About Us
WAFLA, the Worker and Farmer Labor Association, is a nonprofit membership organization made up of family farms and seasonal employers throughout the United States and predominantly in the Pacific Northwest.
We assist our members in finding employees to meet their workforce needs. We are the largest organization of our kind in the country. We lead by treating people with dignity and respect.
We strive to be the premier labor association for seasonal and agricultural industries by assisting with guest worker visa programs and providing insightful, customized HR resources.
Historical Timeline
2024 - WAFLA opens Casa Grande farmworker housing in Mt. Vernon, Wash. We change our name to “Worker and Farmer Labor Association” (WAFLA), symbolizing the need for a united agricultural community to keep our labor-intensive industry viable. WAFLA becomes a founding board member of Field to Future, a nonprofit organization committed to enhancing the lives of farmworkers through financial literacy.
2023 - WAFLA opens La Buena Vida Estates farmworker housing in Benton City, Wash.
2022 - WAFLA hires Enrique Gastelum as CEO, following the retirement of founding CEO Dan Fazio. WAFLA opens Mt. Angel agricultural labor housing in Mt. Angel, Oregon, and moves its Lacey, Wash., headquarters to a new office in the Washington Farm Bureau building. By this time, WAFLA employs 30 FTEs and 6 seasonal ambassadors.
2020 – WAFLA assists agricultural members with robust housing, health, and human resource regulatory compliance during the COVID-19 pandemic.
2018 – WAFLA opens a satellite office in Wenatchee, Wash., breaks ground on Riverview Meadows temporary worker housing in Okanogan, Wash., and, with investment partners, initiated the establishment of Fairbridge Inn temporary worker housing in Yakima, Wash.
2016 – WAFLA opens a satellite office in Kennewick, Wash.
2015 – WAFLA changes our name to simply “wafla,” reflecting innovation and the broad geography of our growing membership in the Pacific Northwest.
2013 – Due to increased use of the H-2A program in Washington, WAFLA conducts our first H-2A Workforce Summit.
2011 – Ringold opens in May and fills up fast, demonstrating the need for additional seasonal worker housing. WAFLA merges with Washington Farm Labor Source LLC and hires four additional FTEs.
2010 – WAFLA hires our first FTE and breaks ground on Ringold housing in Mesa, Wash.
2009 – Franklin County Farm Bureau wanted to help farmworkers who were camping in unsanitary conditions on the Columbia River. WAFLA, in partnership with Franklin County Farm Bureau, obtains a federal and state grant to acquire land and build the Ringold seasonal farmworker housing project.
2007 – WAFLA is founded as the Washington Farm Labor Association, a 501(c)(6) nonprofit association to assist farmers with complex H-2A program rules. Dan Fazio serves as founding CEO with an office in Lacey, Wash.
2006 – Jon Warling and Dan Fazio provide startup capital for Washington Farm Labor Source LLC and begin writing H-2A visa contracts for Washington growers in desperate need of a stable seasonal agricultural workforce.