LAKE COUNTY – State Sen. Pat Wiggins has introduced a bill to extend a labor law exemption to allow teens to work longer hours in the county's pear sheds during harvest.

This week, Wiggins (D-Santa Rosa) introduced SB 319, a bill she said is important because of the labor shortage during the county's pear harvest.

“Agricultural plants in Lake County have depended on high school seniors to complete their packing schedules on time,” Wiggins said. “At the same time, job opportunities for the local youth can be scarce, and the summer break offers them a chance to earn extra money by working in the packing plants. This exemption to the law helps them earn money while also contributing to the local economy.”

Under existing law, minors 16-17 years of age are normally prohibited from working more than eight hours per day and 48 hours per week, Wiggins reported.

Wiggins' bill would authorize the California labor commissioner to grant an exemption from this prohibition to allow Lake County youth to work up to 10 hours per day in agricultural packing plants during non-school periods during the peak harvest season.

The exemption, which is currently set to expire Jan. 1, 2008, also authorizes the labor commissioner to permit the packing plants to employ minor students up to 60 hours per week upon prior written approval by the Lake County Office of Education.

Toni Scully of Scully Packing Co. said the bill is very important to the local pear industry. especially in light of recent labor shortages. She's been a proponent of the labor law exemption, which first began in 1996, she said.

“We're very pleased that Sen. Wiggins has sponsored this legislation,” said Scully.

She reported that Wiggins visited the county last summer to see the teens at work in the pear sheds.

That summer, Scully said, 47 local teens worked at Scully Packing during the harvest.

Heidi Abbott of the Lake County Office of Education's Student Programs and Services office, tracks summer vacation work permits. Abbott said there were 164 work permits issued countywide last summer, and just under half of those worked in the pear sheds.

Scully said that high school students working in the sheds in 2006 earned about $60,000.

Local teens have been working in the pear sheds for four or five generations, Scully explained. In the 1950s, there was a law that allowed teens to work longer hours in the Lake County pear sheds during the summer.

Then, in 1996, the child labor law was rewritten, she noted, which “threw our little Lake County law out.”

Members of the local pear industry called on Mike Thompson at the time, she said, and that effort gave birth to a labor bill that once again allowed teens to work longer hours under an exemption to child labor law.

The bill sunsets every three years, said Scully, although it originally sunseted every two years.

This is the fifth time since 1996 that the exemption has gone back for renewal, she said.

“It's been a real win-win for the pear business and the community,” said Scully, who noted that the bill allows teens to receive overtime for their longer work hours.

Local teens often have a hard time finding summer employment, said Scully, and the bill helps offer them an option.

Scully has experienced firsthand the difficulties with finding labor for the local pear harvest.

During the 2006 harvest, local pear sheds struggled to find enough labor. Scully has estimated that only 400 of the 900 skilled workers needed in the orchards came to the county. The pear sheds needed another 600 workers for processing, spots that Scully and the other local pear shed still in operation, Adobe Creek Packing, struggled to fill.

County Agriculture Commissioner Steve Hajik has stated that 25 percent of the county's 2006 pear crop was lost due to lack of labor.

In January, Scully traveled to Washington, D.C., where Sen. Dianne Feinstein had invited her to speak at the formal introduction of the AgJOBS bill.

“Now, with the labor shortage, it's very important for us to keep these student helpers,” Scully said.

Each time the teen labor bill is extended, Scully reported that more counties wanted to be included in it, although the Legislature's Labor Committee has refused to expand the bill.

“That why Lake County is the only county that has this privilege,” Scully said.

She said it's also a way for local students to make money for college.

The bottom line, Scully added, is that the money stays in the community.

“It has been a very positive program,” she said. “We're very proud of it.”

The law, which would extend the exemption until Jan. 1, 2012, also would require the labor commissioner to inspect working conditions at the plants which hire minors and report back to the Legislature.

Wiggins' bill has the support of the Lake County Sheriff Department, Lakeport Unified School District, the Board of Supervisors and the County Probation Department.

 

Visit her Web site at www.dist02.casen.govoffice.com.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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