Grow NY Farms

07/28/2025

NEWS: Earlier this month, the NY Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) notified Crist Bros Orchards in Orange County of a meeting scheduled for a PERB-supervised secret ballot election for its employees. A right that the farm has been supportive of and advocating for since day one. Shortly after, Crist Bros was notified that the union withdrew its petition and would not be moving forward with the election.

This latest development follows the state’s first secret ballot election, which took place in May under NY’s Farm Laborers Fair Labor Practices Act (FLFLPA), when workers at Merrell Dairy in Wayne County voted against union representation by UFCW Local One, with a final vote count of 44-2. PERB officially dismissed the petition at Merrell Dairy and acknowledged the results of the secret ballot election on May 14, 2025.

Grow NY Farms, a coalition of farms, farmworkers, and agriculture organizations advocating for fair and balanced labor laws, acknowledges and applauds PERB’s recent decisions to grant these important rights to New York’s farmworkers.

Visit our website for the full news release: https://grownyfarms.com/2025/07/24/news-release-for-the-second-time-in-state-history-the-new-york-public-employment-relations-board-recognizes-farmworkers-right-to-a-secret-ballot-election/

06/11/2025

“The state’s decision to protect farmworkers’ freedom of speech and due process rights is commendable,” said Brian Reeves, president of the New York State Vegetable Growers. “This is exactly why Grow NY Farms is pushing for changes to this law — to ensure that the rights of all farmworkers are respected, just like every other private sector worker, and that the process is fair, transparent and democratic.”

Full story by Spectrum News 1 Central New York/S Tier:

The secret ballot election was a result of a union certification that was overturned.

06/03/2025

- NEWS: In a historic first secret ballot election under NY’s Farm Laborers Fair Labor Practices Act (FLFLPA), workers at Merrell Dairy in Wayne Co., NY voted decisively against union representation by UFCW Local One, with a final vote count of 44-2.

This election follows the reversal of a prior union certification that was granted through a card check process, which, it was determined, did not amount to enough evidence of majority support. The New York Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) overturned the card check union certification after determining that the administrative law judge had improperly limited the pool of eligible employees. The corrected process led to a secret-ballot election — the first of its kind under the Act in NYS — where workers were able to make their choice privately and freely. A right that every other private sector worker is granted in this state and country.

PERB officially dismissed the petition and acknowledged the results of the secret ballot election on May 14, 2025.

Learn more: https://grownyfarms.com/2025/05/22/news-release-first-ever-secret-ballot-election-under-states-farm-labor-fair-labor-practices-act-conducted-at-family-dairy-farm-in-upstate-new-york/

10/09/2024

The National Right to Work is advocating for fairness for all workers, just as our coalition has from day one. Farmworkers deserve freedom of choice and the same rights as all other private sector workers.

This is exactly the kind of support our agriculture employees need. Click the link below to learn more ⬇️

MARLBORO, NY - Employees of Porpiglia Farms, an apple grower located in Upstate New York, are taking legal action to defend their effort to remove the United Farm Workers (UFW) union from power.

03/04/2024

ICYMI: “I think the judge made it clear that he agreed with our premise, and he agreed that farm workers deserve these basic rights when it comes to collective bargaining and unionization.”

More on the recent hearing by 7 News 📺

Last week, a state hearing was held in an effort by some farm organizations to amend portions of the New York State Farm Laborers Fair Labor Practices Act.

03/01/2024

On Wednesday, February 21, progress was made toward protecting farmworkers' rights in New York State during a Preliminary Injunction Hearing in Buffalo.

More on this below by Morning Ag Clips - New York ⬇️

ALBANY -- New York’s agriculture community is advocating for amendments and improvements to the Farm Laborers Fair Labor Practices Act (FLFLPA) to ensure farmworkers’ rights...

02/26/2024

New York's agriculture community is advocating to amend and improve the in order to protect the rights of farmworkers.

In case you missed it, check out the story by News 4 WIVB Buffalo's Sarah Minkewicz: https://www.wivb.com/news/local-news/western-new-york/agriculture-community-fights-to-ensure-fairness-for-farmworkers-and-rights-to-unionize/

02/23/2024

"The judge sided with the plaintiffs' argument that Section 704-b(2)(c) discriminated based on a viewpoint which is 'presumptively unconstitutional' under the First Amendment."

More by Law360:

A New York federal judge paused enforcement of a section of a state agricultural labor law that would make it an unfair labor practice to discourage unionizatio

02/22/2024

New York’s agriculture community is advocating for amendments and improvements to the Farm Laborers Fair Labor Practices Act to ensure farmworkers’ rights are protected.

ICYMI: Reaction following last night's decision: https://grownyfarms.com/2024/02/22/news-release-new-yorks-agriculture-community-advocates-for-improvements-to-the-farm-laborers-fair-labor-practices-act-to-ensure-fairness-for-farmworkers/

01/11/2024

NY’s agriculture industry believes in fairness for everyone working on farms. Farmworkers deserve to have their freedom of speech and due process rights protected. In fact, the industry is working to amend and improve the because as it currently stands, farmworkers are not provided the same collective bargaining rights as private sector workers.

Read the full letter by New York State Vegetable Growers President Brian Reeves in the New York Daily News: https://grownyfarms.com/2024/01/11/new-york-daily-news-letter-to-the-editor/

And visit our website to learn more about actions being taken to protect the rights of both farmers and farmworkers: https://grownyfarms.com/2023/10/02/news-release-new-yorks-agriculture-industry-announces-actions-taken-to-protect-free-speech-and-due-process-rights-of-farmworkers-and-farmers/

10/17/2023

Unclear policies are being "compounded by state regulators, who investigate complaints about employers while declining to examine alleged union abuses." Full story by The Buffalo News below. 📰 https://buffalonews.com/news/local/from-mexico-to-buffalo-a-battle-grows-over-farm-workers-unionizing/article_3f093920-685b-11ee-aae4-d76dc94ba99c.html

New York's agriculture industry is asking for clarity of the law and fairness for all. More information is available here: https://grownyfarms.com/2023/10/02/news-release-new-yorks-agriculture-industry-announces-actions-taken-to-protect-free-speech-and-due-process-rights-of-farmworkers-and-farmers/

5 upstate New York farms filed a lawsuit seeking to strike down a 2019 state law that allowed farm workers to join unions.

10/12/2023

The goal of the lawsuit is to get a system in place that's fair for everyone. Changes must be made so everyone within NY’s agriculture community is in compliance with both state and federal regulations. More by WENY TV News below.

Some farming associations recently filed a motion in a U.S. District Court in New York to put a temporary restraining order on a state farm labor law called the New York Farm Laborers Fair Labor Pract