Victory for migrant berry pickers

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Marissa Luck Feb 6, 2018

Feb 6, 2018

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                <h1>Victory for migrant berry pickers</h1>
                <h2><p>4:07 p.m. Migrant farm workers got a big win Thursday: The Skagit County Superior Court ruled that Sakuma Brothers Farms must offer housing to berry pickers’ families. KPLU says the housing program was originally provided to all seasonal employees and their family members. But after workers staged a</p></h2>
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               <p>By <a href="/author/marissaluck7-gmail-com/">Marissa Luck</a></p> 
              <p><time datetime="2025-02-04T05:00:00-08:00">Feb 6, 2018</time></p>
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            <p><em>4:07 p.m.</em> Migrant farm workers got a big win Thursday: The Skagit County Superior Court ruled that Sakuma Brothers Farms must offer housing to berry pickers’ families. <a href="http://www.kplu.org/post/judge-sakuma-brothers-farms-must-provide-housing-migrant-workers-families?ref=dev.cascadepbs.org">KPLU says</a> the housing program was originally provided to all seasonal employees and their family members. But after workers staged a strike last year, the company announced a new policy barring families with children and married couples from using company quarters — a move that counted as housing discrimination and illegally punished workers for labor organizing, according to the Superior Court judge. Sakuma Farms <a href="http://bit.ly/1mlXbAJ?ref=dev.cascadepbs.org">plans to appeal</a> but said it would abide by the ruling in the meantime. Just two weeks ago, Sakuma Brother Farms agreed to pay $850,000 to settle <a href="http://www.kplu.org/post/sakuma-brothers-farms-pay-500000-berry-pickers?ref=dev.cascadepbs.org">another case</a> with its berry pickers over wage theft and insufficient rest breaks. — M.L.</p>
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4:07 p.m. Migrant farm workers got a big win Thursday: The Skagit County Superior Court ruled that Sakuma Brothers Farms must offer housing to berry pickers’ families. KPLU says the housing program was originally provided to all seasonal employees and their family members. But after workers staged a strike last year, the company announced a new policy barring families with children and married couples from using company quarters — a move that counted as housing discrimination and illegally punished workers for labor organizing, according to the Superior Court judge. Sakuma Farms plans to appeal but said it would abide by the ruling in the meantime. Just two weeks ago, Sakuma Brother Farms agreed to pay $850,000 to settle another case with its berry pickers over wage theft and insufficient rest breaks. — M.L.

By Marissa Luck

Marissa Luck is a Tacoma-based writer and editorial intern at Crosscut. She has previously reported on issues of activism, homelessness, and Olympia city news for Works in Progress and Olympia Power &