Whatcom-Skagit Wobblies Help Spread Berry Boycott

By X331980 - iww.org, February 22, 2015

The Sakuma Brothers Farms, Inc. berry boycott campaign spread to yet another grocery store in Bellingham, Wash. on Feb. 21. A large group of Wobs and friends picketed a Haggen Foods grocery store on behalf of the Familias Unidas por la Justicia farm workers union. This was the first of these boycott pickets organized by the Whatcom-Skagit IWW, and it drew a good crowd. A large, bright red “Boycott Berries” banner attracted attention from the busy street in front of the store. Other picketed on the busy street corner two blocks down. Some pickets held signs supporting the nationwide boycott of Driscoll’s berries and Häagen-Dazs ice cream, large purchasers of berries grown at Sakuma Farms in Burlington, Wash. Some signs urged drivers to “honk your support farm worker justice” and drivers did. Others leafleted customers entering the parking lot with information about the boycott. Similar pickets occur frequently in Bellingham, Mount Vernon, Burlington, and Seattle, organized by various groups supporting Familias Unidas. There is a need to spread these pickets to groceries everywhere Driscoll’s berries and Häagen-Dazs ice cream are sold. Contact the Whatcom-Skagit IWW for information: iwwbellingham@gmail.com.

The migrant farmworkers at Sakuma Brothers Farms organized themselves into an independent farm workers union in 2013, and have since held six strikes for better conditions and higher pay. Courts have so far upheld all lawsuits the workers have brought against the farm corporation, but management has yet to recognize the union or agree to negotiate.