Food Ethics Council

What are working conditions like in agriculture? What value do we place on farm labour? We asked nine people for their views…

Felecity Lawrence
Jeff Rooker
Peter Ainsworth
David de Verny
Michael Green
Julius Joel
Julian Oram
Graeme Walker
Zad Padda
Neil Ward

Felicity Lawrence

No… but it could be. Agricultural labour, either as tied labour or waged labour, has always been hard, dangerous and dirty. Today in the UK it mostly remains so. The migrant workers who drive the crop sprayers, harvest the flowers and fruit, pack and sort the vegetables, and man the abattoir slaughter and cutting lines for agribusiness, do shifts that are long and unsocial for very low wages, precisely because indigenous workers do not want employment that is so insecure and exploitative. As British society has become more affluent, local labour in agricultural areas has migrated to service jobs that are less punishing. Anyone who thinks life in the rural past was automatically better should read accounts of the conditions of waged farm labour in the 1930s. Chinese landworkers who migrate to the cities for factory jobs, whose conditions seem impossibly harsh to Westerners, do so because even these conditions offer better prospects than staying on the land.

But farm work isn’t bad work by definition. Half the world’s population of six billion still depends on agriculture for some part of its livelihood. Where people work on the land within a family structure, the farm work is tough but not inhuman. Where waged agricultural labour is given workers’ rights, including the right to organise, so that health and safety, pay, hours and conditions are fair, it can provide much needed employment in areas that would otherwise have little. Scale is important too. It is the tyranny of globalised, just-in-time ordering systems that drives much of the abusive agricultural employment. Where farm workers are connected to their employers and the land more directly, the abuses are less frequent. On the whole, farmers who know their workers individually are less likely to treat them like units of production. This is not true by definition, just an observation and, I suspect, a fact of human nature.

Felicity Lawrence is author of the best-selling expose of the food business Not on the label and an investigative journalist for the Guardian. Back to top

Jeff Rooker

Yes… work on a British farm offers the opportunity for an enriching and satisfying career. The traditional image of agricultural work as unskilled labour is now redundant in the face of the demands of today’s modern farming practices and techniques. Many of today’s agricultural workers require a wide range of skills to perform their jobs. In agriculture, Defra provides funding to and works closely with Lantra, the Sector Skills Council for the environmental and land-based sectors, to increase skill levels and to promote the recognition of skills and the business benefits of training. Today, farmers are both producing food and managing 80 percent of British land on behalf of us all.

This is a key challenge for Defra and increasingly important in the light of the Leitch Review of Skills. Defra has commissioned Lantra to develop a competence framework for the land-based sectors. This will provide a clear understanding of the skills an individual needs to undertake particular jobs in the industry. It will also map out a clear career path and provide links to training opportunities.

‘Good’ also has an ethical meaning. In this context, the Government is determined to stamp out the exploitation of workers and other forms of illegal activity by agricultural labour providers. We have worked closely with the Ethical Trading Initiative since 2002 to develop a Code of Practice for labour providers and supported the passage of the Gangmasters Licensing Act 2004. That Act established the Gangmasters Licensing Authority to implement and operate a licensing scheme for labour providers active in agriculture, food processing and the shellfish gathering sector. To date around 1,000 licences have been issued. Exploitative labour providers have no place in the agricultural industry and we are determined to root out those who operate illegally.

Lord Rooker is Minister of State for Sustainable Farming and Food. Back to top

Peter Ainsworth

Yes… farming is good work because it provides one thing without which none of us could live: food. British farmers give us fresh, locally produced food with some of the highest animal welfare standards in the world. Farmers also make a great contribution to community life whilst they do so, whether from producing and selling regional food through to being a major source of employment in rural areas.

Finally, farming has shaped the look and feel of the UK, giving us both a strong tourism industry and a retreat from city life. In other words, farming also gives us something no one can put a price on: our beautiful British countryside.

Peter Ainsworth is MP for East Surrey and Shadow Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Secretary. Back to top

David de Verny

No… not for migrant workers in Lincolnshire, where more than a quarter of fruit and veg sold in the UK is produced and packaged. The single biggest contributory factor to their misery, abuse and exploitation are gangmasters of every nationality. Every crook, gangster, mobster and big man got in on the act of earning easy money – vast amounts of it. There is no end to the criminal imagination. Migrant workers are stripped of life savings and borrowed money before they even reach the UK. Labour providers in the country of origin ask for £800 to £1,800 per worker to arrange travel, job and housing in the UK, while the average monthly wage for a worker in Eastern Europe is £80-90! Then government gets in on the act and takes a further £75 for the Workers Registration Scheme. And finally the gangmasters, who in 60 percent of cases are also the landlords, charge anything between £60-£250 per week for a bed or mattress in a House in Multiple Occupation. Together with illegal deductions for administration, transport, hard hats, gloves and the like, this leaves a large number of foreign workers with only £30 cash per week to live on.

The Gangmaster Licensing Authority has two inspectors working in Lincolnshire – the fourth largest county in the UK with an estimated 1,000 gangmasters operating here – and admits that 60 to 70 percent of gangmasters have so far not bothered to obtain an operating licence. Yet calls to abolish this modern day slavery fall on deaf ears and are ridiculed. Why the Job Centres cannot take on the role of labour provider for farms and packaging firms is beyond me. Migrant workers need to be encouraged to work in co-operatives and as social enterprises without the fear of reprisals and threats.

The whole system of food production, including packing and transport, is full of abuse, criminality and intimidation. It is one of capitalism’s most silent crimes because the migrant workers at the very bottom of this money-spinning pyramid rarely complain. They are far too frightened.

David de Verny is a Chaplain with New Arrival Communities in South East Lincolnshire. Back to top

Michael Green

Yes... farmers and farm workers have the skills and knowledge we need to produce good quality food and to care for the countryside. Farming methods over half a century of agricultural intensification have inflicted a terrible toll on the wildlife of Britain. During the same period, our countryside has lost 79 percent of its farm workers. This deskilling of the countryside – or ‘shedding’ labour – has been encouraged by policymakers as part of the managed decline of British farming. Skilled labour has been replaced with agrochemicals and larger machinery as farms have become larger.

But why does this matter? Farm labour is more than just a ‘fixed cost’ that should be reduced as much as possible. Farms make a significant contribution to the national and regional economy, community cohesion, social stability and our cultural identity. In addition, as oil reserves begin to dwindle, a skilled agricultural workforce will also be needed to make the inevitable transition away from the current fossil fuel-dependent farming towards more sustainable, low-input farming.

Research has shown that organic farming is creating more jobs, encouraging business innovation and attracting younger, more optimistic people into agriculture. So modern farming can be both profitable and increase employment.

It is nonetheless worrying that many people in the UK are reluctant to do the physically demanding, all-weather jobs that farming often involves. The disenchantment of younger people in the UK with farming is symptomatic of how the industrialisation of agriculture has made farms less diverse and the jobs they support less fulfilling. If the wider economic and social benefits of agricultural jobs are re-evaluated, then this could revive the status of farming as a career. The younger average age of organic farmers indicates that the organic approach, characterised by smaller, mixed farms, can lead this revival.

About the author: Michael Green is policy officer at the Soil Association and co-wrote their recent Organic works report about employment on organic farms. Back to top

Julius Joel

Yes… it can be, though it can also be bad! ‘Farm work’ covers a diversity of tasks in a great range of environments and, of course, a variety of employers. Some aspects of agriculture may combine to exacerbate the impact of good and bad employers.

At G’s Marketing, during our UK harvesting season, we employ and provide accommodation for up to 1,100 people, on 18 sites. Work varies from tractor and forklift driving, management, supervisory and quality control functions, through to the hard graft of cutting and packing crop in the field or packhouse. Minimum rates of pay per hour are guaranteed, maximum rates of earnings are defined by piecework schemes, and hours are generally limited by the legislation. Last summer, across all our seasonal staff, average earnings were £6.35 per hour, or £305 per week for the average week of 48 hours. Accommodation costs £37 per week, which compares favourably with most areas of the UK. Peak hourly pay rates achieved by some teams and individuals during their time with us were in the £8 to £9 bracket. We visit and recruit from the same universities across central Europe every year, and we depend on a significant presence of returnees (circa 50 percent) to recycle knowledge each fresh season. We cannot afford to lose staff during a season, and have to support our work offer with suitable management style and facilities. Purpose-built sporting and social facilities combine with a wide range of recreational trips to maximise the opportunity for people to enjoy their time with us. We need to be recommended as a good place to work in order to sustain what we do!

Julius Joel is supply chain director at fresh produce company G’s Marketing, representing 28 co-operative farming members spread across UK and Spain. Back to top

Julian Oram

No… not until agricultural workers get a better deal from global supply chains. For many of the world’s 450 million waged agricultural labourers, poverty and hardship are inescapable facts of life. Low wages and the seasonal nature of farm work mean incomes are insufficient for agricultural labourers to invest in land or other assets that could provide improved livelihoods. In addition, farm workers in developing countries are frequently denied basic labour rights and often deal with hazardous chemicals and machinery. Of roughly 335,000 fatal workplace accidents worldwide each year, about half occur in agriculture.

Over recent decades, complex international supply chain relationships have emerged linking farm workers in poor countries with consumers in advanced economies on an unprecedented scale. The value of these supply chains is enormous, with food imports from developing countries into Britain alone worth over £12m per day.

Such sums suggest that global supply chains can provide a vital route out of poverty for agricultural workers. However farm labourers capture only a tiny fraction of the value of the products that enter international supply chains. Corporate concentration in the agrifood sector has enabled a handful of powerful commodity buyers and food retailers to dictate crop prices to their suppliers. Under pressure to reduce prices and increase quality, suppliers cut costs in the only area they can – their workforce. The result has been a drastic reduction in the number of permanently employed agricultural workers worldwide, leading to lower wages and a reduction in employment protection and benefits, particular for migrant labourers and women workers.

Farm labourers have a right to good working conditions and a living wage, but this right will only be realised when governments tackle excessive corporate buyer power by re-regulating companies and markets. Only then will a more equitable share of commodity value chains stays in the hands of those who grow, pick and package the food we eat.

Julian Oram is Deputy Head of the Trade and Corporates team at ActionAid UK, where he specialises in corporate accountability and the global food system. Back to top

Graeme Walker

Yes… but only if the health and safety of workers is properly managed. Much of the work in the industry is seasonal, short-term and low-skilled. Changes in UK agriculture and the food supply chain mean relying on a flexible workforce – characterised by casual, temporary and migrant working, which pose new management challenges – to remain competitive.

Media coverage suggests the demand for such labour in the industry is serviced by a workforce sourced from overseas, supplied by ruthless and exploitative gangmasters. In fact the workforce is a mix of indigenous UK (44 percent in 2004/05) and migrant workers, and many labour providers and users take their responsibilities seriously – though clearly some don’t.

Nevertheless, all workers are entitled to the protection of health and safety legislation. The challenge for employers is to provide their workers – be they UK citizens or migrants – with a safe and healthy working environment and the information, training, instruction and supervision they need to work safely without putting themselves or others at risk. In the case of migrant workers this may mean putting effort into making sure written and verbal communications can be understood by people with little or no English.

Crucially, all parties need to understand who is responsible for the employer’s duties under health and safety legislation – and those duties need to be discharged. Whilst in practice it depends on the facts in each case, where a labour user controls and directs the activity, as is generally the case in planting, harvesting and packhouse operations, they are likely to be deemed to be the employer at law.

Health and safety is fundamental to sustainable farming and farm business management. Casual and temporary working is only one of the challenges that need to be managed.

Graeme Walker is Head of Agriculture Strategy and Project Management Unit at the Health and Safety Executive. Back to top

Zad Padda

Yes… my experience coming from a family that both farms and supplies labour is that farm work can be good work. The industry is cleaning up its act and new rules govern the supply of agricultural labour strictly. However, more progress is needed and suppliers, retailers and consumers must all play their parts.

The biggest challenge is to tackle the falling farm-gate prices that make it hard for farmers to improve labour standards while staying in business. I'm encouraged by what some retailers are doing in this area, but ‘everyday low price’-type strategies have huge impact on working conditions. Retailers need to admit this and allow their suppliers to speak up about problems without fear of reprisal.

But it isn't all up to the supermarkets – I also think we can learn a lesson from Fair Trade. We need a similar system in the UK, where prices for certified products include a social premium that consumers know will go towards improving welfare standards for workers. Quite aside from the money, this has the benefit of making people aware about labour issues here in the UK, building pressure for higher standards across the board.

The difficulties we face in the UK are different from those farmers and workers face in South Africa or the Windward Islands, for example. But there are important similarities, not least big price pressure from retailers and the use of temporary workers. We don't want to undercut Fair Trade for these other countries – we need to win better conditions for workers wherever they are and wherever they've come from.

About the author: Zad Padda founded Ethical First, which assists businesses affected by the Gangmaster Licensing Act. His family are farm assured strawberry producers. Back to top

Neil Ward

No… We shouldn’t worry too much about the number of jobs in farming. Farming has been shedding labour for centuries. I’d call it progress. For more than 200 years, Britain’s competitive advantage has been in things other than agricultural produce — first manufactured goods and more recently services. The £2 billion of Common Agricultural Policy subsidies injected into British farming each year mean that more people work in farming than would otherwise do so. As these subsidies are reduced, so farming will involve fewer people. I am relaxed about this trend. Between 1998 and 2002, the number of jobs in agriculture and fishing in England dropped by 26,000, but 275,000 net new jobs — that’s more than 10-times as many —were created in England’s rural areas in other sectors.

Some remoter rural areas are particularly dependent upon agricultural employment, which can make up 10-15% of the workforce in some areas. In these areas, dependence on farming is a weakness to be overcome, and is not a reason to justify for subsidies to keep people in farming. Instead, these areas need economic development support to help create and grow new businesses and overcome the barriers that geographical remoteness and population sparsity pose.

I welcome the recent increase in interest in where food comes from, how it is produced, and the wider implications, including for the environment, of different sorts of food supply chains. A new food ethics will bring new commercial opportunities for farm businesses, not just in Britain but also in the wider world. However, we should not let romantic ideas about ‘the farming community’ cloud our judgement. It’s great to buy local and support local producers, but it can also sometimes make environmental as well as economic sense to import some foods from further away.

Neil Ward is Professor of Rural and Regional Development and Director of the Centre for Rural Economy at Newcastle University. Back to top

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