Welcome to our e-newsletter about farm worker justice in the Northwest and nationally. Your advocacy and support is needed and is making a difference! Contact us.
We are a faith-based farm worker solidarity organization working for justice with the local farm worker community in the Northwest
March with Ostrom Mushroom Farm Workers in Sunnyside
Saturday, Sept 17 @ 3 pm
Mushroom farm workers at Ostrom Mushroom Farms in Sunnyside WA are demanding a workplace free from threats, excessive pressure, harassment and retaliation.
Update 9/10/22: The Ostrom Mushroom committee has been leading a card drive and they now have a strong majority of current workers supporting the union! We also have the support of over 100 workers who were unjustly fired from the company and support of current workers is growing every day. The committee has been holding general meetings every week on Tuesday nights and consistently have between 60 and 80 workers attend each meeting.
The committee is preparing to begin a community petition drive with the support of Bishop Tyson at all of the Catholic churches in the Yakima Valley. Additionally, the Bishop is drafting a letter to the company in support of the worker’s effort to unionize. Read more
The workers have not received any communication from the company since the last negotiation meeting on August 3rd. The committee has sent several correspondences that have gone unanswered. They are organizing an action this Saturday, September 17 at 3pm in Sunnyside. The mushroom workers will join with supporters and UFW members to march from the park to the mushroom farm and demand the company respond to their proposal and meet with them. They were very inspired by the UFW California march!
Workers need our support to show management that consumers are asking for them to respond to the worker's demands.
We will meet at 3 pm at South Hill Park, 1521 S. 1st St., Sunnyside, WA and march to the Ostrom Mushroom Farms, 1111 Midvale Rd, Sunnyside, a distance of about 2.3 miles. Accommodations can be made for driving the route if you cannot walk that far.
Take action NOW to support these workers!
Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson filed a lawsuit against Ostrom for wage theft, gender discrimination and illegally displacing local workers.
Be sure to sign the workers' petition. Ostrom Mushroom Farms workers want the company to know that people nationally are paying attention to this issue. Stand with them in solidarity. Sign their petition today.
National Farm Worker Ministry Webinar on
Child Labor in Agriculture
The 300,000 to 500,000 estimated children who work in agriculture are the least protected workforce in the US by law. Labor laws protect and prevent children from working in factories or offices but allow children as young as 12 to legally work unlimited hours on farms outside of school with parental permission.
Child labor is a complex problem, but this exploitative practice can be stopped. This Harvest of Justice season, learn how you can help reduce child labor in agriculture.
This free webinar will address why congress needs to pass the Children’s Act for Responsible Employment and Farm Safety (CARE Act), which provides basic child labor protections to U.S. child farm workers that all other working children enjoy. You will also learn about other legislative efforts that will improve the living and working conditions for farm workers and their families.
Join us for this instructive discussion and invite your family and friends to participate too! We have attached a flyer you can share with others in your community.
Can't attend live? You should still register! We will send out the recording after the webinar to all registrants.
(Photo Credit: David Bacon)
National Farm Worker Ministry Resources Now Available
Harvest of Justice 2022: Child Labor in Agriculture
Harvest of Justice (HOJ) is our annual educational program that provides supporters with multiple resources, so they can help their faith group and community learn about issues affecting farm workers. HOJ is an opportunity to raise consciousness, commitment, and contributions. The Harvest of Justice Season falls every year between Labor Day on Sept. 5 and World Food Day on Oct. 16. This year’s theme is Child Labor in Agriculture and all our resources are now available.
Justice for Migrant Women reports that there are between 300,000 and 500,000 child farm workers in the U.S., but the specific number is unknown. What we do know is that these children face many work hazards and lack many basic child labor protections. Every day, around 33 children are injured doing farm work. And a child working in agriculture dies about every three days.
Harsh working conditions, economic hardships, living in isolation, and discrimination are just a few of the stressors farm workers and their children experience. Additionally, farm worker children often struggle in school due to work and life stressors.
But you can stand in solidarity with farm workers and help end child labor. By following along with Harvest of Justice 2022: Child Labor in Agriculture, you will learn how you can make a positive difference in the working and living conditions of farm workers and their families.
One of the solutions to help reduce child labor in agriculture is to ask Congress to support the Children's Act for Responsible Employment and Farm Safety, H.R. 7345, CARE Act, which would end the exemption for exploitative child labor in U.S. agriculture.
While retaining exemptions for family farms and education programs, the CARE Act would bring age and work hour standards for children in agriculture up to the standards for child working in all other industries and provide greater protection against physical harms.
Another way to help reduce child labor in agriculture is to support farm worker led campaigns that improve their living and working conditions, so that farm workers don’t have to ask their children to work in the fields in order to meet financial needs.
NFWM plans to host a webinar on Tuesday, September 27th about child labor in agriculture and all the ways supporters can take action to help farm workers and their families.
Click here for all the 2022 Harvest of Justice Child Labor in Agriculture resources
UFW: Pesticides threaten farm workers/
Pesticidas amenazan a los campesinos
Farm workers are the most fundamental workers in our agricultural economy: their work is physically demanding and vitally important to the entire population of the country. However, they are among the least protected workers in the United States, facing hazards such as heat, employer exploitation, and exposure to toxic chemicals in the fields.
Each year, the U.S. uses over a billion pounds of pesticides, many of which can pose public health and environmental threats. But they are of particular concern for farm working families who face the highest levels of exposure to these toxic substances, as they often live in or near treated fields where harmful pesticides can drift into their homes and harm their children.
Last week, Representative Nydia Velazquez of New York introduced the Ban All Neurotoxic Organophosphate Pesticides (BAN OPs) From Our Food Act. Last year, the EPA banned all food uses of chlorpyrifos, the most well-known organophosphate pesticide, but only one among the dangerous pesticide group. If passed, the BAN OPs from Our Food Act would prohibit the use of all organophosphate pesticides in agricultural farming, which would be greatly beneficial to both farm workers and consumers.
Farm workers and their families have continuously been exposed to harmful pesticides for years. We must continue to work with our partners and lawmakers to protect our nation’s farm workers from toxic exposure. These are long overdue protections that must be enacted now.
