"That farmworkers are denied disability insurance, a weekly day of rest, overtime pay, and the right to bargain collectively is a moral outrage," said Assemblyman Sheldon Silver at a rally in front of the State Capitol.

"There are rights in our country and they should apply to farmworkers as well," said Kerry Kennedy.

Before marching to the Capitol, a couple hundred people gathered together for a service with stories from farmworkers, song, and a participatory bilingual litany, which included these lines:

We confess that as we go through each day, we hardly ever think about those who labor to grow and harvest our food.
God forgive us, we pray.

We confess that when we walk
through the grocery store,
our bottom line is not justice
for those who labor in the fields,
but finding the lowest price, and
we contribute to the pressure put on
workers to accept unacceptable conditions.
God forgive us, we pray.

Our neglect and lack of awareness
helps silence the voices of farmworkers
and we confess our complicity in the
injustices that they must endure.
God forgive us, we pray.

We confess that when we vote to elect our legislators, too often our participation in our democracy ends there, and we fail to challenge our representatives to change the laws that relegate farmworkers to the very edges of our society.
God forgive us, we pray.

Irma, a former farmworker who can no longer work due to injury spoke about the fear that farmworkers live with. "The situation with immigration agents is horrible. We can't go out," she said. Two of her family members were deported in immigration raids. "I have to live all my time inside in fear so that I'm not taken away," she said.

"We want to work. We're not here to take your work away. We just want our rights," Irma said in a meeting with a representative from State Senator Martin Dilan's office.

The Assembly has passed the bill three times previously. Organizers with Rural & Migrant Ministry said they are close to winning majority support in the Senate as well.