Shafter, CAIn an effort to improve labor relations and efforts statewide, Senator Dean Florez has introduced a new bill that would guarantee farm laborers access to overtime pay under California labor laws.
Florez, the Senate majority leader in the Golden State, is trying to reverse a current exemption to the state's labor laws that denies agricultural workers the overtime pay afforded to other hourly employers. The bill is scheduled for a vote this week, and Florez, himself a former agricultural worker whose father and grandparents both picked crops, believes that the bill will be his legacy.
"It's a priority for me and is my last bill to help farm workers," Florez told the LA Times. "Before I leave I want to attempt to have an argument about farm workers and what they are paid."
The bill has received some opposition from a number of state growers and agricultural manufacturers who worry that the bill will actually lead to a reduction in working hours for many laborers.
Worker's rights advocates the United Farm Workers Union have declined to comment on the proposed legislation.
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