Faith Community Leaders Ask for Farmworkers Rights

[ALBANY, NY] – Faith and community leaders will be asking Governor Cuomo and the members of the State Senate and Assembly for Rights for Those Who Feed New York, by asking for their leadership in supporting the Farmworker Fair Labor Practices Act (S2721), a Bill that will provide basic labor protections to farmworkers. Farmworkers, most of whom are foreign born, are feeling more and more helpless in an already unprotected environment.

The press conference will be followed by the Farmworker Fair Labor Human Rights Hearing , taking place from 10:45 AM next to the Senate Chamber. The press conference will feature an array of speakers from the faith community that will speak to the injustice farmworkers have endured by being denied the same basic labor protections every other worker in this country has been entitled to since the 1930s.

Farmworkers across New York State endure long hours of hard physical labor and are exposed to dangerous conditions every day, yet they are excluded from workplace rights afforded by the Fair Labor Standards Act (1938) and the National Labor Relations Act (1935). Their work is crucial to food production, and is the foundation of the state’s multi-billion dollar agricultural industry. In the Capital District, there are almost 3,500 farms and 587,000 acres of farmland.

We hope this event will achieve the following:

●  Spread awareness to state legislators, organizations and ordinary citizens;

●  Encourage Senators to cosponsor and enact the Farmworkers Fair Labor Practices Act

(S. 2721/ A. 4189);

●  Encourage Governor Cuomo and his staff to use their influence to bring the Bill to the

floor for a vote;

●  Empower farmworkers throughout New York State and raise awareness of their rights.

This event, in solidarity with the New York Justice for Farmworkers Campaign, is being put together by Rural & Migrant Ministry in collaboration with: United Food & Commercial Workers, the Hispanic Federation, the NYS AFL-CIO, the New York Immigration Coalition and the New York State United Teachers, along with numerous other organizations and congregations.

About Rural & Migrant Ministry, Inc.

Rural & Migrant Ministry (RMM) was founded in 1981. We are a non-profit organization formed to develop just, rural and migrant communities throughout New York State. RMM is the official arm of the following religious bodies, representing over one million members:
Capital Area & Mid-Hudson Baptist Associations; The Presbyteries of Albany, Hudson River and Long Island; New York Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church; The Regional Synod of New York, Reformed Church in America; The Episcopal Diocese of New York; The Roman Catholic Dioceses of Albany and Rochester; New York Yearly Meeting of the Society of Friends (Quakers); New York Conference of the United Church of Christ. 

Jose Chapa
Justice for Farmworkers Legislative Campaign
(845) 309 8424, josechapajfw@gmail.com
Richard Witt, Executive Director Rural & Migrant Ministry, Inc (845) 706-0536, rcwitt59@gmail.com
@RMM_NY #NY4Farmworkers