who are we and what are we trying to do?
Protect Farmworkers Now is a project of Save Family Farming, a Washington state family farm advocacy group. We were formed in May 2016 in response to a political attack on our family farmers in the "What's Upstream" campaign.
This project initiated in late 2017 when it became clear that the effort by Community2Community and the FUJ union threatened not just the future of our family farmers, but the many important opportunities our farmers provide to both domestic and guest workers. It is critically important to show that the accusations against farmers are false. The facts clearly show that workers are not being abused as activists claim. Such abuse would be both illegal and against the interests of the farmers who are facing increasing labor shortages.
We understand and very much appreciate the interest of the public in justice for farm workers. The vast majority of farmers have been vitally interested in this for many years, and here you will find tangible evidence of that concern. But justice for workers starts with protecting their opportunity to enjoy a good and valuable job. Taking away such opportunities, as union activists are working hard to do, not fair to workers. And the tactics of false accusations against farmers is not fair to workers, farmers or consumers.
Save Family Farming is a registered 501(c)5 non profit. It is governed and supported by farmers, farm related businesses, and individuals and groups concerned about protecting the future of our family farms.
(A note on "family farms." The Washington Policy Center reports that 95% of our farms in Washington state are family farms in that they are owned and managed by members of a family. Most of these are multi-generation family farms. Size is not a determining factor. Family farms are almost all operated with the goal of passing the farm to the next generation to continue the legacy. Publicly traded corporations are necessarily managed for the benefit of a diverse group of shareholders and must compete for investment dollars against other investment opportunities. We do not demean public corporations, but believe there is a considerable difference.)
This project initiated in late 2017 when it became clear that the effort by Community2Community and the FUJ union threatened not just the future of our family farmers, but the many important opportunities our farmers provide to both domestic and guest workers. It is critically important to show that the accusations against farmers are false. The facts clearly show that workers are not being abused as activists claim. Such abuse would be both illegal and against the interests of the farmers who are facing increasing labor shortages.
We understand and very much appreciate the interest of the public in justice for farm workers. The vast majority of farmers have been vitally interested in this for many years, and here you will find tangible evidence of that concern. But justice for workers starts with protecting their opportunity to enjoy a good and valuable job. Taking away such opportunities, as union activists are working hard to do, not fair to workers. And the tactics of false accusations against farmers is not fair to workers, farmers or consumers.
Save Family Farming is a registered 501(c)5 non profit. It is governed and supported by farmers, farm related businesses, and individuals and groups concerned about protecting the future of our family farms.
(A note on "family farms." The Washington Policy Center reports that 95% of our farms in Washington state are family farms in that they are owned and managed by members of a family. Most of these are multi-generation family farms. Size is not a determining factor. Family farms are almost all operated with the goal of passing the farm to the next generation to continue the legacy. Publicly traded corporations are necessarily managed for the benefit of a diverse group of shareholders and must compete for investment dollars against other investment opportunities. We do not demean public corporations, but believe there is a considerable difference.)