New Law Threatens WNY’s Farms

New York has a new law that could lead to many farms in the state being forced to shut down.

According to Metro Source News:

Governor Cuomo has signed a new law allowing farm workers to unionize.  The Farm Laborers Fair Practices Act also mandates a 60-hour work week, sets overtime pay at one-and-a-half-times the normal rate, and guarantees farm workers at least one day off per week.

Farmers have a legitimate fear that they may have to close as a result. The 24 hour rest period is also a threat. The workers that come to WNY want to work as hard and as long as possible to make as much as they can in the short season that we have here in WNY.  Losing a day is a major issue for the farms in Western New York.

The sad part is that prices will go up for farms to operate and yet, the price of produce/milk will not. This is a lose-lose for farmers.

The Farm Bureau of NY issued a statement  which says, in part:

This measure does not create a path that will assure an economically viable New York agriculture industry, and the four fixable flaws within this bill will likely drive more family-owned farms out of the state or out of business. Worst of all, farmworkers will feel the impacts the most because their work hours will be restricted and their income reduced