Defines certain collective bargaining rights for farm laborers.
Summary
This bill would substantially roll back the 2019 changes that extended a range of labor protections to farm laborers in New York. It repeals multiple provisions of chapter 105 of the laws of 2019 and revises the Labor Law, Public Health Law, and Workers’ Compensation Law to remove farm laborers from several definitions and coverage provisions. In particular, it would eliminate farm laborers from the Labor Law’s collective bargaining framework, restore exclusions from unemployment insurance coverage for agricultural labor except where specifically covered, and repeal several farm-labor-related sections governing labor standards and employer obligations.
The bill also changes workplace health, wage, and insurance rules affecting farms and related operations. It would narrow sanitary code coverage for migrant labor camps to camps housing five or more persons, alter workers’ compensation coverage thresholds for farm laborers, reduce the penalty for failure to post workers’ compensation notices, and remove or revise provisions relating to minimum wage, employment definitions, and agricultural labor coverage. It also repeals several sections that had been added or amended in 2019 to expand protections and administrative requirements for farm laborers.
Impact
If enacted, the bill would materially reduce state-law protections and coverage for farm laborers by undoing parts of New York’s 2019 farm labor reforms. It would affect collective bargaining rights, unemployment insurance treatment, workers’ compensation coverage, minimum wage enforcement, and public health standards for migrant labor camps. The bill would also change which employers are liable for contributions and which workers are treated as employees under the Labor Law and Workers’ Compensation Law, with direct effects on farm operators, crew leaders, migrant workers, and agricultural employers.
Sentiment
The available context shows no recorded committee discussion or votes, so there is no documented floor or committee sentiment to measure. Based on the bill text and caption, the measure appears to be a policy reversal of prior farm labor expansions and would likely be viewed as favorable by opponents of the 2019 reforms and unfavorable by labor advocates and worker-protection supporters. The overall tone of the bill is deregulatory with respect to agricultural labor.
Contention
The main points of contention are likely to be the rollback of collective bargaining rights for farm laborers, the narrowing of workers’ compensation and unemployment insurance coverage, and the reduction of sanitary and wage protections for migrant and agricultural workers. Farm owners and agricultural employers would likely support the bill’s relief from added obligations, while labor organizations, worker advocates, and public health advocates would likely oppose it because it removes or weakens protections enacted in 2019. The bill also raises likely debate over whether farm laborers should be treated differently from other workers under state labor law.