This is the agreement tulip farmworkers reached with Skagit flower company
Skagit County tulip farmworkers who went on strike two weeks ago are back at work after reaching an agreement with the Washington Bulb Company on Wednesday, March 30, according to an April 1 news release from farmworker and immigrant rights organization Community to Community Development.
More than 70 workers went on strike March 22-24, on the eve of the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival, demanding improved wages and health and safety protocols.
Washington Bulb Company — which is the nation’s largest tulip-bulb grower — met all of the workers’ major demands, said Edgar Franks, political director for Familias Unidas por la Justicia, the union that represented workers in negotiations with the company.
Under the new terms, Washington Bulb Company will increase the number of portable restrooms available to workers and bump up bonuses for meeting certain flower-picking targets by 50 cents, Franks said. Workers will now be paid for time spent preparing the rubber bands used to hold bunches of flowers together — they were previously told to fill their rubber band holders during breaks or at home, Franks said.
The Washington Bulb Company also agreed to provide workers with rain gear, gloves and boots starting next season, Franks said. When flowers are cut, they secrete a liquid that can irritate the skin, and workers said they were previously told to bring their own protective gear from home.
“Cutting daffodils and tulips has always been a hard job,” said farmworker Tomas Ramon in the Community to Community news release. “This year we stopped enduring problems and decided things had to change.”
The company promised that there would be no retaliation against workers who went on strike and agreed to ensure that supervisors are “equipped to hear what workers are saying and not let things escalate,” Franks said in an interview with The Bellingham Herald.
Brent Roozen, owner of Washington Bulb Company’s RoozenGaarde, did not respond for comment. When the strike began on March 22, Roozen told The Herald that it was “upsetting to both our company and employees” and insisted that many of the accusations made by those on strike didn’t accurately reflect the company’s practices.
All eight elected members of the union’s negotiating committee signed the agreement with the company. It is not an official legal contract known as a collective bargaining agreement but “still holds significant importance for the fieldworkers,” according to the Community to Community news release.
“We hope people come and support the festivities of the tulip festival,” Franks said in the news release. “Now this year hopefully workers will also get to enjoy what their labor produces.”
Washington Bulb Company president Leo Roozen met with the union committee during negotiations. The committee and company management will continue to meet at least once a month or as needed to address any issues that come up, Franks said.
“It was really good for the workers to hear directly from the president that he acknowledges the workers should be treated fairly,” Franks said.
Familias Unidas por la Justicia and Community to Community are holding a march to support farmworkers in Whatcom and Skagit counties at 9 a.m. on Sunday, May 1, starting at Mount Vernon’s Edgewater Park.
“I know a lot of people see unions as third parties or outside forces, but actually workers are the union,” Franks said. “In Washington, there’s a lot of work to do for workers’ voices to be heard. A lot of the issues we heard here are not uncommon in agriculture work throughout the whole state.”
