Washington H-2A Summit Announced

Guestworker employer conference delivers expert advice, information, and networking opportunities for wafla members and seasonal employers in Washington.

Jan. 8, 2024 (Lacey, Wash.) -- Wafla will host its annual H-2A Summit in Yakima, Wash., on Jan. 18, 2024. The event is the largest single-day conference in the Pacific Northwest focused exclusively on H-2A. Attendees will include more than 300 employers, owners, and staff from companies that already use the H-2A program for a legal, stable supply of seasonal labor and companies interested in the guest worker program.

Where: Yakima Convention Center

When: Jan. 18, 2024, from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Availability: Wafla CEO Enrique Gastelum will be available throughout the day for interviews regarding wafla, proposed federal guest worker program rule changes, and increased use of H-2A in agriculture throughout Washington.

Highlights: The upcoming Summit will provide valuable insights into the latest labor law changes. We will provide updates on partnerships to enhance worker recruitment integrity and on a pilot program on financial literacy training for workers. The Center for Latino Leadership will discuss recent farmworker rallies regarding overtime pay. We will also launch wafla’s collaboration with Harvust, a leading agricultural technology company, to leverage technology that keeps employers updated on their visa application progress and that allows workers to complete onboarding paperwork on their smartphones while traveling to the United States. These advancements will improve efficiencies, training, and communication with the workforce.

Registration: Wafla members can register here. Non-members can request attendance here to be a guest attendee for our new H-2A Fundamentals track. Members of the press are welcome to attend. Please see our agenda here. If interested, please contact Scott Dilley at sdilley@wafla.org.

Wafla is a nonprofit membership organization comprising family farms and seasonal employers throughout the United States, predominantly in the Pacific Northwest. We assist our members in finding employees to meet their workforce needs. We are the largest organization of our kind in the country. We lead by treating people with dignity and respect.

Our member farms work to ensure that our food continues to be produced locally and that those who do the hard labor of growing and picking our crops are treated fairly and with respect.

Wafla member farms create opportunities for farmworkers to lift themselves out of poverty by earning 5 to 13 times more per day than doing the same job in their home country.

For more information, visit wafla.org.

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