August 29,2016
Hailed by farmworker advocates and decried by farmers, Assembly Bill 1066 passed on a 44-32 vote Monday August 29. The bill that would expanding overtime pay for farmworkers will now move to the Governor’s desk where its fate is not yet clear. Under the measure ag workers would receive time and one half after 8 hours of work – increased from the current state law that kicks-in after 10 hours. The UFW, who lobbied hard for the bill, has maintained that its about time time farmworkers in California get what “nearly all other American workers have received since the 1930s.” But critics like Geoffrey VandenHeuvel charge the decision “advances the war on California agriculture.” He says Ag will seek to replace workers with machines.