New York farmers filed a last-minute lawsuit Monday to block the state from implementing a landmark farm labor law on Jan. 1.

The law, signed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo in July, gives New York farmworkers the right to unionize, collect overtime pay and take at least one day off per week for the first time in the state’s history.

A coalition of New York dairy and vegetable farmers filed a lawsuit Monday in U.S. District Court in Buffalo asking for a temporary delay in the law’s implementation until the state clarifies how the law will be enforced.

The farmers’ say they are concerned that the law, as written, classifies farm owners, their family members and supervisors as “farm laborers” who technically have the right to engage in collective bargaining and other union activity with other employees.

But those same farm owners, family members and supervisors, representing the farm business, are prohibited by federal law from discouraging union activity or assisting in the formation of a union.

Brian Reeves, a Baldwinsville farmer who serves as president of the New York State Vegetable Growers Association, said the group has been trying to work with state officials for months to iron out the “ambiguity and unfairness” in the new law.

With time running out in the year, the group decided to file a lawsuit Monday seeking a temporary restraining order against the state.

“Today, we are simply seeking a temporary pause to the implementation of this law to avoid harm to our farms and our employees, while the governor and legislature correct the ambiguities,” Reeves said in a statement.

The Northeast Dairy Producers Association joined the vegetable growers in the lawsuit Monday.

The farmers said their representatives worked with state officials through Friday night, trying to resolve the issues.

A spokesman for the farmers said the group intends to abide by the new law but wants to work with the state to make sure the law is clear to farm owners and their employees.

The Farmworkers Fair Labor Practices Act also makes farmworkers eligible for unemployment insurance and workers’ compensation benefits, and requires farmers to comply with new standards to improve conditions at labor camps.

Read more:

NY gives farmworkers historic rights to overtime, days off, benefits

Do NY farmworkers deserve OT, union rights? An Upstate-Downstate clash

New laws in NY for 2020: Grocery bags, paid family leave, voter registration, more

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