Will Governor Jerry Brown seize another opportunity to improve the lives of farmworkers?
Migrant workers harvest corn on in Gilroy, California
USDA photo by Bob Nichols
When he was first Governor of California back in 1975, Jerry Brown created the Agricultural Labor Relations Board. California became the only state to allow farmworkers to unionize and bargain for overtime. Now, in his fourth term, he's being asked to sign a measure that would pay overtime after a workweek of 40 hours instead of 60 hours. But recently, Brown vetoed a bill that have would make it easier for farmworkers to organize. Miriam Pawel is author of two books on the farmworkers: The Union of their Dreams and, most recently, The Crusades of Cesar Chavez: A Biography.