K2. Labor News

August 5, 2025

We can all see that Palestinians are starving. We can all see that Israel’s intention is to kill, displace, or detain every Palestinian and annex their remaining lands. And we can see that the United States’ continued denial of this cruelty is rooted, in part, in our investment in the military-industrial complex and allegiance to corporate interests. 

UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Francesca Albanese just released a new report detailing how arms manufacturers, tech firms, construction companies, banks, pension funds, insurers, universities and more “underpin the Israeli settler-colonial twofold logic of displacement and replacement aimed at dispossessing and erasing Palestinians from their lands.” As a result of this report, Albanese was sanctioned by the United States.

We cannot rely on the U.S. government to take action to stop these war crimes. Instead we aim to follow the example of brave workers and labor organizations taking a stand, including, most recently:    

Amazon Labor Union co-founder Chris Smalls sailing with the Gaza Freedom Flotilla to deliver much-needed aid blocked by Israel. Smalls was briefly detained and beaten by Israeli forces, reporting: “[they] attacked me out of the 21 volunteers because of the color of my skin.” 

Dock workers and activists in Greece refusing to unload a cargo ship with steel destined for military use in Israel. 

The largest teachers’ union in the U.S. voting to end its partnership with the Anti-Defamation League, citing concerns over the ADL’s stance on Israel and their definition of antisemitism, which includes any criticism of the Israeli state. 

Dock workers in Marseille blocking a shipment of military material bound for Israel, and their union stating that they refuse to participate in the ongoing genocide.  

CALL TO ACTION:
We will continue to call on our representatives to stop selling arms to Israel, to take a strong stance against Israel’s war crimes, and to deliver aid to Gaza by any means necessary. But we can take action by organizing in our workplaces to stymie the war supply chain, by joining the anti-genocide pledge, by boycotting companies that benefit from the Israeli occupation, by donating to organizations that provide direct aid, and by joining the global labor groups standing up for Palestinians.

The post U.S. Government Will Not Stop Genocide appeared first on Food Chain Workers Alliance.

JULY 30, 2025: It’s not an exaggeration — every day there’s a new ICE raid, a new unlawful detainment, new details about overcrowded and torturous detention facilities, or a new plan to centralize government data for DHS use. Across the food system, frontline workers are being swept up in this cruel process.

Many of our members have pivoted away from their usual organizing work to respond to attacks in their communities. We’re proud to share some updates below, including many injustices but also some hard-won victories. Thank you for supporting immigrants in your community, FCWA, and our members.

 

LELO CHOOSES VOLUNTARY DEPARTURE

Farmworker and union leader Alfredo “Lelo” Juarez Zeferino was granted a voluntary departure on July 14, and is now back in Mexico with family and friends. Lelo had been in detention at the privately-run NW Detention Center in Tacoma, WA since March 25, after he was pulled out of his car and arrested by ICE while driving his partner to work.

In his four months of detention, Lelo had several hearings, but like hundreds of other people held at the Tacoma facility, he was denied bond. The judge who denied his bond is one of several at this facility claiming they don’t have jurisdiction to grant bonds to immigrants who entered the country without legal documentation. “They are the only immigration judges in the country choosing to interpret the law in this way,” reports The Stand. Lelo has joined a class action lawsuit by the NW Immigrant Rights Project to challenge this practice.

 “We are relieved that he successfully removed himself from ICE’s inhumane treatment,” Community to Community Development said in their statement. “We value his wisdom and unwavering clarity that brought him to decide for voluntary departure…The conditions at Northwest ICE Processing Center have always been unacceptable, and we respect Lelo’s choice to remove himself from the continued physical and psychological violence of detention. It was increasingly clear to all of us that due process was not being followed, and no justice would be found.” 

 

DELMY CHOOSES VOLUNTARY DEPARTURE

The Workers’ Center of Central NY has been fighting to free their member Delmy Rendon, who was arrested by Border Patrol when she got in a car accident during a snowstorm and sought help from neighbors who reported her to immigration authorities. Despite having been paroled into the country legally and having no criminal record, Delmy was held in ICE detention in Louisiana for nearly six months.

At the time of her arrest, Delmy and her husband Luis had been waiting for years for the immigration court to schedule their asylum case. And in a bond hearing in May, Delmy’s lawyer cited specific points of immigration law that clearly show she does not qualify to be put in expedited removal. However, the judge insisted he did not have jurisdiction to authorize bond. Delmy reserved her right to appeal this decision, but this week she made the difficult decision to accept a voluntary departure to Guatemala, separating her from her husband and daughters who remain in Northern NY. WCCNY reports that Delmy expressed deep gratitude for everyone who supported her, especially by sending letters describing what was happening outside. She also documented her experience in detention and will be sharing more stories of the conditions soon, to continue her activism and resistance. 

 

IN VERMONT, DAIRY WORKERS KEEP GETTING DETAINED

After rallying around nine dairy workers detained in April (three of whom are now safely home!) two more Migrant Justice members were detained on June 14: Jose Ignacio “Nacho” De La Cruz was driving with his stepdaughter Heidi Perez when they were pulled over and detained after agents smashed their car window. Following a series of rallies and actions by the community, Nacho and Heidi were granted bail on July 10. “I am free thanks to all of you and to the entire immigrant community that was supporting us from day one” Nacho said upon his release. “Together we grow stronger every day. Join with Migrant Justice to fight for our rights. Sí se puede!” This latest detention happened as two landmark laws took effect in Vermont, both of which Nacho and Heidi had a hand in winning: The Education Equity Act guarantees in-state tuition rates and need-based financial aid at public colleges and universities for all Vermont students regardless of status; and the Housing Access for Immigrant Families Act prohibits landlords from requiring applicants to provide SSNs.  

“Each time I go [to an ICE check-in], it’s with the same fear. When I walk into that building, it’s with the thought that I might not be able to go home, and I might not be able to see my children.” Wuendy Bernardo is an immigrant dairy worker and member of Migrant Justice in Vermont. She has been making periodic check-ins with immigration authorities since 2014. But since January, those appointments have become more frequent and more frightening. So supporters from the Migrant Justice community are accompanying her. At her most recent check-in, over 200 Vermonters were there to ensure she remained free. And last week, The Boston Globe published a story about Wuendy and her family’s close relationship with her employer, a self-described conservative farmer. “I consider them more than just employees. They’re part of the family.”

 

 

TELL THE NY FARM BUREAU: STAND UP FOR WORKERS!

In June, the Workers’ Center of Central NY and Alianza Agrícola published an open letter to the New York Farm Bureau on behalf of farmworkers, calling on the NYFB and agricultural employers to step up to protect immigrant farmworkers by: 1) Calling for immigration reform that respects labor rights; 2) Creating workplace safety plans; 3) Providing Know Your Rights education; and 4) Endorsing the New York for All Act, which would limit local law enforcement’s collaboration with ICE. You can add your name to the petition in support of these demands.

This week, WCCNY organizer Mina Aguilar uplifted the call in her must-read op-ed in the New York Daily News: “We’re calling on NYFB and the agricultural industry to call for nothing short of amnesty and immigration reform that is not based on labor exploitation,” Mina writes. “It is the most practical, economical, and moral solution. If the industry keeps pushing for half measures like temporary visas, we will continue to be plagued by labor abuses and shortages.”

 

 

 

PUSHING BACK AGAINST 287G AGREEMENTS IN FLORIDA

In February, Governor DeSantis directed all state law enforcement agencies to enter 287g agreements with ICE. But that directive does not necessarily apply to agencies at the local level throughout the state. As part of the Immigrants Are Welcome Here coalition, the Farmworker Association of Florida is pushing for their local police to cancel their agreement with ICE, meeting with Apopka police and the Orange County Mayor and Commissioners to stand up for immigrant communities. On July 15, the Commission declared Orange County will stop holding immigration detainees in its jail if they face no other criminal charges (a change to its current practice of holding all ICE detainees, regardless of their charges). They also voted down a proposal that would have allowed county corrections staff to transport ICE inmates to federal detention centers.

 

CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT AGAINST DHS IN CALIFORNIA

As Trump and the federal government launched a full scale attack on immigrant communities in California, Warehouse Worker Resource Center and fellow members of the Los Angeles Worker Center Network filed a class action lawsuit against DHS for abducting and disappearing community members using unlawful stop and arrest practices, and confining individuals at a federal building in illegal conditions while denying them access to attorneys. A judge recently granted a Temporary Restraining Order in seven SoCal counties, which has brought some relief.

 

 

 

 

SUPPORT CATA’S WORK IN MARYLAND

El Comité de Apoyo a los Trabajadores Agrícolas (CATA) is supporting immigrant farmworkers in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and New Jersey. They’re doing organizing and outreach, providing direct services, and taking on legal fights like their landmark case with the ACLU, suing New Jersey for discriminating against farmworkers by not including them in the state’s minimum wage law. While ICE’s budget has been increased by billions, CATA just lost critical federal funding for their work supporting immigrant workers in Maryland. As their support staff shares:

“So many immigrant workers would lose access to vital information—about their rights, how to defend them, and how to access basic services.”

“We don’t just drop off flyers. We share meals, build trust, and bring hope.”

A donation to CATA today covers rent, food, or utility bills for a family in crisis; brings vital info and support to isolated rural communities, and sustains organizing and advocacy efforts. 

 

The post Deportation Crisis: Updates from FCWA Members appeared first on Food Chain Workers Alliance.

(español abajo)

STATEMENT ON ICE RAIDS IN VENTURA COUNTY
JULY 14, 2025

The state-sponsored violence that we witnessed in the immigration raids at Ventura County farms last week had nothing to do with upholding any law or protecting any population. These operations are meant to hurt, terrorize and kidnap people who work perilous jobs for low wages—people we were all calling “essential” just a few years ago.

It is heartbreaking that we have our first known case of a worker death caused by these raids: Jaime Alanis fell to his death while reportedly attempting to hide from agents on the roof of a greenhouse. DHS has since stated that Alanis was not being pursued by law enforcement, but when ICE has been snatching people at random across Southern California for weeks, how can workers feel safe, even when they know they have done nothing wrong? 

FCWA’s Interim Executive Director Jose Lopez was in Ventura this past Friday in his capacity as the President of Dream Team Los Angeles (DTLA), a local youth-led group of undocumented activists. Along with the DTLA team, he conducted intake for the spouses, parents, and children of those detained in the Thursday raids, many of whom still have no idea where their loved ones are.

“It’s heartbreaking to see children looking for their parents, grandparents looking for their children, so many people desperately seeking help to find their loved ones,” Jose reports. “We had no answers on Friday but we were there to take their information down so we could connect them to their family members. In the past, it has taken about 24 hours after an immigration arrest to locate detainees, get their A number, and get their lawyers in to see them. As of Monday July 14, it’s been four days since the raids and we are just barely beginning to get replies to our requests for information.

“We can only assume there is a backlog due to the increase in raids, though it’s also clear that this administration is not interested in being transparent or prioritizing their prisoners’ basic rights. I’m getting calls from family members asking if we have updates right now, and unfortunately we don’t have that information to give them yet.

“If you have papers or legal status, we ask that you please stand up for your community right now. Show up to ICE actions and let them know they are not welcome.”  

DECLARACIÓN SOBRE LAS REDADAS DE ICE EN EL CONDADO DE VENTURA
14 DE JULIO, 2025

La violencia estatal que presenciamos en las redadas migratorias en las granjas del condado de Ventura la semana pasada no tuvo nada que ver con el cumplimiento de ninguna ley ni con la protección de ninguna población. Estas operaciones tienen como objetivo herir, aterrorizar y secuestrar a personas que realizan trabajos peligrosos por bajos salarios, personas a las que todos llamábamos “esenciales” hace apenas unos años.

Es desgarrador que tengamos el primer caso conocido de la muerte de un trabajador a causa de estas redadas: Jaime Alanis murió al caer al suelo mientras, según informes, intentaba esconderse de los agentes en el techo de un invernadero. El DHS ha declarado desde entonces que Alanis no estaba siendo perseguido por las fuerzas del orden, pero cuando el ICE lleva semanas deteniendo a personas al azar por todo el sur de California, ¿cómo pueden los trabajadores sentirse seguros, incluso sabiendo que no han hecho nada malo?

El Director Ejecutivo Interino de FCWA, José López, estuvo en Ventura el viernes pasado como presidente de Dream Team Los Angeles (DTLA), un grupo local de activistas indocumentados liderado por jóvenes. Junto con el equipo de DTLA, realizó la recolección de información de los cónyuges, padres e hijos de los detenidos en las redadas del jueves, muchos de los cuales aún desconocen el paradero de sus seres queridos.

“Es desgarrador ver a niños buscando a sus padres, abuelos buscando a sus hijos, tanta gente buscando desesperadamente ayuda para encontrar a sus seres queridos”, informa José. “No tuvimos respuestas el viernes, pero estuvimos allí para tomar su información y conectarlos con sus familiares. Anteriormente, se tardaban aproximadamente 24 horas después de un arresto migratorio para localizar a los detenidos, obtener su número A y conseguir que sus abogados los vieran. Al lunes 14 de julio, han pasado cuatro días desde las redadas y apenas empezamos a recibir respuestas a nuestras solicitudes de información.

“Solo podemos suponer que hay un retraso debido al aumento de las redadas, aunque también es evidente que a esta administración no le interesa ser transparente ni priorizar los derechos básicos de sus presos. Recibo llamadas de familiares que preguntan si tenemos novedades en este momento, y lamentablemente aún no tenemos esa información para darles.

“Les pedimos a las personas con documentos o estatus legal que defiendan a su comunidad ahora mismo. Preséntese en las acciones de ICE y hágales saber que no son bienvenidos.

The post Statement on ICE Raids in Ventura County appeared first on Food Chain Workers Alliance.

APRIL 22, 2025

Over the past two years, FCWA hosted a series of dialogues, focus groups, and hearings for workers across the food chain to discuss how they’re experiencing the climate crisis now, and to uplift a food worker vision for climate and environmental justice. Many of our members are engaged in this work already, whether fighting to establish heat protections for workers, stop the use of pesticides, or defend communities from air pollution.

This Earth Day, we’re releasing a new platform based on these conversations and a Food Worker Climate Justice Declaration to guide our movement building and organizing into the future. It is critical that our food worker movement fight alongside the global movement for climate and environmental justice. Equally, our comrades fighting the climate crisis must center worker leadership and support worker organizing. Click here or read below to see what workers are saying about climate justice and the priorities laid out in our Food Worker Climate Justice Declaration.

“The laws that exist are not sufficient or strong or enforced to protect us.
We decided to take climate change as a central issue in our union in
Washington… It is an issue that is very local but international at the same time.”
– Familias Unidas por la Justicia

“Temperatures have been unbearable for bakery workers in the past year.
Bake rooms are reaching over 100° with no air conditioning and bosses
dictating to stop complaining, and ‘get in there and make bread.’ Workers
passing out, leaving work, even dying of heat stroke — workers that we don’t
think of as being affected in cities.”
– Bakery Worker

“There is an increase of animal pests, so the use of pesticides goes up. Pesticide
effectiveness goes down, which causes even more pesticides to be used. With the
higher heat, the chemicals become vaporized, which equals more pesticide
exposure for farmworkers.”
– Farmworker

The post Food Workers for Climate Justice appeared first on Food Chain Workers Alliance.

On Tuesday, March 25,  Alfredo “Lelo” Juarez was violently detained by ICE while driving his partner to her workplace. ICE agents broke his car window when Lelo tried to exercise his rights. He is currently detained at an ICE facility in Tacoma, Washington.

Lelo has been a farmworker and community leader in Whatcom County, WA since he was 12 years old, and has worked tirelessly for immigrant and farmworker rights. He was one of the initial founders of the independent union Familias Unidas por la Justicia (FUJ), where he helped agricultural workers win paid breaks and overtime. As an organizer with Community to Community Development (C2C), he has been involved in multiple campaigns, most recently exposing the local impacts of the exploitative H-2A program.

Farmworker organizations on the ground believe that ICE targeted Lelo for his leadership in standing up for farmworkers and immigrants in his community. Most of the cases like Lelo’s go unnoticed, but there have been countless cases where ICE has harassed and abducted people on work sites, or on their way to and from work. The Trump Administration’s mass deportation plan is a way to harm individuals and families. It is also an attack on workers and on worker organizing, and an attempt to suppress the labor movement and silence pro-worker activism.

We stand with all the immigrant workers that have been targeted. We stand with FCWA members C2C and FUJ in demanding Lelo’s release and calling for U.S. Sens. Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray, U.S. Reps. Rick Larsen and Pramila Jayapal, Governor Bob Ferguson, and WA Attorney General Nick Brown to do everything they can to free Lelo and to investigate the potential political motivations for his detention. We demand that all our elected leaders denounce these targeted attacks on immigrant workers and intervene to protect their safety.

FCWA is calling for ally organizations to join us in demanding Lelo’s release by signing on to our open letter.

Sign-ons as of May 9 at 9:00 a.m. PDT:
73 for Palestine
Agricultural Justice Project
Agroecology Research-Action Collective
Alternative Housing Alliance
Asian Americans United
Association of Legal Advocates and Attorneys – UAW Local 2325
Birchwood Food Desert Fighters
CAUSE (Central Coast Alliance United for a Sustainable Economy)
Center for Biological Diversity
Center for Gender & Refugee Studies
Chicago Food Policy Action Council
Chicago Jobs with Justice
Cincinnati Interfaith Workers Center
City Fruit
CLEAN Carwash Worker Center
Coffee Workers Coalition
Comité de Apoyo a los Trabajadores Agrícolas
Community Alliance for Global Justice
Community First Whatcom
Community Food Advocates
Comunidad Sol
Coope Talamanca Sostenible
Cooperation Jackson
Dream Team Los Angeles
DRUM – Desis Rising up & Moving
DSA National Labor Commission
Ecojustice Ireland
FAACTS
FAE – Foundation for Academic Endeavors
Family Farm Defenders
Farm Aid
Farm and Food Justice Network
Farm Forward
Farmworker Association of Florida
Feedom Freedom Growers
Foggy Hill Farm
Food Culture Collective
Food for the Spirit
Food in Neighborhoods Community Coalition
Friends of the MST
Full Heart Farm
Global Labor Justice
Good Food Buffalo Coalition
Got Green
Grassroots Global Justice Alliance
Grassroots Law & Organizing for Workers (GLOW)
Harriet Tubman Center for Social Justice
Havurah Bris Melach
HEAL Food Alliance
Hearst Union
Huron Valley DSA
Idaho Organization of Resource Councils
Illinois Food Justice Alliance
Imoto Flower Farm
Indivisible Madison East
Institute for Agriculture & Trade Policy
Intercommunity Peace and Justice Center
International Mayan League
International Migrants Alliance – US Chapter
Jews for Palestinian Right of Return
Justice for Migrant Workers
Kamayan Farm
La Semilla Food Center
Labor for Palestine National Network
Latinos En Spokane
Latinx Farmworkers of Southern Idaho
Long Way Farm
Makanai Farm
Make the Road PA
Migrant Justice / Justicia Migrante
Mission to End Modern Slavery (MEMS)
Mississippi Workers Center for Human Rights
Mixteca Group
MDC Consulting
Mount Baker Foundation
National Employment Law Project
National Lawyers Guild
National Lawyers Guild DC Chapter
National Lawyers Guild Seattle
National Young Farmers Coalition
NC Environmental Justice Network
Noisy Waters Northwest
NorCal Resist
Northeast Organic Farming Association of New York
Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont
NPEU (Nonprofit Professional Employees Union)
Nuevo Sol Day Labor and Domestic Worker Center
Pesticide Action & Agroeccology Network of North America
Philadelphia Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance
Powerswitch Action
Project South
Queer Spokane
Real Food Media
River Valley Country Club Farm
Rural Community Workers Alliance
Rural Vermont
Skagit County Democrats
Starbucks Workers United
South Carolina Workers Party
Southern Workers Assembly
Southside Food Co-op
Sunnyland Free Pantry
Tacoma DSA
Triumph Teen Life Center
UAW 4811 (UCLA) Rank & File Caucus
University Network for Human Rights
Vamos Outdoors Project
Venceremos
WA People’s Privacy
Wapato Church of the Nazarene
Warehouse Worker Resource Center
WashMasks Mutual Aid
WESPAC Foundation, Inc.
Westchester for CHange
Western Academic Workers United (UAW Local 4929)
WFSE Local 443
Whatcom County Charter Review Commissioner
Whatcom Families for Justice Palestine
Whatcom Democrats
Whatcom Peace and Justice Center
WhyHunger
Worker Justice Center of New York
Worksafe
WWU Jewish Voice for Peace

Individuals can take the following actions to support the cause:

• Send an email and make a call to demand Lelo’s release
• Follow Community to Community Development on Instagram & Facebook
• Donate to C2C to support Lelo’s legal defense

Free Lelo!

The post We Demand the Release of Farmworker Leader Alfredo “Lelo” Juarez from ICE Detention appeared first on Food Chain Workers Alliance.

FEBRUARY 12, 2025

Today, Food Chain Workers Alliance published a new and critical resource on the state of work in our food system. Food ​Chain Worker​s ​i​n 202​5: Labor and Exploitation in the Food System analyzes data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Census Bureau, and U.S. Department of Labor to find that food workers fare worse than nearly all other U.S. workers by basically any measure. 

Low wages, high rates of injury, high rates of food insecurity, and low unionization are just some of the trends that continue to make the food industry one of the most exploitative employers in the country. 

Right now, FCWA members are organizing to challenge ramped up immigration enforcement and other Trump administration policies that will hurt workers. This new data attests to what our members already know: our food system runs on worker exploitation, propped up by racist anti-immigrant sentiment. Share this report to uplift the critical need to support worker power in the food system, and use it as a resource for further analysis of the food system:

Download this report as a PDF

Press Inquiries: Elizabeth Walle, elizabeth@foodchainworkers.org
Data Inquiries: Winston Moore, winston@foodchainworkers.org

The post New Report: Food Chain Workers in 2025 appeared first on Food Chain Workers Alliance.

Dear Friends,

Five years ago, we were excited to step up as Co-Directors of the Food Chain Workers Alliance, taking the reins from longtime leaders Joann Lo and Jose Oliva. FCWA had just celebrated its tenth anniversary, and it was an opportune moment for a transition to ensure the organization’s long-term health and vitality.

As Co-Directors, we’ve remained committed to FCWA’s founding mission to bring worker voices into the food movement and fight corporate consolidation. We’ve also worked with staff and members to further prioritize member-led, worker-led organizing and economic, racial, and gender justice. From responding to the pandemic to expanding educational programs and creating new spaces for members to collaborate and seed collective work, we’re proud of the work FCWA and our members have accomplished in the past five years.

Today, the Alliance is ready for a new chapter, and it is bittersweet to announce that we will step down from our roles as Co-Directors in early 2025. We know that FCWA will continue to build power for food workers under new leadership, and we are embarking on a process to find that leadership with staff, the board, and a newly-formed transition committee. Stay tuned for updates in the coming months.

In this transitional moment, we hope you’ll support FCWA Member Funds so food workers are ready to spring into action in 2025. This program started as a one-off drive in 2019 to provide direct assistance to poultry workers impacted by ICE workplace raids. As part of our priority to support member organizing, we now have three ongoing funds making grants of $500 – $5,000 to members for Immigration Rapid Response, Language Justice, and Organizing & Capacity Building. Our goal is to raise $10,000 to replenish these funds by December 31, and we’re more than halfway there!

Thank you for supporting the Food Chain Workers Alliance, and most importantly, for supporting workers’ rights across the food chain and beyond.

Suzanne Adely & Sonia Singh
Co-Directors, Food Chain Workers Alliance

The post Leadership Update & Preparing for 2025 appeared first on Food Chain Workers Alliance.