Two North Country Republican Assembly members are taking New York City Democratic members to task for pushing approval of the Farmworkers Fair Labor Practices Act.

The bill, approved yesterday in the Assembly on vote of 82 to 53, would remove the exemption from labor law the Legislature had granted employers of farm workers. It is aimed at providing the workers the right to collective bargaining, to one day off a week, a 10-hour work day, time-and-half pay for overtime, and improved working conditions, among other provisions.

Assembly Republicans were joined by the state Farm Bureau in opposition.

Assemblyman Ken Blankenbush (R,C,I-Black River) and Assemblyman Marc W. Butler (R,C,I-Newport) have issued statements opposing passage of what they call the “Farm Unionization Bill” and others in the Assembly call a farm workers’ Bill of Rights.

Blankenbush, the ranking Republican on the Assembly Agriculture Committee whose district includes southwestern St. Lawrence County, voted no, saying the bill would set back upstate New York’s economic progress.

“New York City Democrats have no business setting agricultural policy in our state, yet annually they push forward the Farm Unionization Bill, which would kill our upstate agricultural economy,” he said. “The progressive agenda of these out-of-touch politicians would harm the very communities that they are supposedly trying to protect.”

He went on, “Our family farmers and their employees are the ones out in the fields actually tending to the animals, crops and produce, and they know that a bill like this would do more harm than good. The close relationships and efforts of farmers and their employees have continued to make the dairy, produce and other emerging agricultural markets in our state thrive.”

He said New York’s laws are already stringent enough, and “our farmers work closely with the state Department of Labor to ensure farm laborers work under and live in exemplary conditions. This progressive legislation, however, would result in fewer jobs, economic opportunities throughout the North Country and the Mohawk Valley, and increased food costs for families.”

“I don’t know what bubble New York City Democrats live in, but clearly they haven’t a clue as to how bad and shortsighted their progressive Farm Workers Fair Labor Practices Act is,” said Assemblyman Marc Butler of the 118th District, which includes townships in southern St. Lawrence County and up to Madrid.

“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,” he said.

“New York already has numerous laws that ensure safe working conditions for farm workers 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,” Butler said.

“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.”

Meanwhile the New York Farm Bureau said the bill will work against farms and their employees.

“A vote in support of the so-called ‘farm worker fair labor practices act’ is a vote against New York’s hard working farm families and the farm workers employed. Keep in mind; the advocacy groups behind this legislation include unions, college students, and downstate members of the Legislature who do not understand either the realities of providing food for our tables,” the Farm Bureau statement said.

“An overwhelming majority of farm employees, who routinely return to the very same farms every year to make a good wage and receive fair treatment, are not the ones demanding changes to the law that will restrict their hours and limit new opportunities. This 25 plus year old bill seeks ignores the fact that numerous state and federal regulations already exist that mandate fair labor, health and safety standards, farm worker agreements and employee protections, all of which New York Farm Bureau supports. Farmers have never asked to be exempted from basic laws which govern all New York employees, such as the payment of minimum wage requirements, whistleblower protections, anti-human trafficking statutes and workplace harassment,” the Farm Bureau said.