“I don’t know what bubble New York City politicians live in, but clearly they haven’t a clue as to how bad and shortsighted their progressive Farmworkers Fair Labor Practices Act is. This bill would add extraordinary labor costs and uncertainty in the operations of farming businesses that would result in job losses, significantly weaken our upstate agricultural economic sector and increase grocery bills for working families. New York’s agricultural industry is already struggling to compete with other states as well as other nations.
“New York already has numerous laws that ensure safe working conditions for farmworkers and, by-and-large, our family farmers follow these rules very closely as the Department of Labor has reported. I don’t think folks from downstate, who truly don’t know or understand how a farm operates, should be making broad agricultural policies, especially when they are as potentially devastating as this legislation.
“Instead, New York politicians should be focusing on how we can work with family farmers to improve their businesses, increase their competitive edge and take advantage of new opportunities in the agricultural sector. Upstate New York’s economy is closely entwined with the agricultural sector, and we must ensure its health rather than work against it.”