No Work is Insignificant!
/“All Labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance, and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence” Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Today we honor the legacy of the Rev. Dr Martin Luther King Jr, celebrating the words The Rev spoke to farmworkers in Bakersfield California on Feb 25, 1960.
Tomorrow we honor his legacy of fighting for economic transformation and the rights of working people to form unions by taking action and joining Familias Unidas por la Justicia, Washington State’s powerful Indigenous independent union as they enshrine the right of all farmworkers in WA State to organize and form their own unions.
A bill critical to our efforts is currently making it’s way through the WA State legislator HB 2409 / SB 6045: Collective Bargaining for Agricultural Workers. This legislation sponsored by Rep. Sharlett Mena of WA 29th district, was co-written by Familias Unidas por la Justicia, and marks a major step forward in farmworker efforts to ensure safe and stable working conditions.
Under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), most workers in the United States have the right to form unions and bargain collectively, but in the 1930s, Congress intentionally excluded farmworkers and domestic workers to secure votes from Southern Democrats who opposed labor protections for Black and Brown workers.
This racist exclusion persists today. As a result: Farmworkers lack the right to conduct union elections and to get union contracts if they win. Only two farmworker union contracts exist in Washington, each created only after years of successful boycotts and grassroots pressure from consumers, not because the law protected workers’ rights, but because of the farm workers organizing with “painstaking excellence” using the power of the marketplace and non-violent strikes and work stoppages. Courageous efforts with tremendous sacrifice by hundreds of workers.
This is the last major missing piece to give farmworkers the same rights that everyone else has in employment law.
The bill would:
Create a process for farmworkers to organize and elect representatives.
Require employers (agribusinesses) to bargain with the workers for union contracts.
Provide clear oversight and enforcement through the Public Employment Relations Commission (PERC), which is prepared and committed to take on this role.
Reduce reliance on prolonged boycotts, strikes, lawsuits or federal claims that don’t protect farmworkers and are costly to employers.
We could not have gotten this far without your support, and we cannot get it to the governor’s desk without adding your voice to ours. Farmworkers help feed all families in every community and we now need maximum engagement from the people in Washington State who understand that farmworker protections are vital to a just and resilient food system.
C2C stands with FUJ as farmworkers and affirm our rights to self-determination and economic well-being. After 13 years of organizing and speaking truth to power by bringing powerful testimony from lived experiences to policy makers, another seed to growing farmworker justice will be planted.
HB 2409 Sign in Pro or Contact Your Reps
SB 6045 Sign in Pro or Contact your Reps