News and blog

Farmworkers call for a boycott of Instar-owned Windmill Farms

January 30, 2025

In December, the United Farm Workers (UFW) announced their first boycott in twenty years, seeking to encourage customers not to buy mushrooms grown at Windmill Farms, which is owned by private equity firm Instar Asset Management. 

The boycott comes after the union has been publicizing a series of alleged legal violations and labor abuses for almost two years, seeking to meet with Instar and Windmill leadership. The union also filed a lawsuit accusing the farm of discrimination and other legal violations in late 2023, which is still pending. The farm and its private equity owner continue to refuse to meet with worker representatives and civic organizations.

The UFW has a long history of launching boycotts of agricultural operations where UFW members are facing labor abuses. These efforts aim to educate consumers about the problems workers are facing and encourage them not to buy the products until the farm resolves the dispute. As in the famous grape boycott in the 1960s and other historical examples such as the Montgomery Bus Boycott, activists hope that financial consequences of consumers’ action will drive the company to change its behavior. 

A series of media reports covered the Windmill Farms boycott announcement over the holiday season. A Seattle Timesarticle noted that: 

The union called on consumers to look out for mushrooms produced in Sunnyside and sold in Washington, Oregon and Alaska — some mushrooms will be labeled as Windmill Farms products while others may be generic. Any mushroom labeled as from Sunnyside is produced at Windmill Farms, since it is the only mushroom plant in the area, the UFW said.

Pinal [a UFW organizer] said Monterey Mushrooms are an alternative to look for in stores — those are produced by unionized workers.

‘We encourage consumers to vote with their dollars,’ he said.”

The Sunnyside Suncovered two demonstrations held in Sunnyside and Seattle Washington, where current and former Windmill workers gathered to publicly announce the boycott and explained the reason the union is encouraging consumers not to buy mushrooms from the farm: 

“‘Many pro-union workers at Windmill Mushrooms have faced adverse actions, including terminations and conditions that have pressured them to leave their jobs,’ [the UFW President] added. “‘As such, after repeated demonstrations, petitions, and other demands for union recognition, the United Farm Workers is announcing its first official boycott of the decade against Windmill Mushrooms, until the company agrees to recognize the union.’”

The Private Equity Stakeholder Project (PESP) has been covering this labor dispute for over a year and has reached out to Instar multiple times but has not received a response. In an October 2024 letter to the UN Principles of Responsible Investment (PRI), PESP and UFW asked the organization to delist Instar due to its open violation of the ESG principles it committed to as part of joining PRI as a signatory.

The letter details two years of government fines, legal violations, lawsuits, and other allegations against the farm, as well as over a year of attempts by various concerned civic organizations, elected officials, and labor advocates to engage with Instar about these issues. One of Instar’s own ESG policies disclosed as part of becoming a PRI signatory is a commitment to: “Continually engage with relevant stakeholders, including, but not limited to, local communities, First Nations and all levels of government, either directly or through representatives of portfolio companies, as appropriate, to communicate on ESG matters and priorities.” This Instar commitment has been clearly violated over the past two years. 

In addition to violating its own ESG policies, Instar’s behavior should cause concern to investors who are relying on the profitability of Windmill Farms to fund their pension commitments in the face of a growing national boycott of the farm’s products. Boycotts can affect a business’ profitability, reputation, and potential growth, particularly when the reasons for the boycott are well documented and laid out to consumers who have significant choices at the grocery store. 

Investors should urge Instar to actively engage with relevant stakeholders, including the farmworkers and their union, to resolve the underlying labor dispute and end the boycott to protect their investments.

Sign up to our newsletter to receive news and updates from PESP

Click here