Susan Arbetter is reporting for State of Politics New York farmers are asking Governor Andrew M. Cuomo not to lower the overtime threshold for farmworkers statewide. Last year, Cuomo signed into law the Farm Laborers Fair Labor Practices Act which gave farmworkers new benefits, including overtime pay. The legislation also created a wage board that has held six hearings this year. It is responsible for determining whether the new 60-hour-per-week overtime minimum for farmworkers should be maintained, or lowered. Before the passage of the law, agricultural workers in New York, and 24 other states, were not entitled to the benefits that workers in other industries had received for decades. In 2020, for the first time, they received overtime pay in New York. The wage board has until December 31 to decide whether to keep the 60-hour a week overtime threshold or to lower it. Twenty-six agricultural organizations sent a letter to Cuomo urging him to keep the minimum at 60 hours. Read more at nystateofpolitics [dot] com.