Seasonal migrant farm workers at an upstate New York apple orchard are entering the new year with new labor protections under a hard-won union contract, the second such farm union contract in upstate New York history.

Workers organizing with the United Farm Workers (UFW) won the contract after a yearslong legal battle with Wafler Farms, an apple producer in Wayne County. Workers had initially certified their union in 2023, but Wafler Farms sued to block the workers from organizing. A Wayne County judge ordered Wafler Farms to implement the contract on Dec. 2, and the company has now agreed to the judge’s terms.

The contract will cover between 120 and 130 farm workers, many of whom are Jamaican migrants on H-2A seasonal worker visas. The UFW said it is also 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 beginning this past April, when the contract was initially due to take effect…

…the workers at Wafler farm will now make thousands of dollars more each year than they would have without a UFW contract…

…UFW is also pursuing back pay for individuals who worked at Wafler in 2025 and should have received the union pay rate…