The 2024 Food Worker Summit is a wrap! From August 3-6, 52 workers and organizers from 21 FCWA member organizations traveled to Skagit County, WA from 11 U.S. states and Ontario, Canada.

More local workers and organizers from co-host organizations Community to Community Development and Familias Unidas por la Justicia joined as well, providing insight into the region based on their organizing work with farmworkers across Skagit and Whatcom counties. This area about 90 miles north of Seattle is known for its agricultural production, with blueberries, raspberries, and tulips being some of its more notable crops.

Between our hotel in Burlington, meeting spaces in La Conner, and action in Lynden, members were able to experience the natural beauty of the region and visit several different local communities, and see the impact of a strong farmworker movement. And over the course of three days of workshops, meetings, and group activities, members continued building relationships across our alliance and sharing strategies for empowering food workers:

Welcome picnic in Burlington’s Railroad Park featured dinner prepared by C2C members and a performance by a local dance group.  Photos: Sattva Photo

Regional grounding session with New Season Labor Union (OR, WA), Burgerville Workers Union (OR), Front and Centered (WA), Community to Community Development (WA), and Familias Unidas por la Justicia (WA). Photo: Edgar Franks

Peer to peer workshops: Union Organizing 101, Protecting Worker Organizing through DALE, Grassroots Fundraising & Approaching Grantmakers, Immigration Roundtable, Organizing for Gender Equality and Against Sexual Harassment, Supply Chain Mapping, and Protecting the Right to Organize

Action protesting local grower Enfield Farms’ use of H-2A program, which exploits migrant workers and displaces local workers. This action launched a campaign for local member Community to Community Development, as they focus on showing the Skagit and Whatcom agricultural communities that H-2A is not fair labor and not good for their communities.
Photos: Sattva Photo

At our annual meeting, members in-person and joining virtually voted to approve our annual budget, and fill seats on the FCWA board, which is composed entirely of member organizations. Photos: Edgar Franks

THANK YOU to everyone who made the 2024 summit possible: every worker and organizer who traveled to participate, our co-hosts Community to Community Development and Familias Unidas por la Justicia, our Growth & Learning Committee who planned the summit with staff, our sponsors including Dr. Bronner’s and the HEAL Food Alliance, and all the member groups in attendance:

Alianza Agrícola
Brandworkers
Burgerville Workers Union
California Institute for Rural Studies
Cincinnati Interfaith Workers Center
Community to Community Development
Familias Unidas por la Justicia
Farmworker Association of Florida
Global Labor Justice
Justicia for Migrant Workers
Laundry Workers Center
New Seasons Labor Union
Pioneer Valley Workers Center
Restaurant Opportunities Center Los Angeles
Rural Community Workers Alliance
Street Vendor Project
Trabajadores Unidos por la Justicia
United for Respect
Venceremos
Warehouse Workers for Justice
Workers’ Center of Central New York
Worker Justice Center of New York

Last month, the Food Chain Workers Alliance Farmworker Committee convened in New York City to host a Bi-National People’s Tribunal on the Struggles of Farmworkers in North America.

Over two days at The People’s Forum, dozens of farmworkers in the U.S. and Canada gave video and in-person testimony, with probing commentary and questions from jurors Max Ajl (University of Tunis/MECAM), Jaribu Hill (Mississippi Workers Center for Human Rights), Chaumtoli Huq (Law@Margins), Raj Patel (University of Texas at Austin) and Rob Robinson (Partners for Dignity and Rights). All worker testimonies are available to watch on the FCWA YouTube channel, with English or Spanish interpretation. If you don’t have time to watch all 5.5 hours of testimony right now, here are initial key takeaways:

The tribunal also underscored that farmworkers are organizing for a better future. At our opening Workers’ Assembly, participants envisioned the better world we’re working toward, speaking not only about freedom of movement, free healthcare, higher wages and overtime pay; but also broad implementation of agroecology, more co-op models, a master bargaining agreement across the food chain, a welcoming environment for all immigrants, and one day, no bosses.

We closed out the weekend in lower Manhattan’s Foley Square. This historic area is not only steps away from a Colonial-era burial site of free and enslaved Africans, reminding us of our food system’s origins in the slave economy, but also surrounded by the very institutions (DHS, ICE, DOL, US federal courts) that maintain an extractive and exploitative labor economy today. Worker leaders Claudia Rosales, Luis Jiménez, Gabriel Allahduah, and juror Jaribu Hill spoke about themes that were raised in testimonials and charged each other and the broader public to continue fighting for farmworker justice.

The FCWA Farmworker Committee is a group of 10 worker-based and 2 ally groups that are carving a new path for alternative, grassroots organizing for farmworkers. Findings from the tribunal will help determine our collective strategies for both short and long-term goals along that path.

THANK YOU to everyone who made this possible: first and foremost every farmworker who provided their time and testimony, our jury panel, The People’s Forum, FCWA staff, everyone who donated and showed up to this event online and in-person, and of course, to the visionary members of our Farmworker Committee:

Alianza Agrícola

California Institute for Rural Studies 

Comité de apoyo a los trabajadores agrícolas (CATA)

Community to Community Development

Farmworker Association of Florida

Familias Unidas por la Justicia

Justice for Migrant Workers

Migrant Justice

Pioneer Valley Workers Center

Rural & Migrant Ministry

Worker Justice Center of New York

Workers’ Center of Central New York

Stay tuned for our full tribunal report later this year, and help us continue convening workers and facilitating worker-led organizing and honor May Day by making a donation to support FCWA today! 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Jan 24, 2024
Grassroots farmworker organizations from the United States and Canada will convene a People’s Tribunal on the Struggles of Farmworkers in North America from March 29-31, 2024. The Tribunal is being hosted by the Food Chain Workers Alliance at The People’s Forum in New York City.
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In this participatory process, workers, organizers and members of the public will hear direct testimony from U.S. and Canadian farmworkers on the daily conditions they face, what protections they need, and what organizing goals should be prioritized in worker-led movements.

The tribunal will focus broadly on three priority areas for the future of farmworker labor organizing: health & safety, freedom of movement, and climate justice. A post-tribunal report will capture all testimonies and articulate a collective, alternative vision of farmworker justice.

This event is organized by members of the FCWA Farmworker Committee: Alianza Agrícola, California Institute for Rural Studies, Comité de apoyo a los trabajadores agrícolas (CATA), Community to Community Development, Familias Unidas por la Justicia, Farmworker Association of Florida, Justicia for Migrant Workers, Migrant Justice, Pioneer Valley Workers Center, Rural & Migrant Ministry, Workers’ Center of Central New York, and Worker Justice Center of New York. Together, they represent thousands of workers in the agricultural sector in eight U.S. states and one Canadian province.

“Our current legal and political system will not bring justice for exploited workers. Our members in the farmworker sector are leaders of a grassroots movement, and they have decided to not only work defensively against the forces that oppress them, but also to create their own solutions.”
– Suzanne Adely, FCWA Co-Director

“It’s important to have farmworkers come together at this time to share our stories and strategize collectively across the region. We want to offer a different vision for our food system than the one set by the industry. To do that, workers need to come together and wield our power.” 
– Edgar Franks, Political Director at Familias Unidas por la Justicia

“Our voices, of farmworkers, nursery, construction, and domestic workers too many times go unheard when it comes to making and enforcing laws in the United States, and especially in Florida. We have been saying for decades that we need the compensation and protections that are standard in other industries, as we see everyday employers that exploit as much as they can get away with. We are who feeds, builds, drives, and cares for this country. We are people of action, and we are looking for something to be done. That is why we are going to the People’s Tribunal, so our voices will be heard, and that action will happen.”
– Yésica Ramirez, General Coordinator at Farmworker Association of Florida

“Farmworkers across the U.S. and Canada have been demanding worker protections for decades. Most traditional legal remedies for migrant agricultural workers are piecemeal and don’t get to the heart of the systems of oppression that create their conditions. The People’s Tribunal centers workers’ experiences across farms and even across borders to demand real, lasting changes to our food systems.”
– Chris Ramsaroop, Organizer with Justicia for Migrant Workers

“In New York State, farmworkers have achieved major victories expanding legal rights and protections. However, these rights are under constant threat by employers who aim to undermine collective bargaining protections, sew divisions among workers based on immigration status, and prevent their employees from organizing in the workplace. In these times, it is critical that we hear from workers on the front lines of the fight to secure safe and dignified working conditions in the agricultural sector.”
– Emma Kreyche, Director of Advocacy, Outreach & Education at Worker Justice Center of NY

More information and updates can be found at https://foodchainworkers.org/peoples-tribunal

We recently shared our 2023 Impact Report of highlights from the past year, like launching our Food Workers Organizing Institute, hosting our member summit in Arkansas, and publishing a report on a decade of work on values-based purchasing. Now we want to share what we’re anticipating for the year ahead:

1. FARMWORKER TRIBUNAL
FCWA members from our farmworker committee are planning a bi-national farmworker tribunal in March 2024. The tribunal will take place over two days in New York City, where farmworkers will testify about the conditions they face on the job, and which rights and protections are needed.

We will focus on three key themes: Climate Justice, Freedom of Movement, and Health & Safety. Members are already conducting regional listening sessions to collect worker testimonies, and after the tribunal, we will produce a report to guide our collective work going forward

Our farmworker members have recently worked together to fight government attacks like the egregious Farm Workforce Modernization Act (which has failed to pass the Senate so far!), but we must do more than just fight defensively. Farmworkers must find their own solutions and create their own accountability process.

Stay tuned for more information about the tribunal and forthcoming report in 2024.

2. SUPPLY CHAIN TRANSPARENCY
The food supply chain is extremely opaque. Even after ten years working to shift how taxpayer dollars are spent on food under the Good Food Purchasing Program (see our Procuring Food Justice report for more info) we’ve only been able to obtain a sliver of the overall sourcing data we need.

Without uncovering supply chain data, workers can’t easily determine organizing targets, and communities can’t know where their taxpayer dollars are being spent on food. We are left instead to rely on corporate-friendly certifications and limited government inspections to tell us what is fair. That’s not going to work.

In 2024, we will continue working with members to conduct research mapping projects and advocate for publicizing supply chain data everywhere we are supporting values-based public food procurement.

3. SEEDING & SUPPORTING WORKER ORGANIZING
Finally, and as always: we will seed and support worker-led organizing along the food chain. We do this by amplifying and supporting our members’ campaigns, which run the gamut from demanding more permits for street vendors in NYC, to fighting anti-immigrant policies in Florida, to forming new independent unions in Washington and Oregon. We provide support in the form of peer-learning spaces, strategic advice, and cash infusions.

We’re also building the long-term infrastructure for food worker organizing by educating workers and organizers in our network through our Food Workers Organizing Institute.

Building a larger, stronger movement of food workers organizing is our mission. Thank you for supporting it in 2023, whether that meant standing up for workers in your community, donating to a worker campaign, or speaking to your friends about workers’ rights.

Your gift before January 1 helps us keep moving forward.

We are pleased to share our 2023 impact report and thank everyone who makes this work possible, especially our incredible members. From our Food Workers Organizing Institute to our report on a decade of work on values-based procurement, FCWA continued moving the needle for food workers this year.

We’re proud to share this work with you now and keep building on it in 2024:

This would not be possible without support from generous foundations, event sponsors, and most critically, individual grassroots supporters who stand with workers.

Please help us keep this movement going by donating before December 31.

Before we fight on for worker power in the new year, let’s look back and celebrate all we’ve accomplished. Our can’t-miss articles from 2023 feature FCWA members’ work and issues we’re focused on collectively: freedom of movement, grassroots worker-led organizing, solidarity economies, human rights, heat stress & more:

The Long Road to Justice for NYC Wage Theft Victims
City Limits, 2/23/23 | Featured member: Laundry Workers Center

“More than three years after 15 laundry workers first lodged their complaint with New York Attorney General Letitia James, the employees—all Latina immigrant women—finally received the first checks for their owed salaries. The case is emblematic of what can be a long road to justice for victims of wage theft, which lawmakers estimate impacts some 2.1 million New Yorkers each year.”

Photo Essay: A Cooperative Farm’s Long Path to Liberation for Farmworkers
Civil Eats, 6/29/23 | Featured members: Familias Unidas por la Justicia & Community to Community Development

“The co-op began looking to the workers’ Indigenous culture to find new products to grow, and a market for them. Co-op members experimented first with nopal, or prickly pear cactus. Nopal is a staple in Mexico, used in everything from salads to scrambled eggs. Some of the first year’s crop was lost to cold weather, so today the plants begin in a greenhouse long before being replanted outside.”

Canada’s migrant farm worker program was founded on ‘racist’ policies, new lawsuit alleges. And today’s workers are still paying the price
Welland Tribune, 12/11/23 | Featured member: Justicia for Migrant Workers

“The lead plaintiff, a migrant farm worker from Jamaica, told the tribunal he was given the option of either submitting DNA to police or losing his job. Of the 100 farm workers offered a similar choice, only four refused. In the end, none of the DNA samples that police collected matched what was found at the crime scene.”

Calls for change after Florida farmworker, 29, dies in heat. ‘Is this what we deserve?’
Miami Herald, 7/20/23 | Featured member: Farmworker Association of Florida

“All of this could have been prevented with the right legislation,” said Yvette Cruz, a spokesperson for the Farmworker Association of Florida. “All we ask is for four basic things: water, shade, breaks and to work with somebody — not to be left alone.”

Street Vendors Fight for Public Space Outside Hudson Yards
Documented NY, 7/20/23 | Featured member: Street Vendor Project

“We’ve been here since before Hudson Yards even existed, feeding the construction workers,” he said. “And now that Hudson Yards is up and running, and after we’ve suffered – we’re being displaced because we don’t fit their vision. I served my country, why can they put us out of business so easily?”

Organizing Portland, Local Labor Organizers See Surge in Union Solidarity, Diversity
Portland Mercury, 9/14/23 | Featured member: Burgerville Workers Union

“While certain fields— like the automobile and education industries— have long been seen as fixtures in American organized labor, other industries have much less union participation. But Portland retail and restaurant workers are leading a paradigm shift. In addition to Burgerville, which formed its union in 2016 and reached a contract in 2021, workers are getting organized at Portland’s donut shops, grocery stores, pet shops, strip clubs, and more.”

A Worker-Driven Model for Protecting Labor Rights Is Successful — and Expanding
truthout, 10/15/23 | Featured member: Migrant Justice

“Under the Fair Food Program, retailers and growers agree to abide by a “Code of Conduct” that is shaped by, and protects, farmworkers. This is cemented in a signed, legally-binding agreement that is enforced, largely, by workers themselves through regular education sessions and a multilingual 24/7 hotline. An independent body, the Fair Food Standards Council, conducts investigations into abuses and undertakes serious audits. The program also includes a Fair Food Premium that retailers pay that ends up in workers’ paychecks as a bonus.”

Protestors urge Arkansas’ Tyson to commit to child labor, worker safety protections
Arkansas Advocate, 10/17/23 | Featured member: Venceremos

“Children, including migrant children, should never be exploited for their labor or subjected to the dangerous working conditions in Tyson plants and in your supply chain,” the letter reads. “We know that Tyson has a no tolerance policy when it comes to illegal child labor, but it’s unclear how Tyson ensures accountability to that commitment, because the Company does not disclose that information.”

Thank you for supporting FCWA and food workers this year.

If you want to keep work like this going in 2024, please consider giving to FCWA or our members before December 31.