WAFLA and the Washington Growers League, two Northwest nonprofits that provide human resources support for agricultural employers, are merging.
The new organization will continue under the name WAFLA, the Worker and Farmer Labor Association, the groups announced in a news release on Jan. 14.
WAFLA and the Washington Growers League, or WGL, are both membership-based groups that operate seasonal housing facilities, hold educational programs, advocate on behalf of agricultural employers and help growers navigate the H-2A hiring process. WAFLA is based in Lacey, Washington; WGL in Yakima, Washington.
“Together, we represent decades of experience and a broader, more diverse membership base,” said the release.
WAFLA CEO Enrique Gastelum will continue as the head of the combined organization, which likely will represent more than half of Washington’s agricultural workforce, Gastelum said. The two groups had about 30 percent overlapping membership.
WAFLA started in 2007 as an offshoot of the Washington Farm Bureau and focused specifically on helping growers hire temporary foreign workers under the federal H-2A visa program. Later, the group added regulatory, education, advocacy and housing services. In the past few years, WAFLA has extended services to Oregon and California growers, too. Gastelum joined the organization in 2022.
The Washington Growers League started in 1987 to help Washington farmers adapt to a changing regulatory environment and hired executive director Mike Gempler right away. The group started an H-2A-focused offshoot in 1999 but folded it a few years later due to lack of interest. Demand for H-2A workers started to surge in 2012, so WGL partnered with másLabor to facilitate applications, job orders and visas.
In 2024, Gempler told the WGL board he wanted to step back from day-to-day management to return to his “passion” for government relations. For a couple of years, he will stay on at WAFLA to do that work, as well as help with the transition, while he ramps up his own lobbying firm, he said.
Gempler and Gastelum both said the merger makes sense in an era of industry consolidation and financial constraints.
“We’re being much more efficient with the industry’s advocacy resources,” Gastelum said.
A single, stronger group will better serve specialty farms, Gempler said, and teaming up “will make a better organization.” •
