner of equality and respect. We will keep you informed as we learn more. Click here for a campaign news release and positive statewide poll results (PDF) .

The NYS Assembly passed the Farmworkers Fair Labor Practices Act (A.1867) on June 8, thanks to Assemblywoman Cathy Nolan who fended off a full-on attack orchestrated by the NY Farm Bureau. Click here for the June 9 news release (PDF) and a June 1 news release (PDF) which outline provisions of the bill and document the Jim Crow era legacy that has denied farmworkers equal rights and protections under the law. The Senate Labor Committee approved the bill (S.2247) on June 1, and it now resides in the Codes Committee.

Meanwhile, editorials in three major papers called for farmworker rights. (See below for editorials and op-eds.) Gov. David Paterson has promised to sign the legislation.

Ready to speak out ? Modify and send an email to your legislators today using our TAKE ACTION feature.

Spring in Albany
Pressure on elected representatives to deliver justice has been building all spring. Thanks to activism in Albany and in senate districts across the state, the bipartisan list of cosponsors has climbed to 28. Thirty-two votes are needed for a majority. Farmworker Albany Day on May 12 brought more than 200 New Yorkers from across the state to pray, sing, dance chant and meet with legislators. To sample the sights and sounds of the day, visit the new site for the Justice for Farmworkers Campaign. On May 1, the New York State Senate marked International Workers Day by passing a resolution (PDF) "...to honor the many contributions of New York State farmworkers and to recognize their need for fair labor practices."

Newsday letter: "Farm work & protections"
"The New York Farm Bureau presents us with a false dilemma: Either "import workers, or you're going to import food" [Survey says labor loss worrying Long Island farmers," News, Oct. 7]. This artificial ultimatum rests on a dubious premise: Since conditions of work on farms are so inevitably terrible that United States workers won't take these jobs, the argument goes, the only solution to agricultural labor shortages is to ramp up guest worker programs. Click here for the letter by Jordan Wells, Coordinator of the Justice for Farmworkers Campaign, published Oct. 11, 2008.

September delegation to migrant workers in Orleans County, NY
"On this trip, we also met two married couples who left their children in Mexico and came to work in the fields here. One mother talked about her four children, one of whom was only two when she left three years ago." ... Read more from a blog by Rural and Migrant Ministry Board member Bill Pickett. This entry was posted on Oct. 8, 2008.

Farm Bureau wants vulnerable work force
Click here to read the Letter to the Editor, "Farm Bureau wants a vulnerable work force" in the Albany Times Union on June 17, 2008.

Justice for Farmworkers Coalition (JFC)
The web site of Rural and Migrant Ministry (accompaniment program section) features information about the Justice For Farmworkers Coalition, which includes the Labor-Religion Coalition of New York State.