VILLAGE OF FLORIDA – As the summer growing season wanes, much was on the mind of farmers Monday in this agricultural community.
“One of our continuing challenges, COVID or non-COVID, has been labor over the years,” said Paul Ruszkiewicz, Orange County legislator and vegetable farmer.
Governor Andrew Cuomo sign a bill 13 months ago, which went into effect January 1, called the Farmworkers Fair Labor Practices Act, which grants farmworkers overtime after 60 hours a week, a day of rest each week, unemployment benefits, paid family leave and disability coverage.
Ruszkiewicz said the pandemic has made it worse to attract workers when he was already having a difficult time with finding labor. But he said the overtime rules are hard on farmers, especially during long days and nights in the field.
“It’s an added cost because agriculture is a seasonal business,” he said. “When we have to work, we have to work over 60 hours a week.”
Now Ruszkiewicz is worried the overtime rules will be changed that lowers it to 40 hours a week
“If that happens,” he said, “it just won’t be feasible for a lot of businesses.”
Republican Mike Martucci is seeking the 42nd Senate seat against incumbent Jen Metzger, a Democrat, and he said regional farmers are at a disadvantage because of higher costs compared to those in the nearby bordering states of New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
“The plight facing our farmers is very clear,” said Martucci. “The farmers in these other states have lower operating costs, making it particularly difficult for them to compete.”
Martucci said he’s in favor of helping farmers finding better ways to get their produce, meat or milk to market.
“We need to look at other ways we can help our farmers, specifically in respect to the supply chain,” said Martucci. “We heard during COVID there was dumping of milk – when in fact there was a need.”
