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Group opposes California farm worker overtime proposal

 

Photo courtesy Jay Hill

Workers harvest cabbage on Jay Hill’s farm.

A potential new California law threatens that state’s farmers and their ability to compete.  That’s according to Western Growers, which opposes new farm worker overtime thresholds.

Western Growers Cory Lunde tells Brownfield both farmers and their farm workers oppose the bill because it would force farmers to hire more workers – paying each one less money, or worse.  He says, “It would either be that scenario, or they would simply choose not to harvest some of their crops, thereby reducing production and their potential for income, so it’s going to hurt the farm worker as well as the farm owners.”

Lunde says California farmers might have to produce less or mechanize their harvest to compete in the global marketplace.

If passed, the new law would change California’s overtime threshold from 10 hours to eight hours each day, gradually reducing it until 2022, while that state’s minimum wage gradually increases during that same time to 15 dollars an hour.

Lunde says if passed, the law would impact 400-thousand farm workers in California and make foreign fruits and vegetables more common in grocery stores.

The bill passed the California Assembly on Monday. It now awaits Governor Jerry Brown’s signature.

 

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