The California Assembly on Monday sent Gov. Jerry Brown a hard-fought and historic expansion of overtime rules for farmworkers.
Wealthy farmers and other ag industry interests are scrambling to figure out a way to get Governor Brown to veto the bill.
Agricultural workers already receive some overtime pay under California law thanks to a 2002 state directive that entitles them to extra wages if they work more than 10 hours in a day or more than 60 hours in a week.
AB 1066 would expand that to bring it more in line with other industries, offering time-and-a-half pay for working more than eight hours in a day or 40 in a week and double pay for working more than 12 hours a day.
The pay boosts would kick in incrementally over four years, and the governor could suspend them for a year if the economy falters.
California has a long racist history of bigotry and oppression against farm workers. This debate exemplifies just how ferocious the aggression directed at immigrants really is.
Business groups quickly condemned the vote. “We are deeply concerned with the passage of AB 1066 today and the devastating impacts this bill will have on our small, independent farmers and the workers they employ,” said Tom Scott, state executive director of the National Federation of Independent Business.
Yeah, right. Paying people a fair day’s wages for a fair day’s work will devastate the economy. Not really.
Source: The Sacramento Bee
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