Media Advisory: New Report Shares Findings from Largest Survey of New York State Migrant, Seasonal, and Year-Round Farmworkers

Garden City, NY (05/22/2023) — WHAT: The New York Farmworker: Hours, Wages & Injuries shares important new data on the wages and working conditions of 530 farmworkers on more than 100 farms in New York. The largest survey of the state's migrant, seasonal, and year-round agricultural workers reveals:

19% of respondents reported a workplace injury that resulted in lost work time, with half of those respondents indicating they received no compensation.

25% of respondents reported wage theft, noting that they did not receive their overtime wages. Starting in 2020, New York farms were required to pay overtime after 60 hours a week-prior to that, farmworkers did not have a right to overtime pay.

The average hourly wage for farmworkers is $15.55.

WHO: Julie Sorensen, Director, The New York Center for Agricultural Medicine and Health, Diana Caba, VP for Community and Economic Development, Hispanic Federation, Trent Taylor, Staff Attorney, Farmworker Justice, and the report's authors.

WHEN: May 25, 2023, 12pm noon EST

WHY: In 2019, New York State passed the Farmworkers Fair Labor Practices Act (FLPA) giving farmworkers overtime pay after 60 hours and collective bargaining protections, among other rights. In 2024, the agricultural overtime threshold will be lowered by four hours every two years.

This report evaluates the implementation of the current overtime requirement and makes recommendations for better protecting farmworkers' rights. In addition, the report details workers' wages and offers insight, in the farmworkers' own words, about their on-the-job injuries and other work conditions. As one respondent stated, "I feel underappreciated because I've worked here 16 years and only make $15 after all that time." Another worker expressed: "I feel like the bosses pit us, the workers, against each other. They also blame us if we have to put in more hours, and sometimes they take away our hours."

REPORT CITATION: Gray, Margaret, Nina Donaldson, and Kelly Miller. The New York Farmworker: Hours, Wages & Injuries. Amherst: UMass Amherst Labor Center, 2023.

The Executive Summary will be available in Spanish.

Margaret Gray, PhD, is an associate professor of Political Science, Adelphi University;

Kelly Miller has an MS in Labor Studies from UMASS Amherst Labor Center

Nina Donaldson is a candidate for the MS in Labor Studies, UMASS Amherst Labor Studies.

CONTACT: For interviews/additional information, contact Margaret Gray, 516-877-4589, gray5@adelphi.edu

About Adelphi: A modern metropolitan university with a personalized approach to higher learning

Adelphi University, New York, is a highly awarded, nationally ranked, powerfully connected doctoral research university dedicated to transforming students' lives through small classes with world-class faculty, hands-on learning and innovative ways to support academic and career success. Adelphi offers exceptional liberal arts and sciences programs and professional training at the undergraduate and graduate level with particular strength in our Core Four-Arts and Humanities, STEM and Social Sciences, the Business and Education Professions, and Health and Wellness.

Recognized as a Best College by U.S. News & World Report, Adelphi is Long Island's oldest private coeducational university. It serves more than 7,250 students at its beautiful main campus in Garden City, New York-just 23 miles from New York City's cultural and internship opportunities-and at dynamic learning hubs in Manhattan, the Hudson Valley and Suffolk County, as well as online.

More than 119,000 Adelphi graduates have gained the skills to thrive professionally as active, engaged citizens, making their mark on the University, their communities, and the world.

###

Adelphi University / New York

Media Advisory: New Report Shares Findings from Largest Survey of New York State Migrant, Seasonal, and Year-Round Farmworkers

Adelphi University / New York

Share this Story

Recent News