{"id":65120,"date":"2026-07-01T10:16:56","date_gmt":"2026-07-01T14:16:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ufcw.org\/?post_type=press_releases&#038;p=65120"},"modified":"2026-07-01T10:19:22","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T14:19:22","slug":"ufcw-condemns-house-republicans-securing-agricultures-workforce-act","status":"publish","type":"press_releases","link":"https:\/\/www.ufcw.org\/press-releases\/ufcw-condemns-house-republicans-securing-agricultures-workforce-act\/","title":{"rendered":"UFCW Condemns House Republicans\u2019 Securing Agriculture\u2019s Workforce Act"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"tw-max-w-217 tw-m-auto tw-px-6 rich-text contained-block\" data-module=\"paragraph\">\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Legislation would decimate jobs across rural America<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"tw-max-w-217 tw-m-auto tw-px-6 rich-text contained-block\" data-module=\"paragraph\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>WASHINGTON, D.C.<\/strong>&nbsp;\u2013 Today, the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ufcw.org\/about\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">&nbsp;<\/a><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ufcw.org\/about\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><u>United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW)<\/u><\/a><\/strong>, America\u2019s largest private sector union representing 1.2 million workers in meatpacking, food processing, grocery, and other essential industries across North America, released a statement in response to House Republicans\u2019&nbsp;<em>Securing Agriculture&#8217;s Workforce Act (SAWA)<\/em>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"tw-max-w-217 tw-m-auto tw-px-6 rich-text contained-block\" data-module=\"paragraph\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>UFCW International President Milton Jones<\/strong>&nbsp;said:&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"tw-max-w-217 tw-m-auto tw-px-6 rich-text contained-block\" data-module=\"paragraph\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAcross the country, rural communities are powered by farm and food processing jobs. The Securing Agriculture&#8217;s Workforce Act will turn these stable, permanent jobs into temporary ones, leaving workers with less money to take home and spend in their local economies.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"tw-max-w-217 tw-m-auto tw-px-6 rich-text contained-block\" data-module=\"paragraph\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAmericans are already shouldering the burden of an affordability crisis, but instead of addressing it, House Republicans would rather focus on weakening the jobs that keep our country running and put food on American families&#8217; tables. Jobs in meatpacking and food processing and the communities that rely on them should be invested in, not demolished. Turning dependable jobs into temporary ones will threaten the livelihoods of thousands of Americans, devastate entire communities, and threaten our food supply chain.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"tw-max-w-217 tw-m-auto tw-px-6 rich-text contained-block\" data-module=\"paragraph\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>BACKGROUND<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"tw-max-w-217 tw-m-auto tw-px-6 rich-text contained-block\" data-module=\"list\">\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><div class=\"tw-max-w-217 tw-m-auto tw-px-6 rich-text contained-block\" data-module=\"list-item\">\n<li>Corporations bring in hundreds of thousands of foreign workers to fill seasonal and temporary agriculture jobs via the H-2A visa program. These workers have limited protections against abuse by employers, often resulting in low wages, weak benefits, and poor working conditions.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/div><\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"tw-max-w-217 tw-m-auto tw-px-6 rich-text contained-block\" data-module=\"list\">\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><div class=\"tw-max-w-217 tw-m-auto tw-px-6 rich-text contained-block\" data-module=\"list-item\">\n<li>The\u00a0<em>Securing Agriculture&#8217;s Workforce Act (SAWA)<\/em>\u00a0would expand use of the H-2A visa program to non-agricultural, year-round jobs, potentially displacing workers in industries like meat, poultry, and seafood processing.<br><br><\/li>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"tw-max-w-217 tw-m-auto tw-px-6 rich-text contained-block\" data-module=\"list-item\">\n<li>This legislation would also slash wages for workers by codifying key provisions of the Trump administration\u2019s wage cuts regulation, which could\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.epi.org\/blog\/trumps-new-h-2a-wage-rule-will-radically-cut-the-wages-of-all-farmworkers-new-estimates-show-farmworkers-stand-to-lose-4-4-to-5-4-billion-annually-under-dols-updated-adverse-effec\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><u>cost<\/u><\/a>\u00a0all farm workers, both native-born and foreign-born, between $4.4 billion and $5.4 billion annually.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/div><\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"tw-max-w-217 tw-m-auto tw-px-6 rich-text contained-block\" data-module=\"list\">\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><div class=\"tw-max-w-217 tw-m-auto tw-px-6 rich-text contained-block\" data-module=\"list-item\">\n<li>The UFCW urges lawmakers in Congress to vote against this bill, and instead support legislation that invests in the jobs that power America\u2019s rural communities, like the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.congress.gov\/bill\/119th-congress\/house-bill\/7938\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><u>Grocery, Farm, and Food Worker Stabilization Grant Program Act<\/u><\/a>, which would create a grant program to provide stabilization payments to food workers in the case of a natural disaster or other emergency.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/div><\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"tw-max-w-217 tw-m-auto tw-px-6 rich-text contained-block\" data-module=\"paragraph\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>CONTACT:<\/strong>\u00a0Finn Storer\u00a0<a href=\"mailto:press@ufcw.org\">press@ufcw.org<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Legislation would decimate jobs across rural America WASHINGTON, D.C.&nbsp;\u2013 Today, the&nbsp;United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW), America\u2019s largest private sector union representing 1.2 million workers in meatpacking, food processing, grocery, and other essential industries across North America, released a statement in response to House Republicans\u2019&nbsp;Securing Agriculture&#8217;s Workforce Act (SAWA).&nbsp; UFCW International President Milton [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":436,"featured_media":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[449,13],"tags":[433],"class_list":["post-65120","press_releases","type-press_releases","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-official-statements","category-press-releases","tag-legislation"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>UFCW Condemns House Republicans\u2019 Securing Agriculture\u2019s Workforce Act - The United Food &amp; Commercial Workers International Union<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"UFCW Condemns House Republicans\u2019 Securing Agriculture\u2019s Workforce Act\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ufcw.org\/press-releases\/ufcw-condemns-house-republicans-securing-agricultures-workforce-act\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"UFCW Condemns House Republicans\u2019 Securing Agriculture\u2019s Workforce Act - The United Food &amp; Commercial Workers International Union\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"UFCW Condemns House Republicans\u2019 Securing Agriculture\u2019s Workforce Act\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ufcw.org\/press-releases\/ufcw-condemns-house-republicans-securing-agricultures-workforce-act\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The United Food &amp; Commercial Workers International Union\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-07-01T14:19:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ufcw.org\\\/press-releases\\\/ufcw-condemns-house-republicans-securing-agricultures-workforce-act\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ufcw.org\\\/press-releases\\\/ufcw-condemns-house-republicans-securing-agricultures-workforce-act\\\/\",\"name\":\"UFCW Condemns House Republicans\u2019 Securing Agriculture\u2019s Workforce Act - The United Food &amp; Commercial Workers International Union\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ufcw.org\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-01T14:16:56+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-07-01T14:19:22+00:00\",\"description\":\"UFCW Condemns House Republicans\u2019 Securing Agriculture\u2019s Workforce Act\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ufcw.org\\\/press-releases\\\/ufcw-condemns-house-republicans-securing-agricultures-workforce-act\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ufcw.org\\\/press-releases\\\/ufcw-condemns-house-republicans-securing-agricultures-workforce-act\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ufcw.org\\\/press-releases\\\/ufcw-condemns-house-republicans-securing-agricultures-workforce-act\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ufcw.org\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"UFCW Condemns House Republicans\u2019 Securing Agriculture\u2019s Workforce Act\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ufcw.org\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ufcw.org\\\/\",\"name\":\"The United Food &amp; Commercial Workers International Union\",\"description\":\"Official website of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ufcw.org\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ufcw.org\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ufcw.org\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"United Food and Commercial Workers International Union\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ufcw.org\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ufcw.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ufcw.org\\\/wp-content\\\/blogs.dir\\\/61\\\/files\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/UFCW-Americas-Food-and-Retail-Union-2-color.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ufcw.org\\\/wp-content\\\/blogs.dir\\\/61\\\/files\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/UFCW-Americas-Food-and-Retail-Union-2-color.png\",\"width\":415,\"height\":198,\"caption\":\"United Food and Commercial Workers International Union\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ufcw.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"UFCW Condemns House Republicans\u2019 Securing Agriculture\u2019s Workforce Act - The United Food &amp; Commercial Workers International Union","description":"UFCW Condemns House Republicans\u2019 Securing Agriculture\u2019s Workforce Act","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.ufcw.org\/press-releases\/ufcw-condemns-house-republicans-securing-agricultures-workforce-act\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"UFCW Condemns House Republicans\u2019 Securing Agriculture\u2019s Workforce Act - The United Food &amp; Commercial Workers International Union","og_description":"UFCW Condemns House Republicans\u2019 Securing Agriculture\u2019s Workforce Act","og_url":"https:\/\/www.ufcw.org\/press-releases\/ufcw-condemns-house-republicans-securing-agricultures-workforce-act\/","og_site_name":"The United Food &amp; Commercial Workers International Union","article_modified_time":"2026-07-01T14:19:22+00:00","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.ufcw.org\/press-releases\/ufcw-condemns-house-republicans-securing-agricultures-workforce-act\/","url":"https:\/\/www.ufcw.org\/press-releases\/ufcw-condemns-house-republicans-securing-agricultures-workforce-act\/","name":"UFCW Condemns House Republicans\u2019 Securing Agriculture\u2019s Workforce Act - The United Food &amp; Commercial Workers International Union","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ufcw.org\/#website"},"datePublished":"2026-07-01T14:16:56+00:00","dateModified":"2026-07-01T14:19:22+00:00","description":"UFCW Condemns House Republicans\u2019 Securing Agriculture\u2019s Workforce Act","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ufcw.org\/press-releases\/ufcw-condemns-house-republicans-securing-agricultures-workforce-act\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.ufcw.org\/press-releases\/ufcw-condemns-house-republicans-securing-agricultures-workforce-act\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.ufcw.org\/press-releases\/ufcw-condemns-house-republicans-securing-agricultures-workforce-act\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.ufcw.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"UFCW Condemns House Republicans\u2019 Securing Agriculture\u2019s Workforce Act"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.ufcw.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.ufcw.org\/","name":"The United Food &amp; Commercial Workers International Union","description":"Official website of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ufcw.org\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.ufcw.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.ufcw.org\/#organization","name":"United Food and Commercial Workers International Union","url":"https:\/\/www.ufcw.org\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.ufcw.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.ufcw.org\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/61\/files\/2021\/02\/UFCW-Americas-Food-and-Retail-Union-2-color.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.ufcw.org\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/61\/files\/2021\/02\/UFCW-Americas-Food-and-Retail-Union-2-color.png","width":415,"height":198,"caption":"United Food and Commercial Workers International Union"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ufcw.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ufcw.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press_releases\/65120","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ufcw.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press_releases"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ufcw.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/press_releases"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ufcw.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/436"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.ufcw.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press_releases\/65120\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":65125,"href":"https:\/\/www.ufcw.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press_releases\/65120\/revisions\/65125"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ufcw.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65120"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ufcw.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65120"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ufcw.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65120"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}