Here in New York, we rightfully take great pride in protecting the rights of workers and others in society from exploitation. But for various reasons, none of them justifiable, I believe, these protections have not extended to our farm workers. As I said in my previous testimony, “History continually offers us opportunities to affirm our humanity and the dignity of life.” Once again, that opportunity is visiting us, and we must not let it slip away.

As the Bishop of a largely rural diocese, many of the people for whose spiritual care I am entrusted are farmers. These are good, hard-working people and have my unending gratitude for their labors in bringing food to all of our tables. But I must be clear that denying a class of workers basic protections that are available to nearly all other professions is not acceptable or justifiable. The challenge for New York State, as I noted in my 2000 testimony, is to find a way to protect the well being and to honor the dignity of both farmers and farmworkers. An important first step in this process is the removal of the numerous exclusions that legitimize discrimination against farmworkers.

For example, under current law, farmworkers have no right to collective bargaining and no right to a voluntary day of rest. These are concerns I highlighted in 2000 that remain unchanged today. In addition, they have do not receive overtime pay. In effect, the state’s policy is that the same standards of human dignity and human rights the rest of us enjoy do not apply to them.

Lest I given the impression that nothing has changed, let me quickly point out that the farmworkers and farmworker advocates have made major concessions recently in order to attempt to get meaningful legislation passed. The bill that was voted out of the Labor Committee calls for the right to collective bargaining on only the largest farms in the state, excluding the traditional family farm. The bill also sets a higher threshold for overtime than is the case for other workers and allows the day of rest to be any day in a seven day period. I cannot understate the significance of these concessions.

I thank you once again for the opportunity to appear before you today. Because so many of the issues remain the same, I have attached my testimony of February 9, 2000, to today’s testimony for your review. A decade has passed. The moral and ethical issues remain. The time to act is now.

If I have any time remaining I would like to cede it to one of the individuals who wished to speak on behalf of farmworkers today, but was denied an opportunity due to a lack of available time.