e mail for Murf Raquet

[Tom Trail <ttrail@moscow.com>]

>Visionaires--The issue of minimum wage for farm workers has now moved from
>the economic
stage to that of a major Human Rights issue in Idaho.  Governor Kempthorne
is endorsing a
minimum wage bill for farm workers with a piece work exclusion.  This
simply doesn't do the job.

>   Tomorrow I'm meeting with the Farm Workers Coalition in Boise at 9 am
>and then we have our Legislative Interim Committee meeting at 10:00 am on
>the minimum wage
>for farmer workers legislation.  Reps. Bieter, Robison, and I will
>introduce the same bill
>that we introduced to the House Ag Committee last February--abolish the ag
>exemption in Fair
>Labor Act and put all workers in the state on the level playing field of
>the minimum wage.

>The Governor's endorsement of the minimum
>wage for farm workers is a step forward;  however, there is one giant
>black hole in his
>endorsement.   He supports the minimum wage as long there is a piece work
>exclusion.  About
>two-thirds of our 35,000 farm workers would fall under the piece work
>exclusion.  First of all,
>farm worker advocates support piece work since the majority of workers
>under piece work
>earn above the minimum wage.   The opponents to the minimum wage have
>broadcast that
>farm workers advocates are against piece work.  This is simply a red
>herring and not true.
>
>The problem with piece work is that employers/contractors can lower the
>piece work rates
>and one soon finds that the majority of farm workers are being paid below
>the minimum wage.
>This has happened in Texas and Michigan.  The Farm Worker Advocates
>support piece work but
>want a guaranteed minimum wage set so that all farm workers being paid
>under piece work
>get the minimum wage.
>
>This can be done in the following way.   The Department of Labor will be
>required to monitor
>the records of farmers and contractors.  Farmers must keep records of the
>names of workers,
>amount paid, and amount of time worked.   Washington State, for examples,
>requires that
>employers keep weekly records and other states require daily records.  At
>the end of a week
>of work, the amount paid a worker for piece work is totaled up.  The total
>amount is then
>divided by the number of hours worked.  If the total falls below the $5.15
>for minimum wage
>then the difference is made up to the worker thus guaranteeing payment of
>the minimum wage.
>This is being done in other states so there is no reason we can't do it in
>Idaho.
>
>Speaker Bruce Newcomb and Senate President Pro Tem Bob Geddes agree that
>the minimum
>wage issue isn't going to make a difference in staying in business or not.
>They state that most
>farmers already pay more than the minimum wage and accepting the minimum
>wage proposal
>with a piece work exclusion is really just a formality.  Therefore,
>Legislative leadership is
>telling us that there is no longer an economic reason to deny farm workers
>the minimum wage.
>
>We are now faced with a Human Rights issue instead of an economic issue.
>No other
>occupational group of workers are faced with a piece work exclusion.  By
>leaving this loophole
>in the law we end up with a group of largely Hispanic second class
>citizens.  We simply want
>everybody on the same level playing field with their rights to the minimum
>wage protected by
>the law.  To fail to do so is a scar on Idaho's so called campaign for
>diversity.  We've got to
>admit that part of our image problem is we don't treat our citizens
>equally.  The only way we can get blotch off our record is to repeal the
>agricultural examption.
>
>Rep. Tom Trail/Dist. 5
>
>

Dr. Tom Trail
International Trails
1375 Mt. View Rd.
Moscow, Id. 83843
Tel:  (208) 882-6077
Fax:  (208) 882-0896
e mail ttrail@moscow.com