Albert Gersh
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WHAT WE'VE DONE SO FAR, THANKS TO SUPPORTERS LIKE YOU:
H-2A Visa Violations
In February, UFW Foundation joined a coalition of labor, civil and immigrant rights' organizations in sending a letter to the Biden administration calling for a full investigation into the H-2A agricultural guest worker program after the discovery of human trafficking, slavery, and money laundering by South Georgia growers and farm labor contractors.
Field Sanitation and Safety Violations
In June, UFW Foundation Executive Director Diana Tellefson Torres toured Georgia, where she met with farm working women who voiced concerns over the lack of bathrooms in the fields. As a result, workers are forced to relieve themselves in the fields creating human rights and food safety dilemmas. Lack of restrooms in the field contributes to long-term health issues, increase the risk of sexual assault and harassment, and creates food safety hazards.
Workplace Violations
On July 25th, Department of Labor Secretary Marty Walsh met with UFW Foundation Executive Director Diana Tellefson Torres to discuss working conditions and what the Department of Labor can do to continue supporting farm workers. Five Georgia farm workers and UFW Foundation's Georgia Coordinator, Alma Young, joined the meeting to detail the conditions farm workers face, including the lack of safe drinking water and toilets in workplaces and the need to reform the H-2A agricultural guest worker program.
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Take the Sí Se Puede® Pledge!
Take the #SiSePuedePledge. Stand alongside the millions of farm workers nationwide to stop worker exploitation, stop the use of dangerous pesticides, establish a national heat safety standard, bring better wages and overtime to farm workers nationwide, and fight for citizenship for all 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States.
I will stand with farm workers to ensure their voices are heard.
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What We Do
Founded in 2006, the UFW Foundation is a nonprofit organization (501c3) that advocates for workers’ rights and protections for farm workers across the United States and provides educational outreach and critical services such as immigration legal services to low-income rural communities. With its core purpose being to empower communities to ensure human dignity, the UFW Foundation has mobilized farm workers across the country to advocate for more equitable policies like immigration reform, pesticide protections, heat standards, hazard pay, and other worker protections. It has engaged constituents in systemic change to break the cycle of poverty while also providing critical services in California, Arizona, Michigan, Georgia and Washington state, and is one of the largest federally accredited immigration legal service providers in rural California.
The UFW Foundation has successfully advocated for overtime pay in California, helped strengthen the State’s heat protection laws, and contributed to the passage of federal legislation that provided pandemic relief for farm workers, and, as a result, distributed $23 million in direct emergency relief assistance payments to farm workers from 2020-2022. In 2023, the UFW Foundation served at least 211,000 farm workers through immigration legal services, COVID-19 pandemic disaster relief, storm recovery services, and a call center in California for farm workers to call if their employers violated employment-related laws, among other services.
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Careers
The UFW Foundation's career opportunities are listed at www.ufwfoundation.org/jobs.
Note: Unless stated otherwise, posted positions require candidates to be bilingual: English and Spanish, indigenous languages, or other languages as needed to meet communities' needs.
Benefits & Perks
As a nonprofit, you might think we are limited in what benefits we can offer. Well, think again. These benefits and perks are available to those who join the UFW Foundation’s dynamic staff.
COMPETITIVE PAY
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Compensation
- Competitive compensation that takes into account your prior experience and responsibilities.
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Yearly Increases
- Based on the performance of the employee, team, and organization, as well as the organization’s financial sustainability.
HEALTH & WELLNESS
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Healthcare Benefits
- Comprehensive medical and prescription drug benefits with the majority of the healthcare premium paid by the UFW Foundation. Premiums are pre-taxed to save you money.
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Dental Benefits
- Comprehensive dental plan with the majority of the premium paid by the UFW Foundation. Premiums are pre-taxed to save you money.
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Flexible Spending Accounts
- You may put aside pre-tax dollars in a healthcare or dependent care flexible spending account each plan year.
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Vision Benefits
- Comprehensive vision plan with the majority of the premium paid by the UFW Foundation. Low out-of-pocket cost for eye exams, glasses or contacts. Premiums are pre-taxed to save you money.
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Employee Assistance Program
- Free robust program available to help you that offers support and resources for family, legal, and financial issues, as well as counseling, treatment, and critical incident stress management.
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Worker’s Compensation
- Provides support in the form of wages and reimbursement of medical costs if you are injured while performing your job duties.
RETIREMENT, LIFE INSURANCE, & SUPPLEMENTAL INSURANCE
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UFW Foundation 403(b) Retirement Plan
- Eligible employees may participate on their date of hire. The UFW Foundation matches dollar-for-dollar up to 2% of their annual salary after 90 days providing employees contribute a minimum of 2% of their annual salary.
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Juan De La Cruz Pension Plan
- Eligible employees are automatically enrolled in an employer-sponsored pension plan with an employee self-contribution component with a guaranteed 6.5% interest rate.
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Fidelity 401(k)
- Eligible employees may participate on their date of hire.
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Life Insurance
- $4,000.00 American Income Life Accidental Death and Dismemberment Insurance after 90 days of employment. $8,000.00 Life Insurance for employee and $4,000.00 for dependents.
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Supplemental Insurance
- Access to voluntary employee-paid supplemental insurance.
TIME OFF
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Vacation Leave
- Eligible employees accrue 2, 3, and 4 weeks per year depending on tenure. Caps at 80, 160, and 200 hours, respectively.
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Sick Leave
- 6 days per year. *Employees working in certain municipalities or states may be entitled to additional sick leave as per local ordinances or state laws.
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Holidays
- 16 days per year, includes a floating personal day.
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Bereavement Upon Death of Immediate Family
- 5 days per family member.
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Mental Health Day
- 1 day per calendar year.
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Family and Parental Leave
- We offer family and parental leave in conformance with state and federal laws.
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Military Leave
- Eligible employees can take up to 12 unpaid workweeks of family or medical leave in a 12-month period for certain reasons, one of which is any qualifying exigency arising out of the fact that his or her spouse, child, or parent is a covered military member on “covered active duty.” Furthermore, if the eligible employee is the spouse, child, parent, or next of kin of an ill or injured covered service member, they are entitled to 26 unpaid workweeks of leave during a single 12-month period to provide care for the service member.
CONTINUING EDUCATION
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Professional Development
- The UFW Foundation is committed to supporting the professional development of their staff through training programs, seminars, conferences, certifications and workshops.
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Employee Knowledge Center via ADP Workforce Now Learning Center and State Fund’s Online Safety UniversitySM
- 1,000s of professional development courses are available to you at no cost.
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Department/Team Building Retreats
- Occasionally, the UFW Foundation organizes retreats by teams or organization-wide. This is paid time away to re-energize, focus and strategize. Food and accommodations provided.
MISCELLANEOUS
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Employee Discounts
- Discounts provided through UnionPlus and Lifemart.
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Flexible Schedules and/or Work Arrangements
- Eligible employees may work remotely or hybrid depending on the nature of their work.
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Free Parking
- No cost to park at any of our office locations.
Should you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to the UFW Foundation at [email protected] or [email protected].
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Compensation
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Pesticides
Protecting Farm Workers from Pesticides
Pesticides are toxic chemicals used to kill or control pests. Each year, the United States uses over a billion pounds of pesticides. Many pesticides can pose public health and environmental threats, but they are of particular concern for farm working families who face the highest levels of exposure to these toxic substances. One of the largest contributors to farm workers’ coming into contact with pesticides is pesticide drift, which is the movement of pesticide dust or droplets through the air at the time of application or soon after in any site other than the area intended. Studies have estimated that as much as 45% of spray misses its target and becomes drift or ground deposits, an imminent danger to farm workers laboring nearby.
Currently, we are working with members of Congress to pass the Protect America’s Children from Toxic Pesticides Act of 2021 (PACTPA), which would ban pesticides that have been scientifically proven to harm people and the environment. These pesticides include Organophosphate insecticides, which have been linked to neurological damage in children; Neonicotinoid insecticides, which cause developmental defects, heart deformations, and muscle tremors in unborn children; and Paraquat, which has been shown to increase the risk of developing Parkinson’s disease. PACTPA would also protect farm workers by requiring employers to report all pesticide-caused injuries to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); direct the EPA to review pesticide injury reports and work with the pesticide manufacturers to develop better labeling to prevent future injury, and require that all pesticide label instructions be written in Spanish. The UFW Foundation is proud to be one of 70+ organizations to endorse this legislation.
Farm workers and their families have continuously been exposed to harmful pesticides for years. We must continue to work with our partners and lawmakers to protect our nation’s farm workers from toxic exposure. These are long overdue protections that must be enacted now.
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Albert Gersh 62sc