Guest farmworkers find their voices in Washington state

Will a string of strikes by agriculture’s ‘most vulnerable workers’ end in new common ground or a crackdown?

 

“Al menos que se estén muriendo, no falten.”

Unless you are dying, don’t miss work.

That was the order given to guest workers bringing in the blueberry harvest for Munger Bros., in Sumas, a farming town in the middle of Washington state’s berry belt at the Canadian border. Seventeen days into the harvest, on Aug. 2, Honesto Silva Ibarra, a 28-year-old father of three, fell ill.

Two days later, 70 workers held a one-day strike to protest working conditions. On Aug. 6, Ibarra died from complications of diabetes at Seattle’s Harborview Medical Center.

The strike cost the workers their jobs. They were fired, evicted and returned to Mexico within weeks. Most feared, with reason, that they had been blacklisted by recruiters for the H-2A program, which had allowed the farmworkers to enter the country. The Sumas workers are now fighting their former employer in court, part of a surge of political action by workers long seen as powerless.

Workers pick berries at Jim Lott’s blueberry farm in Burbank, Washington. At a farm owned by Munger Bros. in Sumas, Washington, 70 guest workers were fired after a one-day strike prompted by poor working conditions.
Shannon Dininny/AP Images

“H-2A workers are the most vulnerable workers in agriculture,” said Joe Morrison, a Columbia Legal Services attorney representing the Munger farmworkers. “Yet last year, 2017, you had workers from Sumas to Quincy to Kennewick all complaining of severe work conditions, mistreatment, lack of safety and health protections. That’s just unheard of.”

An altar in honor of Honesto Silva Ibarra who died due to complications from diabetes in Sumas in 2017. His death sparked protests over poor working conditions.
Edgar Franks
The H-2A visa program is supposed to be a way to staff farm jobs without displacing American workers. In theory, guest workers fill positions no American wants and earn more than they could at home, while growers get access to a pool of workers with legal status.

In practice, guest workers are easy targets for abuse: They cannot switch jobs, they won’t be invited back if they object to their employers’ demands, and they often arrive in debt and must pay their own way home if they don’t substantially fulfill their contract.

And while legal status may appear to provide H-2A workers with better protections than the undocumented workers who fill most agricultural jobs, the restrictions placed on guest workers dissuade them from advocating for themselves, said Briana Beltran, a fellow with Cornell Law School’s Farmworker Legal Assistance Clinic. Their geographic isolation at worker camps separates them from the wider community, and the transient nature of their work prevents them from organizing. “H-2A workers, they just come here, they do the work and they go,” Beltran said. “They have no sort of representation.”

Congress has shown little appetite for reforming the guest worker program, which has more than doubled in size in recent years. Between 2012 and 2017, the number of H-2A visas approved rose from 85,200 to 200,000. Use of the program continued to increase in 2018; a Farm Bureau analysis shows 243,000 visas were approved in 2018. In the West, Washington was the top destination for H-2A workers: 14,000 H-2A workers in 2017, compared to California’s 11,000. Washington has also become a hotbed for protest over safety concerns, food, and production quotas. Beyond the strike in Sumas, H-2A workers at apple orchards in Quincy and Kennewick walked off the job in separate protests last year.

In January, the fired workers in Sumas sued Munger. In affidavits filed in federal court, 36 former Munger workers contended an abusive attitude pervaded the company. Workers claim they were fed meals contaminated with insects and human hair, provided too little water during the summer harvest and threatened if they didn’t reach unreasonable picking quotas. “It was common practice among Munger’s managers to tell any H-2A foreign worker that complained about working conditions, ‘Para Mexico,’ ” said Giovanna Sierra, a Munger office manager fired following the Sumas dustup, in court papers, meaning, “if you don’t like it, go back to Mexico.”

Guadalupe Tapia, one of two lead plaintiffs in the lawsuit, said in a statement to the court that he had hoped by striking “to do something (so) that they would pay attention to us and they would take us into account.”

Protestors at nearby Crystal View Farm this August in wildfire smoke. Similar conditions existed last summer when Honesto Silva Ibarra's death due to complications from diabetes sparked protests over working conditions.
Andrew Eckels

Growers’ responses to the strikes have varied. Some have negotiated with workers represented through an independent union, Familias Unidas por la Justicia. Others, including Munger, have simply removed striking workers. In statements to the court, Munger CEO Robert Hawk defended the firings and evictions following the Sumas strike. “We terminated their employment for this insubordination,” Hawk said in court papers. “Moreover, as they were no longer employees, they could not stay in the employee housing.” Hawk said Munger offered to drive the fired workers into town so they could head home. The remaining workers completed the harvest without any issues, he said.

A U.S. district judge in Seattle is expected to rule in November whether the lawsuit over the Sumas strike can proceed as a class action against Munger, its Sumas subsidiary Sarbanand Farms and a Mexican recruiting firm. A similar case over a strike in Quincy, Washington, was settled in September, with workers receiving $9,100 each and promises that they could return in 2019.

In the meantime, Morrison, the attorney representing Tapia and his co-lead plaintiff, said growers have grown wary of the public backlash that follows abuse claims. “Growers know that’s bad for business if consumers are seeing workers mistreated.”

Levi Pulkkinen is a Seattle-based journalist specializing in law and justice issues in the Pacific Northwest.  

Email HCN at [email protected] or submit a letter to the editor.

Note: This story has been updated with 2018 H2A numbers. Also the captions have been corrected to clarify that Ibarra’s death was due to complications from diabetes.

High Country News Classifieds
  • MATADOR RANCH MANAGER
    The Matador Ranch Manager directs operations, communication, and maintenance for TNC Montana's Matador Ranch preserve with a focus on ecological management and restoration, grazing management,...
  • EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR - THRIVE HOOD RIVER (OREGON)
    Thrive Hood River (Oregon) is looking for a collaborative leader who cares deeply about Hood River's wild places, farmland and the quality of life in...
  • NORTHERN NEW MEXICO PROJECT MANAGER
    Seeking qualified Northern New Mexico Project Manager to provide expertise, leadership and support to the organization by planning, cultivating, implementing and managing land conservation activities....
  • NORTH FORK RECREATION DISTRICT ADMINISTRATOR
    The NFPPRD District Administrator provides leadership and managerial services associated with the Recreation District. Facilities include a seasonal pool, ballfields, bike trails, tennis/pickleball and skateboarding....
  • EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, BADLANDS CONSERVATION ALLIANCE
    The Executive Director of the Badlands Conservation Alliance (BCA) builds and leads a premiere North Dakota advocacy group that serves to protect the ecology of...
  • CLIMATE FELLOW
    Application deadline: Monday, March 6th, 2023, at 5 p.m. MST. Anticipated start date: May 15, 2023 About the position Are you ready to craft an...
  • RISING LEADERS MANAGER
    Application deadline: Monday, March 27, 2023, at 5 p.m. MST Anticipated start date: May 22 or May 30, 2023 About the position Do you want...
  • SENIOR SPECIALIST, LANDSCAPE CONNECTIVITY YELLOWSTONE TO YUKON CONSERVATION INITIATIVE
    About the Organization Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative (Y2Y) is a joint Canada-U.S. not-for-profit organization with a mission to connect and protect wildlife habitat from...
  • VIRGINIA SPENCER DAVIS FELLOWSHIP
    High Country News, an award-winning magazine covering the communities and environment of the Western United States, seeks applicants for a Virginia Spencer Davis fellow. The...
  • GRANTS MANAGER
    The Grants Manager is a passionate information manager, fundraiser, and communicator versed in government and foundation grant and cooperative agreement writing and management, specifically to...
  • COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR
    The Communications Director is a passionate communications professional versed in conservation and regenerative agriculture, as well as nonprofit communications and data management across several program...
  • EDUCATION AND OUTREACH PROGRAM DIRECTOR
    The Education and Outreach Director is a people-oriented facilitator, communications wizard, and team leader who has experience designing, managing, and fundraising for land based educational...
  • ADOBE HOME FOR SALE
    Restored traditional adobe home in No. New Mexico on 1+ acre site, irrigation water, separate large shop/studio. Please email for photos/full description.
  • HIGH COUNTRY NEWS EDITORIAL INTERNS
    High Country News, an award-winning magazine covering the communities and environment of the Western United States, is looking for its next cohort of editorial interns....
  • DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM SPECIALIST
    hat We Can Achieve Together: If you are a detailed individual that takes pride in your accuracy, this position may be the perfect opportunity for...
  • EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR - LEMHI COUNTY HUMANE SOCIETY (SALMON, IDAHO)
    Are you ready to take the reins at Lemhi County Humane Society and make a difference in the lives of countless animals? We are seeking...
  • ENVIRONMENTAL AND CONSTRUCTION GEOPHYSICS
    We characterize contaminated sites, identify buried drums, tanks, debris and also locate groundwater.
  • WESTERN NATIVE SEED
    Native plant seeds for the Western US. Trees, shrubs, grasses, wildflowers and regional mixes. Call or email for free price list. 719-942-3935. [email protected] or visit...
  • CEO BUFFALO NATIONS GRASSLANDS ALLIANCE
    Chief Executive Officer, Remote Exempt position for Buffalo Nations Grasslands Alliance is responsible for the planning and organization of BNGA's day-to-day operations
  • "PROFILES IN COURAGE: STANDING AGAINST THE WYOMING WIND"
    13 stories of extraordinary courage including HCN founder Tom Bell, PRBRC director Lynn Dickey, Liz Cheney, People of Heart Mountain, the Wind River Indian Reservation...