Previously: Farm workers union organizes protest at federal facility in Batavia after 14 migrant workers detained
In response to a story The Batavian published on Saturday, link above, and was republished by OrleansHub, Lynn-Ette & Sons, the employer of a group of migrants who were taken into custody on Friday morning, issued the following statement:
Lynn-Ette & Sons is heartbroken by the recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) action that resulted in the detention of 14 long-standing farm employees.
These individuals are not only vital contributors to our operations but valued members of our extended farm family—many of whom have worked alongside us for years with commitment and integrity.
We are deeply troubled by the manner in which this enforcement action was carried out and the impact it has had on our team and their families. Lynn-Ette & Sons had no prior knowledge of the raid and had no contact with ICE beforehand.
We strongly reject the United Farm Workers’ (UFW) irresponsible and self-serving public claims suggesting that these workers were targeted in retaliation for union activity. These claims are categorically false.
None of the individuals detained were part of the bargaining unit involved in the ongoing union activity on our farm. To insinuate otherwise is not only misleading but irresponsibly politicizes a painful and personal situation for the workers and their loved ones.
Lynn-Ette & Sons remains committed to the fair and respectful treatment of all our employees. We are cooperating fully with legal counsel to better understand the circumstances and to assist the affected individuals and their families where possible.
We call on elected officials and community leaders to ensure that all enforcement actions are conducted with transparency, due process, and human dignity.
UPDATE: In response, UFW issued the following statement:
In response to Lynn-Ette & Sons statement published on this website, Armando Elenes, Secretary Treasurer of the United Farm Workers, issued the following statement.
"There is in fact a bargaining unit at Lynn-Ette farm which covers seasonal workers — as Lynn-Ette is aware, an arbitrator has already been appointed by the State of New York following Lynn-Ette’s failure to negotiate a union contract for them in good faith and we are waiting for the arbitrator to issue their decision.
It is true that the workers who were detained last Friday are not part of the current bargaining unit. This is because Lynn-Ette itself successfully argued that its year-round workers should be excluded from the unit. At the time, we argued strongly that year-round workers should be included in the same bargaining unit as their seasonal coworkers.
Given that exclusion, several year-round workers were continuing to organize to file a petition for a separate bargaining unit that would negotiate a contract for the year-round workers. Several of the workers who were leading that effort have now been detained by ICE.
We do now know that ICE came to target the bus as a result of a tip. We demand that ICE be fully transparent about how and why and based on what information these arrests were made, including to the members of Congress who are inquiring about this very issue.
If workers at any company were to be targeted for immigration enforcement for union organizing, that would be a violation of our Constitution's First Amendment; the right to freedom of association including with your union. Everyone should be concerned about that."
