Four New York farms are refusing to honor union contracts put in place by state-appointed arbitrators — the first such contracts to be reached after a 2019 state law granted farm workers collective bargaining rights.

In May, New York Focus reported that Wafler Farms, an upstate apple orchard, was not paying workers the minimum wages stipulated by its union contract, among other violations.

Now, three more large family farms — A&J Kirby Farms and Lynn-Ette & Sons Farms in Orleans County, and Porpiglia Farms in Ulster County — are refusing to abide by contracts, New York Focus has learned.

Arbitrators awarded the contracts at each farm after the owners refused to participate in the arbitration process laid out under the law. Lynn-Ette and Kirby have not signed their respective contracts, while an attorney for Porpiglia told New York Focus that the owner does not intend to follow the contract reached there last week.

Hotels have long been considered a last resort for sheltering people who’ve lost their housing. But over the past few years, they’ve become New York’s predominant response to homelessness outside New York City, a recent investigation by New York Focus and ProPublica found.