Link to original article

By Don Jenkins, Capital Press

The United Farm Workers has sued the U.S. Department of Labor, seeking to overturn a rule the Trump administration says will give farmers relief from ever-increasing labor costs.  

The UFW filed the lawsuit Nov. 21 in the U.S. District Court for Eastern California. The lawsuit targets a rule that will lower wages for foreign guest farmworkers in the U.S. on H-2A visas. By extension, the rule will suppress wages for U.S. farmworkers, the lawsuit alleges.  

“There is nothing ‘America First’ about expanding exploitative guest worker programs that undercut and displace American workers,” UFW President Teresa Romero said in a statement.

The H-2A program allows farms to hire seasonal foreign farmworkers, but only if U.S. workers are unavailable and only if prevailing wages are maintained.  

The Labor Department adopted the rule in October, responding to complaints that flawed wage surveys were artificially inflating labor costs.  

H-2A wages vary by state. The average hourly wage rose from $8.56 in 2005 to $17.74 in 2025, according to the Labor Department.   

The rule introduced a two-tier pay system that allows farms to pay a lower wage to foreign farmworkers doing jobs that require no experience. The UFW alleges most farmworkers will receive the lower-level pay, even if they are experienced.  

The rule also allows farms to deduct housing costs from wages. Deductions will vary by state, ranging from $1.15 an hour in Arkansas to $3.18 in Hawaii.  

By sparing farms from having to provide free housing to foreign farmworkers, the rule protects employers, but not U.S. workers, the suit claims.

The UFW is seeking an injunction to prevent the Labor Department from enforcing the rule.  

If it stands, the H-2A wage next year in Washington will be the state’s minimum wage of $17.13 an hour, after the housing deduction. This year, the wage was $19.82 an hour.  

Oregon’s H-2A wage also will drop, though all wages must be at least the state minimum wage. Oregon’s minimum wage ranges from $16.30 per hour in the Portland metro area, $15.05 in 15 counties mostly in the Willamette Valley and along the coast, and $14.05 in rural counties.  

The rule will help U.S. farmworkers by preserving farm jobs, Worker and Farmer Labor Association CEO Enrique Gastelum said.  

“I get where the labor advocates are coming from. This is a huge change,” Gastelum said. “But it may mean some farms staying open vs. closing.”  

The rule will make U.S. farmers more competitive with foreign farmers who have lower labor costs, National Council of Agricultural Employers CEO Michael Marsh said.  

“It’s not going to get us in line with the rest of the world, but it gets us closer,” he said. “If we run out of farms, there are no farmworkers.”  

In its lawsuit, the UFW points to a September report by the USDA Economic Research Service anticipating net farm income in 2025 will increase by 40% over the year before.  

The USDA attributed the increase to revenue from animal products and government payments, such as for disaster relief. Revenue from crops is projected to decline by 2.5%.