Even the workers activists induced to protest do not agree with this campaign to stop guest worker jobs

Rosalinda Guillen is fighting against the expressed desires of the very workers she says she is trying to help. And continuing to promote outrageous lies against the Sumas farm whose hiring of over 600 guest workers drew her union activism.

Continued false accusations about the death of the worker

Her email sent to supporters on March 10 said: As many of you know Honesto Silva Ibarra died this summer after being denied medical treatment while working under the smoky conditions of wildfires at Sarabanand Farms as an H2A guestworker in Sumas WA.

We refer you to the message from the farm owner in reply to this vicious lie. Either the Department of Labor & Industries along with the King County Medical Examiner's Office are lying, or Rosalinda is lying. The farm management was fully exonerated in a detailed investigation. Additional proof comes from the Columbia Legal Services lawsuit against the farm which is focused on a comment made by a California employee, and does not include any mention of the farm's role in the worker's tragic death. 

Capital Press on March 13 reported in even stronger terms the response of L&I to Guillen's accusations: 

L&I investigators, responding at least in part to accusations posted on Facebook, exonerated the farm in Ibarra’s death. A spokesman for the agency said workers were provided water, shade and heat-illness training. The investigation did find that workers missed one rest break and were served one meal late in late July. The company was fined a total of $149,800 by the state and Whatcom County.

Can anyone imagine Boeing or Starbucks fined $150,000 because of one missed rest break or one late meal?

Guillen's goal: stop farms from hiring guest workers

The Action Alert email Guillen sent out said:
We are launching a campaign to block the expansion of the H2A guest worker program in Whatcom and Skagit county...

This is in opposition to the express desires of the 18,000 guest workers in Washington state in 2017 AND even the small group of workers she induced to protest. Want proof?

Here is a video interview by the Bellingham Herald with one of the protesting workers with translations by Edgar Franks, one of Guillen's staff. The translation of Franks is not entirely accurate and does not convey, as a more careful translation, that the worker is repeating information about working conditions and the worker's death that was told to him by the activists. His last statement is important. He says:

-Espero que todo salga bien, sobre todo, justicia para ese hombre que falleció y que su familia reciba apoyo, y también justicia para todos nosotros aquí sin poder, así que podemos tener la oportunidad de trabajar en otro lugar, tal vez no aquí, sino Algún lugar más.

-I hope everything gets worked out, most of all, justice for that man that passed away and that his family gets support, and also justice for all of us here with no so we can have the opportunity to work elsewhere, maybe not here but someplace else.

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Here is one of Guillen's protesters, reflecting the misinformation he and fellow protesters were provided, but making clear he wants to come back from Mexico and work. The very thing Franks and Guillen are trying to prevent from happening.

(Side note: The activists accuse the farm of hindering the workers in securing their visas or work permits: another false accusation. The farm is not responsible for that but the company contracting to provide the guest workers. The company did nothing to hinder the legal status of these workers. Why would they? They hired them to help harvest the crops!)
 
Want to help farm workers get the justice and support they need?

Those who support the vicious lies of Community to Community are harming the very workers they say they are trying to help. Guest workers and domestic farm workers are protected by likely the most stringent labor laws in the nation. They are not mistreated, but eager for the jobs their families so desperately need. The 18,000 guest workers hired in Washington state returned over $288 million to their families in 2017. Only about 60 stopped working and protested, hurting their families and possibly permanently damaging their prospects for future work – all because they believed the lies they were told.

If you care about what is right for these workers, tell Ms. Guillen to stop lying and start working for the real interests of these workers which is to keep their jobs.