NCAE Urges USDA to Issue Report and Referral to Protect American Farmers and Farmworkers

(Arlington, VA) The National Council of Agricultural Employers (NCAE) is urging U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Brooke Rollins to issue a report – and, if appropriate, a criminal referral – regarding allegations from farmworkers that they were targeted and coerced by union activists to sign union authorization cards in order to receive federal grant payments related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The previous administration should have never made the mistake of entrusting anti-farmer activists with federal grant funds,” stated Michael Marsh, NCAE’s President and CEO. “NCAE has pushed for an investigation into these disturbing allegations since 2023. It is time for Secretary Rollins to bring an end to this dark moment in agricultural history so that we might learn from past mistakes and ensure they never occur again.”

In 2023, and again in 2024, NCAE contacted the USDA Office of Inspector General (OIG) regarding evidence from farmworkers that the United Farm Workers (UFW) and UFW Foundation were coercing farmworkers into signing “card check” cards as a condition of receiving grand funds under the Farm and Food Workers Relief (FFWR) grant program. In Spring and Summer of 2024, several media outlets reported farmworkers’ claims similar to those received and reported to USDA by NCAE in 2023.

Last year, NCAE filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request that asked USDA to produce information regarding their relationship with UFW Foundation and their “contact persons,” the UFW team. In a letter sent earlier today, NCAE explained that OIG has been investigating these allegations since at least July 23, 2024. At this time, no report has been issued, and no criminal referral has been made to the Department of Justice.

“Disappointingly,” noted Marsh, “the documents provided thus far by the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) suggest that the previous administrations did not treat the concerns raised by farmworkers and shared by farmers with the gravity that was deserved. Rather, it appears that the confluence of limited accountability and nominal oversight which pervaded the previous administration created a breeding ground in which nefarious behavior might occur.”

“The agricultural community has greatly appreciated the change in tone and tenor from the Department under Secretary Rollins’ leadership,” he continued. “Her longstanding commitment to stomping out fraud, waste, and abuse is desperately needed to correct mistakes like these made by the previous administration.”

“American agriculture cannot afford to repeat mistakes, particularly mistakes that put American farms, ranches, and farmworkers at risk. The Department’s issuance of a report and, if appropriate, a criminal referral, will be a strong step towards ensuring America’s farmworkers and farmers are not put through this ordeal again.”

NCAE is the national trade association focusing on agricultural labor issues from the employer’s viewpoint.

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