#driscoll's

Washington Farmworkers Union Puts Pressure on Driscoll’s and Sakuma Brothers

By Mike Bivins

Portland berry buyers are now on notice thanks to a March 3, 2016 picket outside the Whole Foods at 2825 E. Burnside Street. Around forty protesters gathered on the sidewalk around Whole Foods that Saturday to call for consumers and berry sellers to boycott Driscoll’s berries as well as Burlington, Washington’s Sakuma Brothers Farms. Sakuma Brothers berries are sold at stores such as Whole Foods under the Driscoll’s label.

Familias Unidas por la Justicia (FUJ)—a self-described independent union who started the Sakuma Brothers boycott in 2013—says it represents the Sakuma Brothers employees that work the fields, and that the boycott will not be lifted until Sakuma Brothers signs a contract with FUJ and recognizes it as a legitimate union.

Farmworkers are excluded from federal labor protections enforced by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)—chief amongst them the right to unionize. FUJ is, however, recognized by the Washington Labor Council as a union. It also has 500 members, says FUJ president Ramón Torres.

According to FUJ’s website, boycottsakumaberries.com, Sakuma Brothers has a wage scale that is designed to “exploit farmworkers.” The website also lists Häagen-Dazs ice cream as an item to boycott due to its use of Sakuma Brothers berries.

Torres, who is 31-years-old and has 12 years of experience working in the fields, was on hand for the picket that is part of a 28-day tour of Oregon and California intended to update local labor leaders on—as well as increase support and awareness for—the boycott. Torres says that in June there will be a total berry boycott. “We are asking all the consumers to support the farmworkers and don’t eat berries. If you want to eat berries, grow your own.” Based on negotiations with different growers, Torres, a native of Guadalajara, Mexico, says that FUJ will let consumers know which berries—if any—they should purchase.

Sakuma Brothers public relations employee Roger Van Oosten says that the company will not negotiate with FUJ because it is not a union. Van Oosten also says that the Washington Labor Council’s recognizance of FUJ as a union “doesn’t carry any weight.”

George Taylor, 67, attended the picket to support the workers for whom he says his band plays music for every year. Taylor also notes that he is a veteran of the protests held in 1969.

In 2014 Sakuma Brothers settled with around 1,200 past and present workers for $850,000 to settle a labor dispute which included, among other things, accusations of underpayment as well as not providing employees with breaks, according to The Seattle Times.

FUJ’s boycott is running concurrently and in solidarity with thousands of striking Driscoll’s berry pickers in Baja Mexico’s San Quintin Valley, according to FUJ’s website.

Driscoll’s tweeted at The Pacific Sentinel regarding the Whole Foods picket saying that it has “no role in union negotiations.”