“I went on strike because they have made me feel discriminated against. They don’t respect me, so I had to make a decision. My coworkers, they also have their motivations, and I also see those injustices. They don’t get respect either, and that’s why we left. Because they don’t take into consideration my being a person.”
Call in to support Yakima workers
After weeks of strikes, workers at three apple packing warehouses — Allan Brothers, Monson Fruit, and Matson Fruit. Co — have reached agreements with management and returned to work. Workers continue to strike at the Columbia Reach facility.
Leaders on the picket lines are asking supporters to take five minutes to call Columbia Reach and urge them to negotiate in good faith with their workers and not retaliate against them for striking! (Note: be sure to be polite — firm, but polite!)
Columbia Reach in Yakima, WA (509) 457-8001
Sample script:
"Hi, my name is ________, and I'm calling because I am deeply concerned about the situation with coronavirus at your company. May I speak to your manager?” (If no, “Can you pass this message along to management?” )
Hi, my name is ___, and I'm calling because as a consumer of apples I am deeply concerned about the situation with coronavirus at your company. I understand workers at your company have gotten sick and workers are on strike trying to get safe conditions and hazard pay. I urge you to negotiate in good faith with your workers and not retaliate against them. I will be monitoring the situation closely and factoring it into how I choose which apples I feel comfortable buying."
In workers’ own words…
“We are worried about what is happening. We’ve taken note that someone has contracted COVID here and truthfully, we are scared. When I was working, according to management they said they were cleaning certain areas, but it wasn’t true. When I came to work, I had to clean my own table because it was always dirty. We do our best to put out a good product. If you buy our products, support us, encourage us. I believe if we speak from the heart to our boss that we will make positive change for ourselves.”
“We are working during coronavirus, but they don’t give us masks. At first they told us they would give us a mask every day, but then they said this one mask will have to last you three days - this isn’t just. These masks are dirty. We can’t use them from one day to the next. So we buy our own masks. We also don’t have hand sanitizer. One week we didn’t even have paper towels to dry our hands.“
Send an email to the Attorney General in support
Contact form here — sample email below:
My name is ____ and I live in the _____ area.
I am writing about the ongoing farmworker strikes in central Washington.
These farmworkers continue to work hard during this global pandemic to ensure that we have food to eat, but they are being exploited. I’m calling on you to do more to protect the workers that are keeping the rest of us fed.
The Emergency Rules for Housing in Agriculture are not adequate for the pandemic. They do not require the ratios for housing, showers, sinks, cooking and food storage facilities, laundry, and bunkbeds to reflect CDC social distancing protocols and are likely to not be adequately enforced. It is crucial that stronger requirements are put on these farms to protect farmworkers. These workers need a work environment that meets all CDC social distancing protocols, and they deserve hazard pay, including pay for time lost during the strike. It is also crucial that the state assign additional staff to farms in the state to ensure that these rules are actually being followed.
Call the governor
Governor Inslee's office: (360) 902-4111 (option 2 to skip the recording and leave a comment)
Call Governor Inslee to demand that workers receive immediate hazard pay, including time lost during the strike. Register your dissatisfaction with the Emergency Rules for Housing in Agriculture, and ask them to assign additional state staff to ensure safety precautions are being followed! Demand a Legislative investigation into why farmworkers are being treated differently than other essential workers during this pandemic. Why is the agricultural industry continuously allowed to put profit over the lives of farmworkers?
More information…
Earlier this month, more than one hundred workers at the Allan Bros fruit packinghouse walked out on strike after 14 of their co-workers tested positive for COVID-19. Their call for hazard pay and COVID safety protections has spread across the valley, with more than 1000 workers joining picket lines at 7 different packing houses.
It’s been decades since a strike wave like this shook our state.
These workers are on the frontlines of the coronavirus crisis — officially “essential” workers in a county which has become a COVID hotspot. And the details of their working conditions are appalling: paid minimum wage, working in close quarters without social distancing, not provided basic protections like masks and sanitizer, and often unable to access any income support if they are unable to work. Take five minutes to make those phone calls, and watch for updates from Community to Community Development and Familias Unidas por la Justicia, or right here on this page.