A new state law means some California farmworkers are now entitled to back pay. FM89’s Diana Aguilera reports a local union is working to spread the word among workers.
The law says workers who weren’t paid accurately from July 2012 to December 2015 have the right to back pay for rest periods and unproductive time. This includes time for training, traveling, and moving from and to fields.
The United Farm Workers union is currently reaching out to farm laborers to let them know about the law before it goes into effect January 1st.
Antonio Cortes with the UFW says workers may get up to $8 dollars or more per day in back pay.
“It’s millions of dollars the growers need to pay to the workers,” he says. “We calculate again each of the workers they may receive $48 for week for the last three years. It’s a lot of money.”
The union plans to visit Fresno, Madera, Kern, Ventura, Sonoma and Monterey counties educating workers about the new law.
