Woodburn’s Agricultural Heart
Nestled less than an hour south of Portland, the city of Woodburn stands as one of Oregon’s agricultural powerhouses. The fields of the Willamette Valley depend heavily on the labor of immigrant and refugee farmworkers, particularly Latino families. For decades, however, these workers faced unsafe conditions, wage theft, and limited rights. That began to change in 1985, when Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste — better known as PCUN — was founded to give farmworkers a voice.
Origins of a Movement
PCUN’s roots are closely tied to the broader farmworker justice movement in the United States. Executive Director Reyna Lopez explained that the organization’s founders were inspired by Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers movement in California.
“One of his organizers came up to Oregon and helped us found PCUN,” Lopez said. “The vision back then was to end exploitation and all of the effects that come with that for farmworkers.”
From its earliest days, PCUN has worked to empower Oregon’s agricultural laborers through advocacy, organizing, and support services.
Winning Protections for Workers
In recent years, PCUN has played a critical role in advancing worker protections at both the state and federal levels. Over the past five years, the organization partnered with the Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to secure some of the nation’s strongest rules on heat and wildfire smoke exposure for outdoor workers…