01/12/2026 Victory: UFW Contract To Be Implemented at Wafler Farms; Wage Increase Instead of Wage Cut

Wayne County, New York - Following a years-long legal battle, a UFW union contract will be implemented at Wafler Farms, an apple producer in Wayne County, New York. This marks the second UFW contract to be in effect in the state of New York. The UFW contract at Wafler Farms covers all non-management, non-supervisory agricultural workers, including both year round and seasonal local workers, as well as seasonal workers on H2A visas.

Among the many worker gains in the UFW contract are a new wage rate of 19.39 an hour, with a raise next year to 19.97 an hour. This higher pay is a sharp contrast to other New York farm workers at non-union farms, where the recent implementation of the Trump administration's H2A wage cut will lower wages for H2A workers and local U.S. workers alike from a previous rate of $18.83 an hour, established by the federal Adverse Effect Wage Rate (AEWR) rule, to 16 dollars an hour under the Trump wage cut - a difference of thousands of dollars a year for a full time farm worker. Union contracts are not subject to this unilateral federal wage cut. Workers at Wafler farm will now make thousands of dollars more a year than they would have without a UFW contract.

A UFW contract at Wafler Farms should have been in effect since April 24^th, 2025, when a UFW contract was awarded to workers at Wafler Farms by a state-appointed arbitrator in February 2025. Wafler Farms' repeated lawsuits, refusal to bargain in good faith, and efforts to appeal the union certification finally hit the end of the legal road in late 2025 when a Wayne County Judge ordered the implementation of the UFW contract. The UFW will be pursuing back pay for all members of the Wafler Farms bargaining unit who worked there in 2025 and should have received the union pay rate since this past April.

"This hard-fought victory belongs to the farm workers at Wafler Farms, who never stopped fighting for their rights and the union contract they deserve," said UFW Secretary Treasurer Armando Elenes. "Now, while other farm workers' wages are being cut by this administration, their wages will go up - enshrined in a legally binding union contract. That is the union difference, and we know farm workers at other nearby farms are already beginning to notice. Our message to farm workers across New York: Now is the time to organize!"

Having now implemented union contracts at 2 farms in New York, the UFW is continuing to pursue contracts at an additional 6 agricultural companies in New York State where it is the certified collective bargaining representative, as well as supporting farm workers organizing at additional worksites. Additionally, the UFW is leading a federal lawsuit to stop the Trump administration's farm worker wage cut nationwide.

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