News Blog

The League of Women Voters of the Rochester Metro Area and the League of Women Voters of Wayne County will hold a forum on proposed legislation that would extend some existing labor laws to farmworkers.

The forum will be held at 7 p.m. on Monday, September 22, at the Asbury First United Methodist Church, 1050 East Avenue. It’ll focus on the Farm Worker Fair Labor Practices Act — a proposed law that the State Legislature has repeatedly rejected in some form or another over the past 25 years, according to a press release from the League. Farmworkers are exempt from some protections afforded other workers under the 1938 Fair Labor Practices Act.

The most recent Assembly version of the bill, which the chamber passed during its last session, would allow farmworkers to unionize and require overtime pay for the workers.

The forum’s panel will include Lewis Papenfuse, executive director of the Worker Justice Center of New York, and Dean Norton, president of the New York Farm Bureau. Former Brighton Supervisor Sandra Frankel is the forum’s moderator. BY JEREMY MOULE 


Rochester schools Superintendent Bolgen Vargas resumes his coffee and conversation meetings on Tuesday, September 23. This is an opportunity for parents, teachers, students, and residents to meet and talk to the superintendent, raise questions, or make him aware of problems.

The meeting will be held from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., at the district’s central office, 131 West Broad Street.

Also, almost all of the district’s schools are holding an open house this week. Parents can meet with teachers, sometimes tour the school, and discuss student progress. Call your child’s school for the schedule or visit the district’s website: www.rcsdk12.org. BY TIM LOUIS MACALUSO