{"id":4044,"date":"2017-08-04T18:41:16","date_gmt":"2017-08-04T18:41:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/humanrights\/?p=4044"},"modified":"2025-08-04T10:27:21","modified_gmt":"2025-08-04T17:27:21","slug":"jessica-ramirez-osheroff-clark","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/humanrights\/2017\/08\/04\/jessica-ramirez-osheroff-clark\/","title":{"rendered":"Celebrating Farmworker Victories, Organizing for Ongoing Struggles"},"content":{"rendered":"

On June 19, 2017, the first day of the summer strawberry harvest, farmworkers at Sakuma Brothers Farm in the Skagit Valley began picking berries in the early morning fog. As they did so, they were making history. After four years of struggle that grew from local walk-outs and strikes to a national boycott against the world\u2019s largest berry supplier, Familias Unidas por la Justicia (FUJ)<\/strong><\/a>, the first indigenous-led farmworkers\u2019 union in the United States, had won.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Three days before the start of the harvest, members of FUJ voted overwhelmingly to approve a collective bargaining agreement with Sakuma Brothers Farm. The agreement guarantees benefits including an average $15 dollar per hour wage, just cause and non-discrimination protections, grievance procedures, and union representatives in the fields.<\/span><\/p>\n

A few weeks later, FUJ members and their supporters gathered in Mount Vernon for a celebratory barbecue. One of the attendees was Jessica Ramirez, a University of Washington alumna who served as FUJ\u2019s volunteer national boycott coordinator<\/strong> starting in 2015. Ramirez helped organize actions which put pressure on berry buyers<\/a>, including Driscoll\u2019s, H\u00e4agen-Dazs, and the UW itself, to stop buying berries sourced from Sakuma Brothers Farm.<\/span><\/p>\n

Please watch and share our video highlighting Jessica Ramirez’s organizing:<\/h3>\n