Juan De La Cruz Farm Workers Pension Plan

It operates as a multi-employer defined benefit plan under the Taft-Hartley framework, established to serve workers covered by collective bargaining agreements with the United Farm Workers. Contributions come from multiple agricultural employers — including Threemile Canyon Farms and Porpiglia Farms — rather than a single corporate sponsor. The plan provides a monthly retirement benefit calculated on years of credited service and compensation.

Plan Administrator Patrick Pine is the named business partner responsible for day-to-day operations, though the plan does not publicly disclose a separate chief investment officer or investment committee. The plan's known holdings combine direct property — such as the National Chavez Center in Keene — with an institutional commitment to the JP Morgan Strategic Property Fund, which covers US and Western European real estate markets.

It does both. The plan directly owns the commercial property at 29700 Woodford-Tehachapi Road, which houses the National Chavez Center and La Paz headquarters. It also invests indirectly through the JP Morgan Strategic Property Fund, providing diversified exposure to institutional real estate in the United States and Western Europe.

The plan was created by the UFW to provide retirement benefits for eligible members and operates as a separate legal entity. Its contribution base is tied directly to UFW-negotiated collective bargaining agreements with agricultural employers. The National Chavez Center property, which the plan holds, physically anchors the UFW's historic headquarters complex.

Funding comes from employer contributions required under collective bargaining agreements rather than individual worker contributions or market-driven corporate profits. Confirmed contributors include Threemile Canyon Farms and Porpiglia Farms — agricultural operators with UFW contracts — though the full employer list remains private. The contribution rate is set through labor negotiations, making the plan's funding dynamic distinct from single-sponsor corporate pensions.

Both the Cesar Chavez Foundation and the Dolores Huerta Foundation share historical and geographic ties to the UFW ecosystem, but they function independently from the pension plan. The plan's ownership of the La Paz headquarters does not extend to operating control over those foundations, which pursue separate charitable and community development missions.

The plan's direct holdings are concentrated in California's Central Valley, specifically the Keene property. Its fund-level exposure through JP Morgan reaches into Western Europe. No public evidence suggests the plan pursues investments in Asia, Latin America, or other emerging market regions independent of those fund commitments.