United Farm Workers has launched its first boycott campaign since 2005, calling on consumers to avoid Windmill Mushroom Farm. The boycott was announced in December after Windmill and former owner Ostrom refused to recognize the union, retaliated against pro-union workers, and violated terms of a federal program that allows farms to bring in temporary foreign workers. Workers at the farm have been organizing since 2020.
In 2023, Ostrom agreed to pay $3.4 million to resolve a lawsuit filed by the Washington State attorney general the prior year. Ostrom had fired female and Washington-based workers and replaced them with male foreign workers hired through the H-2A visa program for temporary agricultural workers, in violation of anti-discrimination laws.
While the lawsuit was pending, Ostrom sold the mushroom farm to Windmill. Like Ostrom, Windmill has refused to recognize the farmworkers’ union.
UFW President Teresa Romero said in a press release that the boycott would continue until the company agrees to recognize the union.
Since Windmill took over, dozens of pro-union workers have been fired, UFW spokesperson Antonio De Loera-Brust told the Labor Press. UFW believes the farm currently employs around 150 workers.
The National Labor Relations Act, the federal law that protects private sector workers’ rights to organize and requires employers to bargain, specifically excludes agricultural workers. Oregon, Washington, and a dozen other states allow collective bargaining for agricultural workers, but don’t require employers to bargain with the union or face legal consequences for retaliating against pro-union workers.
Windmill Farms mushrooms are sold under the Windmill label in grocery stores around the Pacific Northwest. The farm also grows mushrooms that are sold under store labels, so they don’t show the Windmill Farms label. But UFW said Windmill is the only mushroom plant in the Sunnyside, Washington, area, so consumers should avoid purchasing any mushrooms labeled as being produced in Sunnyside.
