《美國採莓移民工的抗爭》

編按：你在家中吃的草莓是什麼品牌的？有沒有想過為你採莓的工人的勞動條件是如何？自15年夏天開始，美國華盛頓及加洲的採莓移民工正向跨國企業 Driscoll抗議其不公平的勞工待遇。他們罷工數次，希望爭取更好的勞動條件。香港人作為他的草莓的消費者群組之一，又怎可不知道他們正在抗爭？

文：David Bacon／the Progressive；Liz Jones/KUOW
編輯、翻譯：紅氣球

美國華盛頓洲及加洲的採莓移民工正向跨國企業 Driscoll抗議其不公平的勞工待遇。他們罷工數次，希望爭取更好的勞動條件。
Immigrant farmworkers in Washington state and California are organizing against Driscoll for unfair labor issues. They had been on several strikes.

不論移民工是在華盛頓洲及加洲，抑或是墨西哥，他們作為採藍莓工人都必須不斷重覆其勞累的工作。在華盛頓洲伯靈頓佐木間兄弟農場（Sakuma Farms），這些來自墨西哥小鎮瓦哈卡的原住民農夫必須採擇40磅的藍莓，才可以賺取每小時美金10元（即港幣78元）。公司網站則寫道，工人一天可以賺多於40元，但其實這是在工人採摘100磅藍莓才有的情況。

No matter whether they work in Washington State, California, or Mexico, blueberry pickers perform exhausting work. At Sakuma Farms in Washington State, indigenous farmworkers from Oaxaca must pick forty pounds of blueberries to earn $10 per hour. The company website says workers can make up to $40 a day, but that’s only if they pick 100 pounds.

不過農場在2015年夏天面對數單官司、工人罷工及消費者的抵制，而工人亦因此得到了一些勝利。這些糾紛亦令縣中的各農場老闆及工人團體留意。而華盛頓洲最高法院亦將會就佐木間兄弟農場對工人的休息時間等發出判決。這判決可能會引發農場工人在其他地方向他們的僱主採取法律行動。
But the farm in Summer 2015 has faced lawsuits, worker strikes and consumer boycotts, which have largely yielded victories for its workers. The disputes have caught the attention of farm owners and labor groups across the county. And a pending Washington State Supreme Court ruling on how Sakuma handles rest breaks could prompt farm workers to bring similar lawsuits against their employers elsewhere.

佐木間兄弟農場的一些工人表示，他們要的是一份有工會參與的合約。他們要求一份就工資時薪15元、具法律約束力的協議，而不再使用現時的件工計算方法。他們亦要求合約中列明不滿投訴的機制、醫療保險及季節性的臨時工每季回加洲的交通費用。
Some workers at Sakuma Brothers say that what’s needed is a union contract. They’re asking for a legally binding agreement on wages, and for a flat rate of $15 per hour for all harvesters, instead of the current system that pays workers by the pound for how much they pick — what’s called a piece rate. They also want the contract to define a grievance system, medical coverage and payment of transportation costs for seasonal workers who migrate every year from California.

工人之控訴
Felimon Piñeda及他的家人住在伯靈頓工人營地。其中一個工人說，「我們對營地的生活條件不滿。營地的床墊是破爛殘舊而髒髒的，內裡的鐵線又出來了。裡面有蟑螂及老鼠。天花板在下雨天時會漏水。他們只放袋子到小洞裡，但他依然漏出來。我的小孩的衣服全都濕了。」

Felimon Piñeda and his family lived in a Sakuma camp for laborers. One worker said, “We were upset about the conditions in the camp. The mattress they gave us was torn and dirty, and the wire was coming out. There were cockroaches and rats. The roof leaked when it rained. They just put bags in the holes and it still leaked. All my children’s clothes were wet.”

在2013年夏天，伯靈頓農場工人罷工，並組織了獨立工會「為正義而團結之家」（西班牙語為Familias Unidas por la Justicia；英語為Families United for Justice）。在罷工時，工會主席Ramón Torres每晚與工人會面，匯報談判策略及計劃。農場嘗試以附工作簽證的護照計畫（H2-A visa program）找一百多個臨時工人去替代罷工工人。而其中一個工人Jose Galicia則向三藩市的勞工署遞上請願書，要求他們保障工人之職位。

In the summer of 2013, Sakuma workers went on strike and organized an independent union, Familias Unidas por la Justicia. During the strike, union president Ramón Torres met every night with the workers to report on negotiations and plan strategy. Sakuma tried to bring in hundreds of guest workers under the H2-A visa program to replace the strikers. Striker Jose Galicia delivered petitions to the Department of Labor office in San Francisco to save Sakuma workers’ jobs.

伯靈頓農場透過全球最大野莓供應商、國際品牌Driscoll草莓出售其農作物。伯靈頓農場工人，在太平洋海岸的支持者的陪同下，遊行及呼籲眾人「從邊界到邊界」地杯葛伯靈頓農場及Driscoll草莓的貨品，直至到他們的工會得到承認。在2015年春天，墨西哥北部的採莓工人為了爭取更高薪金而罷工。
Sakuma Farms sells its berries through Driscoll’s, the world’s largest berry distributor. Joined by supporters along the Pacific Coast, workers are marching and have called for a “border to border” boycott until their union is recognized. In the spring of 2015, berry pickers in northern Mexico went on strike to demand higher wages.

原文：http://www.progressive.org/news/2016/03/188606/farm-workers-two-countries-boycott-driscoll’s-berries
http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/06/17/414986134/washington-berry-pickers-push-for-elusive-union-contract