The 5 Biggest Battles: What The UFW United Farm Workers Is Fighting For Right Now In 2025

The United Farm Workers (UFW), the iconic labor union co-founded by civil rights legends Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta, remains at the forefront of the fight for farmworker justice, with its advocacy taking on urgent new dimensions in late 2025. The organization is currently engaged in high-stakes legal and legislative battles, primarily focused on protecting wages, ensuring a path to citizenship for essential workers, and expanding union rights across the agricultural industry. As of December 2025, the UFW is leveraging its influence in Washington D.C. and state capitals to combat policies that threaten the economic stability of its members, including a major federal lawsuit to reverse controversial H-2A guestworker wage rules. This deep dive explores the most critical campaigns and the powerful figures leading the UFW’s modern movement, ensuring farmworkers—the people who feed America—have a voice in the halls of power.

The Current Leadership: Teresa Romero's Profile and Biography

The United Farm Workers is currently led by Teresa Romero, who made history in 2018 as the first Latina and first immigrant woman to serve as the union's President. Her leadership marks a new chapter for the UFW, carrying the torch of the movement’s founders while tackling the complex, modern challenges facing agricultural labor.

Teresa Romero: Biographical Overview

• Full Name: Teresa Romero
• Born: June 18, 1958
• Current Role: President of the United Farm Workers (UFW)
• Year Appointed President: 2018
• Historical Significance: First Latina and first immigrant woman to lead the UFW and first immigrant woman to head a national labor union in the United States.
• Key Focus: Advocating for safer working conditions, fair wages, and a pathway to citizenship for farmworkers.
• Recent Recognition: Awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2022.

Romero's tenure has been characterized by a relentless focus on legislative victories and worker organizing. She has steered the UFW through the critical challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, advocating for farmworkers to be recognized as essential workers and ensuring access to vaccines and protective equipment. Her work directly connects the UFW’s foundational principles—nonviolence and collective bargaining—with the political realities of the 21st century.

UFW's 2025 Legal and Legislative Campaigns: The Five Biggest Battles

The UFW's advocacy is currently concentrated on several high-impact fronts, demonstrating the union's commitment to both immediate worker protection and long-term immigration reform. These campaigns represent the most crucial fights of 2025.

1. The Lawsuit Against H-2A Wage Cuts

One of the most significant actions of 2025 is the UFW’s lawsuit against the federal government to reverse a controversial rule change impacting the H-2A guestworker program. The new rule, introduced by the previous administration, alters how the Adverse Effect Wage Rate (AEWR) is calculated. * The UFW argues that the regulatory changes will drastically reduce the wages of all farmworkers—both domestic and H-2A—by undercutting the established minimum wage rate. * The lawsuit, filed by the United Farm Workers of America and the UFW Foundation, seeks to protect American farm jobs and wages from what they term an "illegal wage cut." * This legal challenge underscores the UFW’s role as a watchdog against policies that exploit vulnerable labor populations and drive down pay across the agricultural sector.

2. Pushing for the Dream Act of 2025

The UFW Foundation has publicly welcomed the reintroduction of the Dream Act of 2025 in Congress. This legislation is a top priority for the organization as it would create a pathway to citizenship for young undocumented immigrants, including those who are DACA recipients and many who work in agriculture. The UFW views immigration reform as inextricably linked to farmworker rights, arguing that granting legal status is the most effective way to protect workers from exploitation and improve their working conditions.

3. Supporting the Farm Workforce Modernization Act

Alongside the Dream Act, the UFW is actively campaigning for the Farm Workforce Modernization Act. This bill is designed to provide a path to legal status for current unauthorized farmworkers and reform the H-2A program to make it more worker-friendly. The UFW argues that a stable, legal workforce is essential for the nation's food security and that the workers who have been feeding the country deserve permanent legal protections.

4. Combating ICE Arrests and Protecting Immigrant Workers

The union has been highly active in responding to and protesting the arrests of farm laborers by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Following specific incidents, the UFW has mobilized to demand the release of detained workers, highlighting the fear and instability that enforcement actions create within the agricultural community. This ongoing work is a direct continuation of the UFW's historical civil rights mission to protect the dignity and safety of all farmworkers, regardless of their immigration status.

5. Expanding Union Rights in California

In recent years, the UFW has secured significant legislative victories in California, the nation's largest agricultural producer. Governor Gavin Newsom signed legislation that expands union rights for farmworkers, following concerted efforts by the UFW, the California Labor Federation, and the Governor's office. These new laws strengthen the ability of farmworkers to organize and bargain collectively, building on the legacy of the Agricultural Labor Relations Act of 1975. The UFW continues to organize new farms in major agricultural sectors, chiefly in California, with dozens of union contracts protecting thousands of workers.

The UFW Legacy: From Delano to Today

The modern campaigns of the UFW are built on a rich and often turbulent history of nonviolent protest and civil rights activism. The union was co-founded in 1962 by Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta as the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA), later merging with the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee (AWOC), led by Filipino American labor leader Larry Itliong, to form the UFW.

Key Entities and Historical Milestones

• Cesar Chavez: The iconic labor leader and civil rights activist who popularized nonviolent methods like boycotts and fasts to secure farmworker rights.
• Dolores Huerta: A co-founder and principal legislative advocate, known for her tireless campaigning and the enduring slogan “Sí, se puede” (Yes, we can).
• Larry Itliong: A key Filipino American labor leader who joined forces with Chavez, initiating the pivotal Delano Grape Strike in 1965, a defining moment for the union.
• UFW Foundation: The non-profit arm of the UFW, which focuses on providing social services, legal assistance, and advocacy for farmworkers and their families, playing a central role in the 2025 lawsuits and legislative efforts.

The UFW's enduring philosophy is that organizing and collective action are the only paths to justice for farmworkers. From the historic grape and lettuce boycotts of the 1960s and 70s to the complex legal battles over the H-2A program today, the mission remains the same: to ensure that the people who harvest the nation’s food are treated with dignity, paid fairly, and given a chance at a secure future. The union’s current focus on the Dream Act and wage protection demonstrates its continued relevance as an essential voice for the most vulnerable workers in America.