“No one does anything truly great alone.” – Elizabeth Strater
Chants of “¡Sí se puede!” filled the air as community members rallied in support of the United Farm Workers (UFW) Wednesday. Outside of Robert E. Coyle Federal Courthouse, hundreds of people stood in solidarity as the first hearing of the UFW lawsuit against the Trump administration was held inside.
The UFW filed the lawsuit jointly with its sister organization, The United Farm Workers Foundation, a non-profit organization that advocates for farm worker and immigrant rights in the US, and 18 individual farm workers after the Department of Labor created a new rule that will cut the wages of H-2A farm workers between $3 to $7 an hour.
Not only does this directly transfer $2.46 billion annually from farm workers’ wages to their employers per the administration’s own estimates, the rule also lowers the wages of any U.S. citizen worker who shares job sites with H-2A farm workers, and makes it financially easier for employers to hire H-2A guest workers over U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents.
“We have several plaintiffs here with us today who’ve travelled from different states just so they could be here,” said Leydy Rangea, communications director for the UFW Foundation.
One of the plaintiffs, Isabel Rinton Panfilo, gave a statement to the crowd of supporters at the rally. While her speech was originally in Spanish, a translator converted parts of her speech into English.
“I may be a farm worker, but who is to say that farm workers have to be poor and hungry all the time,” the translator said, quoting Panfilo. “We deserve a government that looks out for us. We need a wage rate that’s fair, where our jobs aren’t taken, or our wages aren’t lowered because of the H-2A program. We are all struggling to make ends meet. That is why we need to be here to make our voices heard.”
The translator continued, as Panfilo went on to say that while she is of Mexican heritage, she is a U.S. citizen and just as American as Donald Trump is.
At the beginning of the rally, President of the UFW Teresa Romero first thanked everyone for coming out and standing in solidarity with farm workers before diving into her speech.
“Right now, the Trump administration is terrorizing and exploiting our communities,” Romero said. “Donald Trump’s attacks on immigrants are an attack on the entire working class.”
Romero continued to say that the Trump administration has made its intentions clear with this new rule that transfers $2.46 billion from farm workers to employers annually.
“We are here today to say no to the Trump administration’s wage cuts,” Romero said. “We are here today in solidarity with the hardworking people who put food on our tables. Instead of cutting workers’ wages, we should be honoring farm workers with the dignity and respect they deserve.”
Romero then went on to say a few words in Spanish for the farm workers who showed up in support at the courthouse.
Following Romero, CEO of the UFW Foundation Erica Lomeli would also stand before the crowd of supporters and speak.
“We are gathered here today because of all of you, the workers who perform backbreaking labor in the unforgiving sun and bone-chilling cold for long hours each day, in order to feed your families and this country,” Lomeli said. “That is why we are here today, to stand with you and to ensure that you can be paid a fair wage for your work.”
Lomeli would go on to say how the Trump administration is selling out farm workers to please “Big Agriculture” and corporate monopolies.
“Cutting the wages of American workers who feed our nation and pushing them deeper into poverty is not only immoral, but is also unlawful,” Lomeli said.
Lomeli then said that the organizations were proud to stand with their legal team, including their partners in the Covington and Burling team, the Farmworker Justice team and the team at California Rural Legal Assistance, before recognizing the 18 individual farm worker plaintiffs who chose to stand with the UFW.
“17 of 18 of these plaintiffs are U.S. citizens and permanent residents,” Lomeli said. “These wage cuts threaten them with being unable to pay for what they need every day and other basic needs for survival. They live and work here in California, in Washington State, Texas, Missouri, Georgia and Michigan. This is unjust, and that is why we choose to do something about it today.”
Lomeli then pointed out that this is not the first time that a Trump administration has tried to do something similar. During Trump’s first term in 2020, the Department of Labor attempted to freeze the H-2A program.
“We successfully sued and we stopped them,” Lomeli said. “It was illegal then and it’s illegal now.”
A national vice president for the UFW and the director of strategic campaigns Elizabeth Strater mentioned that union members who work alongside H-2A workers did not face the wage cuts.
“It’s because they have a union contract,” said UFW secretary treasurer Armando Elenes. “Right now they’re making $21.39 an hour, while everyone else dropped.”
Elenes then explained how it is that the union contracts prevent members from facing these wage cuts.
“When we negotiate contracts, we always try so that every term and condition applies to every employee,” Elenes said. “It doesn’t matter if you’re an H2-A worker or if you’re a domestic employee, everything applies just the same. It’s a huge difference.”
Amid the allegations of sexual abuse committed by Cesar Chavez, inclduing from fellow founder of UFW Dolores Huerta, the movement has faced heartbreaking pain. However, the UFW are still completely motivated in their cause, says Strater.
“I do think it drives home awareness that no one does anything truly great alone,” Strater said. “The work that was moved in those years was moved by tens of thousands, or hundreds of thousands, of people working in solidarity, and that doesn’t change. But it has been devastating.”
Strater went on to affirm that the UFW will continue to push for farm workers’ and immigrants’ rights.
“This work could not be more vital,” Strater said. “The work will continue.”
Strater went on to say that with the lawsuit being a highly technical case, it could be a month or more before there is a ruling, and that is expected among the UFW organizations.
Rengea went on to add some clarity as to how this new rule by the Department of Labor was implemented.
“Essentially the way the Trump administration was able to cut farm worker wages is through changing the Adverse Effect Wage Rate, which is the formula that determines how much farm workers in the H-2A work program should get paid,” Rangea said. “They released that rule without giving the public the opportunity to provide feedback before it was implemented, which is required by the Administrative Procedure Act.”
With the foundation of the Trump administration not following proper procedures, Rengea is confident in the lawsuit going forward.
Despite not being a part of the UFW herself, Pearl Rosebyrd still showed up in support at the rally.
“I work for a small business that means a lot to me, and we rely on these farm workers to sell produce,” Rosebyrd said. “I think farm workers should make more than what we make, they’re the reason why these stores are selling what they’re selling, a lot of corporations profit off of farm workers. So that’s why I’m here, because that’s just not right. I think people should take care of each other, and fighting to help farm workers make a livable wage is just that.”
