The Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC) is a labor union and labor organizing group for farmworkers in Ohio, the Carolinas, and Mexico.¹ The union conducts collective bargaining and secondary protests outside the National Labor Relations Act framework, since the NLRA does not apply to the agriculture sector.

The president of FLOC since its inception in 1967 has been Baldemar Velasquez.²

FLOC is a member of state-level progressive coalition Ohio Organizing Collaborative.³ The organization is also a member union of the AFL-CIO.⁴

Background

The Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC) was founded by Baldemar Velasquez in 1967 and incorporated as a labor union in 1979.⁵ The organization’s first major corporate campaign targeted Campbell’s Soup, seeking to pressure the company to collectively bargain with FLOC to set labor standards for its tomato suppliers.⁶

Currently, FLOC seeks to organize farmworkers in Ohio, South Carolina, and North Carolina, with a special emphasis on organizing farmworkers who migrate seasonally from Mexico.⁷ The union has begun a secondary boycott campaign against Reynolds Tobacco, which has refused to force its suppliers to bargain with FLOC.⁸

Under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), the law governing most union-management interactions in the private sector, such “secondary boycotts” are generally prohibited.⁹ However, due to a statutory exemption the NLRA, it does not apply to agricultural laborers thereby permitting secondary actions.¹⁰

FLOC is also an advocate for substantial increases in immigration and amnesty and permanent residency for illegal migrants currently in the United States. The union opposed provisions of the 2006 McCain-Kennedy Comprehensive Immigration Reform bill that would have increased border security and workplace enforcement of work authorization laws.¹¹

Funding

The principal source of funding for Farm Labor Organizing Committee is dues collected from FLOC’s membership.¹² FLOC has received contributions from progressive nonprofits, including Oxfam America.¹³

FLOC is a member of the AFL-CIO, which means that it has a financial relationship with the union federation. FLOC collects “per capita tax” as part of member dues that are then passed to the AFL-CIO.¹⁴ Additionally, FLOC will periodically reimburse the AFL-CIO for services the federation provides the organizing committee.¹⁵

In addition, the United Mine Workers of America, the International Association of Machinists, the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, and the AFL-CIO itself have given funds to FLOC.¹⁶

People

The President of the Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC) since its founding is union organizer Baldemar Velasquez. Velasquez has helmed the union for 50 years and sits on the AFL-CIO Executive Council.¹⁷ In 1989, Velasquez was made a MacArthur Fellow by the MacArthur Foundation.¹⁸ The Government of Mexico has honored Velasquez with its highest award conferrable upon a foreigner, the Order of the Aztec Eagle (Aguila Azteca).¹⁹

After the president election in 2022, in which Velasquez won against opponent Leticia Zavala, the latter filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) to seek a re-run of the election claiming that her opponent Velasquez, “sought and gained an undemocratic advantage for his supporters and campaign by holding an in-person election in Ohio.” ²⁰ In July 2023, the DOL announced that it would supervise a re-run of the election which would take place sometime before September 30, 2024. ²¹

1. “Farm Labor Organizing.” Farm Labor Organizing Committee AFL-CIO. Accessed March 22, 2017. http://www.floc.com/wordpress/cross-border-organizing/
2. “HISTORY OF FLOC.” FLOC: A Short History of the Farm Labor Organizing Committee. January 1, 2000. Accessed March 23, 2017. http://www.iupui.edu/~anthkb/a104/mexico/flochist.htm
3. “Ohio Organizing Collaborative.” Ohio Organizing Collaborative. Accessed March 23, 2017. http://ohorganizing.org/members-partners/
4. “AFL-CIO Unions.” AFL-CIO. Accessed March 27, 2017. http://www.aflcio.org/About/AFL-CIO-Unions
5. “HISTORY OF FLOC.” FLOC: A Short History of the Farm Labor Organizing Committee. January 1, 2000. Accessed March 23, 2017. http://www.iupui.edu/~anthkb/a104/mexico/flochist.htm
6. “HISTORY OF FLOC.” FLOC: A Short History of the Farm Labor Organizing Committee. January 1, 2000. Accessed March 23, 2017. http://www.iupui.edu/~anthkb/a104/mexico/flochist.htm
7. “Farm Labor Organizing Committee, AFL-CIO.” Farm Labor Organizing Committee AFLCIO. Accessed March 23, 2017. http://www.floc.com/wordpress/cross-border-organizing/
8. Greenhouse, Steven. “Farm Labor Groups Make Progress on Wages and Working Conditions.” The New York Times. July 03, 2015. Accessed March 23, 2017. https://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/04/business/economy/farm-labor-groups-make-progress-on-wages-and-working-conditions.html?_r=0
9. National Labor Relations Board. “Secondary boycotts (Section 8(b)(4)).” Accessed March 23, 2017. https://www.nlrb.gov/rights-we-protect/whats-law/unions/secondary-boycotts-section-8b4
10. Marculewicz, Stefan, and Jennifer Thomas. “Labor Organizations by Another Name: The Worker Center Movement and its Evolution into Coverage under the NLRA and LMRDA.” The Federalist Society. November 19, 2012. Accessed March 23, 2017. http://www.fed-soc.org/publications/detail/labor-organizations-by-another-name-the-worker-center-movement-and-its-evolution-into-coverage-under-the-nlra-and-lmrda
11. “FLOC* POSITION ON IMMIGRATION POLICIES.” FLOC Immigration Position. 2006. Accessed March 23, 2017. http://www.michianapeacejustice.net/floc.html
12. Farm Labor Organizing Committee, Annual Report of a Labor Organization (Form LM-2), 2015, Statement B.
13. Oxfam-America, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990), 2014, Schedule I Part II
14. “Constitution of the AFL-CIO, Article XVI.” AFL-CIO. Accessed March 27, 2017. http://www.aflcio.org/About/Exec-Council/AFL-CIO-Constitution/XVI.Per-Capita-Taxes-and-Assessments
15. AFL-CIO, Annual Report of a Labor Organization (Form LM-2), 2016, Schedule 14
16. See “United Mine Workers | Receipts for: Farm Labor Organizing Committee.” Union Facts. Accessed March 27, 2017. https://www.unionfacts.com/payeeDetail/United_Mine_Workers/1445725 ; International Association of Machinists, Annual Report of a Labor Organization (Form LM-2), 2015, Schedule 16; International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, Annual Report of a Labor Organization (Form LM-2), 2015, Schedule 16; and AFL-CIO, Annual Report of a Labor Organization (Form LM-2), 2016, Schedule 15
17. “Executive Council Members.” AFL-CIO. Accessed March 23, 2017. http://www.aflcio.org/About/Leadership/Executive-Council-Members
18. “MacArthur Fellows Program.” Accessed March 23, 2017. https://www.macfound.org/fellows/381/
19. “FLOC Leadership.” Farm Labor Organizing Committee AFL-CIO. Accessed March 23, 2017. http://www.floc.com/wordpress/about-floc/floc-leadership/
20. Moran, Grey. “A Contested Election Is Fracturing a Farmworkers’ Union.” Civil Eats, January 30, 2023. https://civileats.com/2023/01/30/a-contested-election-is-fracturing-a-farmworkers-union/
21. “Statement on FLOC and OLMS Voluntary Compliance Agreement.” Farm Labor Organizing Committee, July 12, 2023. https://floc.com/statement-on-floc-and-olms-voluntary-compliance-agreement/