(BUFFALO, NEW YORK) – Representatives from the United Farm Workers (UFW) led a rally outside the U.S. Courthouse in Buffalo earlier this week in opposition to a grower lobby’s lawsuit intending to strip New York Farm Workers of their right to organize.

Arguments in that lawsuit (New York State Vegetable Growers Association Inc. v. Hochul) were heard on that day.

At stake is the right of Farm Workers in New York to organize and join Unions.

Farm Workers are excluded from Federal Law that grants all American Workers the right to join Unions. 

But in 2019, New York expanded Unionization Rights to Farm Workers with the Farm Laborers Fair Labor Practices Act (FLFLP), joining California and Hawaii as the only States that provide these rights to Farm Workers.

Under the terms of this law, the UFW has won five Union Certifications and filed for two more at New York farms, representing both local and H2A and Mexican and Jamaican Farm Workers.

Since October of 2023, the grower lawsuit against the FLFLP has frozen all enforcement of this law - effectively stripping all New York Farm Workers of their right to organize even as the case works its way through the courts.

“There would be no Agricultural Industry in New York without Farm Workers,” UFW President Teresa Romero said. “It is unconscionable that New York growers are attempting to strip those workers of their right to a Union - especially after over five hundred Farm Workers in New York have already exercised that right.  The court must dismiss this transparent attempt to dismantle established New York Labor Law and crush Farm Workers’ Unionization efforts.”

Buffalo TV Station WIVB reported Western New York AFL-CIO Area Labor Federation President Peter DeJesus to those at the rally: “Whether you are a Farm Worker, a Nurse, (in the) Trades or a Barista, we are here to improve the lives and increase the power of Working Families.  To bring fairness and dignity to the workplace and secure social equity.”

To Directly Access This Labor News Report, Go To: Farmworkers and Allies to Rally Outside Buffalo Courthouse For Right to Organize – UFW

For More, Go To: Agriculture community fights to ensure fairness for farmworkers and rights to unionize | News 4 Buffalo (wivb.com)

Photo Courtesy Of The Western New York AFL-CIO Area Labor Federation Via Facebook.