Agricultural workers at Highline Mushrooms farms in British Columbia are unionizing, joining IUF affiliate United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Canada. The mushroom industry is built primarily on the labour of migrant workers working long, grueling hours, being paid piece-rate or barely making over minimum wage. Through a complex corporate structure, Highline Mushrooms is a subsidiary of the Japanese-owned Sumitomo conglomerate which also owns the agri-food giant Fyffes which has pledged to defend human and labour rights in its business principles, including core promises about respecting the fundamental labour rights of workers based on freedom of association as defined by the ILO.
- The workers at Highline Mushrooms are asserting their fundamental labour right to join a union and bargain collectively; if successful, this will be the largest group of agricultural workers to join a union in Canadian history
- Agricultural workers are some of the most vulnerable workers in Canada, unprotected while working for international agrifood conglomerates worth billions
- The Canadian mushroom industry alone earns over $650 million annually with over 250 mushroom farms, employing over 5,000 agricultural workers
- Fyffes workers and members of IUF affiliate STAS are also campaigning for union rights and health and safety protections at the melon plantations in Honduras
Shawn Haggerty, National President of UFCW Canada, stated, “We support the workers at Highline Mushrooms, for their courage and determination in asserting their fundamental labour rights, despite many challenges. Labour rights are human rights, and UFCW Canada will stand beside them in their effort to improve their workplace – and sector – through collective bargaining.”
