Democracy Now--Driscoll's Berry Boycott

Andreas Wenzel

Soc. 122: Social Movements

Democracy Now

Driscoll's Workers Boycott

                On Saturday, May 7, workers who pick berries for Driscoll's called to boycott the purchase of products from the distributer, demanding proper wages, working, and living environments, and union contracted benefits. Workers have been organizing for the past three years at the living quarters of Sakuma farms, one of the employers contracted to grow berries for Driscoll's. The boycott was part of a multi-national effort on both sides of the United States-Mexico border to end the exploitation and abuse of farm workers that triggered more than fourty picket lines in front of stores who carry Driscoll's, including Costco.

                One of the protesters and leaders for Families United For Justice, Felimon Pineda, said that he was threatened, forced to work in rain, and had wages stolen from him during his time working for Sakuma Farms. He stated that in the United States pickers for Driscoll's could work eight hour days and only make thirty-five or forty dollars, while in Mexico workers are working twelve to fifteen hour workdays and only receiving a mere six or seven dollars for their entire day at work. A pair of brothers living and working at Sakuma Farms reported the threats of termination their mother faced when trying to take care of her sick child, the bug bites received in their living quarters, and the water that would leak and drip onto them as they tried to sleep. Some of the living quarters had no insulation and essentially had rotting plywood for walls.

                The main theory present in the demonstrations against Driscoll's is Framing Theory, as the boycott aimed to specifically help agricultural workers and their families receive proper benefits and treatment for their labor. They were able to highlight the level of neglect and exploitation that workers were experiencing while working for the multi-national giants. The workers also made use of the tools, spaces, and bodies to help the boycott succeed, in line with resource mobilization theory. With the use of the internet and social networks, the wooden posts and paper signs, and the stories of lived experience, they were able to communicate a strong message in demand of fair treatment on both sides of the border.

 

http://www.democracynow.org/2016/5/9/driscolls_workers_call_for_cross_border