Grijalva seeks overtime for farmworkers
Congressman’s bill also calls for minimum wage
SAN LUIS, Ariz. — U.S. Rep. Raul Grijalva plans to introduce a bill in Congress to guarantee that farmworkers receive minimum wage and overtime pay.
The Tucson Democrat said the legislation will cover agricultural laborers under the Fair Labor Standards Act, which establishes a minimum hourly wage and requires timeand-a-half pay for any hours worked over 40.
Grijalva, whose district includes south Yuma County, came to San Luis to make the announcement, standing at the base of a statue of Cesar Chavez located in front of the city cultural center that is named for the late founder and leader of the United Farm Workers Union.
Exempted from the FLSA are some agricultural employees, including harvest laborers paid on a piece rate in traditionally piece-rated occupations.
“This law is going to remedy the discrimination of field workers being denied the right to overtime pay and a minimum wage granted under federal labor standards,” said Grijalva.
“In 1938 (FLSA) went into effect, but farmworkers were exempt,” he said. “Also in 1983 when other laws for workers’ protection were created, farmworkers were left out of many of the prerogatives” of lawmakers.
Grijalva said he plans to submit his bill in the U.S. House of Representatives within three weeks. An identical version of the legislation will be introduced in the U.S. Senate by Sen. Kamala Harris, a California Democrat, he said.
The legislation, if passed
into law, would take effect in 2019, Grijalva said, and would grant up to 800,000 farmworkers the same benefits under FLSA as other workers.
Some contracted workers would continue to be exempted from provisions of FLSA, Grijalva said, although he offered no details about those exclusions.
Grijalva said he chose San Luis as the place to announce his legislation because “this region of the country is known for its agricultural workers, and this is the birthplace of Cesar Chavez, who fought for the rights of those workers.”
As he spoke, Grijalva was flanked by several former farmworkers once involved in UFW protest movements over pay and working conditions, one of them Somerton resident Antonio Yanez.
Grijalva’s bill is “very good,” Yanez said. “Working in the fields is one of the hardest (jobs) there is. Cold or hot, one is there working. It’s good that there is someone fighting for more benefits for farmworkers.”