Walmart-at-the-Crossroads-FINAL-06.04.15

last three years.
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One facility in California was cited several times in 2013 and 2014 for exceeding the
maximum limit of coliform, a bacteria found in water.
On the positive side, Monterey Mushrooms uses biodegradable, non-Styrofoam packaging on 90
percent of its U.S. retail packages,
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and in 2011, it won the Impact Award for Packaging from the
Produce Marketing Association for this sustainable packaging. Furthermore, Monterey Mushrooms sells
its excess useable compost mix to landscapers, companies, and others as opposed to disposing it.
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Although Monterey Mushrooms should be applauded for focusing some of their efforts on sustainable
practices, Walmart should still hold them accountable for other ways in which they have violated
environmental regulations.
B. Profile: Monterey Mushrooms’s Dual Relationship with Unions
Monterey Mushrooms California workers are represented by the United Farm Workers (UFW).
The UFW has had a union contract with Monterey Mushrooms since 1980, providing represented
workers with annual raises, a pension plan, medical benefits, vacation time, funeral/jury duty paid
leave, and some of the highest wages in the industry.
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In 2013, one farmworker recalled being paid
$2.27 more per box of mushrooms after coming under UFW representation, compared to the noncontract
pay rate of 40 cents per box.
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Furthermore, Monterey Mushroom’s CEO, Shah Kazemi, sits
on two UFW committees, the Robert F. Kennedy Medical Plan and the Juan de la Cruz Pension Plan.
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Unfortunately, only Monterey’s California workers reap the benefits of these wages and
conditions. Workers in Monterey’s production facilities located in Texas, Tennessee, Pennsylvania,
Illinois, Florida, Missouri, and Mexico likely face different workplace realities since they lack union
representation. The majority of publicly accessible reports about Monterey Mushrooms tend to focus
on the unionized side of Monterey Mushrooms, yet the conditions of non-union workers are rarely
discussed. Worker testimonials can provide further insight into the experiences of non-union employees.
According to Jeannie Economos, Pesticide Safety and Environmental Health Project Coordinator of
the Farmworkers Association of Florida, Monterey’s production facilities are “rough working
conditions…that is true of most mushroom farms - dark, cool, moist all the time, slippery, intense work,
climbing, sometimes long hours.”
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