Leading fair trade advocacy organization Fair World Project joined over thirty other organizations in signing a letter asking Driscoll’s, the largest distributor of berries in the world, to make good on its commitment to enforcing the right to freedom of association and collective bargaining. As part of its worker welfare standard, Driscoll’s affirms the right of workers to organize and bargain collectively and states that standards apply even when laws do not exist. Driscoll’s also affirmed its commitment to this right in a 2015 meeting with Fair World Project, Community to Community Development, Domestic Fair Trade Association, and the independent union Familias Unidas por la Justicia.

Yet at Sakuma Brothers Farm, a Washington farm that grows blueberries and blackberries for Driscoll’s, management has refused to negotiate a contract with Familias Unidas por la Justicia. Rather than enforcing its own standards, Driscoll’s has stated it cannot insist that Sakuma Brothers Farm sit down with the independent union.

Fair World Project has also sent a petition signed by nearly 10,000 consumers directly to Sakuma Brothers asking CEO Danny Weeden to sit down with farmworkers.

Read More

See Also: Driscoll’s Berry Boycott and Labor Dispute Intensifies

Related Features: California Strawberry Festival: Brought To You By Exploitation || International Days of Action to Boycott Driscoll's || Farmworkers on West Coast Tour: Boycott Driscoll's from Border to Border