Gov. (Schwarzenegger) vetoes farmworker OT bill

[Newsjock]

Source: Fresno Bee

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger today vetoed a bill that would have given more overtime pay to farmworkers, saying it would overturn long-standing rules and create “additional burdens on California businesses.”

The legislation was a top priority for Sen. Dean Florez, D-Shafter, who in a statement accused the governor of missing a chance to “wipe a 70-year-old shame off the books of California.”

“The governor had a chance to make history,” he said. “Instead, he has decided to use his pen in the spirit of the politicians of the segregationist south who pushed to discriminate against the least protected members of our society.”

California is the only state in the nation that provides overtime for farmworkers after 10 hours a day or 60 hours a week. Senate Bill 1121 would have granted overtime after eight hours.

Read more: http://www.fresnobee.com/2010/07/28/2022041/gov-vetoes-farmworker-ot-bill.html

[Hawkeye-X]

1. Hopefully the fine citizens of California have learned from their Rethuglican experiences

that Rethugs are NEVER to be trusted with with control/power EVER.

[wordpix]

5. Ahnold & his rethugs need to stoop in the fields all day every day & see what it's like

Walk a mile in the farm workers' moccasins

[Winterblues]

21. Many farm workers, especially in California are not paid wages.

They are considered "sub-contractors" and are paid by the bushel or truck load or some such. They work as long as the day is light, and move from farm to farm.

[Xithras]

22. This bill would not have benefitted non-employee farmworkers (aka, most of them)

The OT bill is only designed to require overtime for hourly, permanent farmworker employees who are currently operating under an exception to the states overtime laws.

The migrant harvesters you're talking about aren't employees, aren't paid hourly, and wouldn't see any benefit or change from this bill.

[Bette Noir]

14. That we elected a second bad actor, after Reagan,

demonstrates that "learning" is beyond our scope.

I think we'll get a Democrat in this time, though. The Republican offering is too awful to contemplate.

[Tx4obama]

2. Hmmm, I thought there was a federal law that said OT after 40 hours ? n/t

[Massacure]

3. Farm workers are an exempted class.

From the Department of Labor's web site, the following employees are exempt from overtime pay requirements:

* Certain commissioned employees of retail or service establishments
* Auto, truck, trailer, farm implement, boat, or aircraft salespersons employed by non‑manufacturing establishments primarily engaged in selling these items to ultimate purchasers
* Auto, truck, or farm implement parts‑clerks and mechanics employed by non-manufacturing establishments primarily engaged in selling these items to ultimate purchasers
* Railroad and air carrier employees, taxi drivers, certain employees of motor carriers, seamen on American vessels, and local delivery employees paid on approved trip rate plans
* Announcers, news editors, and chief engineers of certain non‑metropolitan broadcasting stations
* Domestic service workers who reside in their employers' residences
* Employees of motion picture theaters
* Farmworkers

[wordpix]

4. add teachers who teach all day + correct, grade, email/call parents, & plan lessons all night

oh yeah, they're not included :eyes:

[Massacure]

24. There is another paragraph on the department of labor web site I didn't copy.

The paragraph I copied above lists occupations exempt from overtime pay only. The following list is of occupations exempt from both overtime and minimum wage:

The following are examples of employees exempt from both the minimum wage and overtime pay requirements:

* Executive, administrative, and professional employees (including teachers and academic administrative personnel in elementary and secondary schools), outside sales employees, and certain skilled computer professionals (as defined in the Department of Labor's regulations) 1
* Employees of certain seasonal amusement or recreational establishments
* Employees of certain small newspapers and switchboard operators of small telephone companies
* Seamen employed on foreign vessels
* Employees engaged in fishing operations
* Employees engaged in newspaper delivery
* Farm workers employed on small farms (i.e., those that used less than 500 "man‑days" of farm labor in any calendar quarter of the preceding calendar year)
* Casual babysitters and persons employed as companions to the elderly or infirm

I just quickly skimmed the DOL website the first time around and didn't catch the minimum wage distinction.

[defendandprotect]

6. How did CA ever put this right wing slime in office?

[Tempest]

7. Too many candidates running in the special election

There were 135 candidates on the ballot and Bustamante, despite being the Democratic favorite didn't have name recognition.

It was a popularity contest (and a farce) and Arnie won.

[Xithras]

23. Nope, you missed a step.

The formal position of the state Democratic Party was that NO PARTY MEMBERS were supposed to run as Democrats. The official party platform was SUPPOSED to be "Vote NO to keep Davis and the Democrats in the governors office! Vote Yes only if you want to elect a Republican!" The state party wanted NO top Democrats on the ballot so the vote wouldn't be split.

The party heads were FURIOUS when Bustamante threw his hat into the ring, and he ran without ANY official support from the state Democratic party, and NO endorsements from the states leading Democrats. Not a single dollar of party money was spent on his campaign. He ran as a rogue.

The party's position was simple. Davis was enormously unpopular in California, even among Democrats, but Davis still had a large and loyal following in some parts of the party. At the same time, there were a LOT of Democrats who would never think of electing a Republican, but really liked the idea of electing a new Democratic governor. The party was facing a very real, and very dangerous, split in the votes, and adopted the official position that no prominent Democrats were to run, so that Democratic voters would simply be forced to choose between Davis and Schwarzeneggar. Bustamante ran anyway, split the party votes just as the party heads had predicted, and handed the election to Der Gropenfurher.

I blame Bustamante, and it really killed his career. When he ran for Insurance Commissioner a couple of years later, he lost by a large percentage. A lot of that can be attributed to the barely lukewarm support his campaign received from the state party heads. He'd pissed them off, alienated a lot of voters, and sunk his political career.

Last I heard, he'd gone back to Fresno and resumed his prior life as a businessman.

[madrchsod]

8. how in the hell did a kennedy marry this guy?

[defendandprotect]

10. That's another great question . . .

and disgusting to think about --

and what influence he may have had and is having in that family or in their affairs!!

Ugh!

[valerief]

19. Lends itself to the "they're all the same" theory. nt

[inna]

9. mystery to us all. Diebold? RW propaganda? Combination of both?...

[defendandprotect]

12. I'd guess any of that would be true . . . but wasn't he re-elected???

Well -- what you can pull off once, I guess you can pull off twice?

W did -- !!


:evilgrin:

[MGB67]

11. Enron.....

and Issa.

Ahnold is just another hand puppet for the fascist assholes, same as Reagan.

Stupid people voted for the hero they knew from the movies.... even if that "hero" was really as dumb as a sack of hammers.

Somehow that trick failed with Fraud Thompson.

I really don't know where Jessie Venture fits in.... he did not seem to be a puppet.

[defendandprotect]

13. Yep . . . agree Enron and Issa . . .

I've read there's another wealthy rw name behind it as well -- but can't recall it --

and just read it very recently!

Thompson is another slime --

And, Ventura I agree is confusing -- I wouldn't vote for him -- but you can't always

condemn him??? Odd!

[Bette Noir]

16. It was the "wouldn't it be a hoot" vote.

"Wouldn't it be a hoot to have the Terminator as governor?"

I have no explanation for how he was re-elected. Well, after he got a good thumping in a special election (all four of his chosen propositions were defeated, at something like 2-to-1 margins), he hired a lot of Democratic advisers, and tried to act like a moderate until after the election.

I wasn't fooled, but a lot of people were.

[SoapBox]

15. Overtime AFTER 10 hours/day or a 60 hour week? Slavery!

And CA is the only state giving farm workers OT as it stands?

Talk about your SLAVE LABOR!

Outrageous.

[pinboy3niner]

17. That would be outrageous for a cube rat

For someone doing backbreaking physical labor outdoors, it's obscene.

[valerief]

18. Geez, like farm work isn't hard enough and doesn't pay enough.

These poor folks are getting bilked out of rightful overtime on top of it.

[SoapBox]

20. CONTACT Lame Duck Gov. HERE and tell him what you think.

He is a disgrace to humanity.

Email:
http://gov.ca.gov/interact#email

Phones:
http://gov.ca.gov/interact#contact