Organizations supporting seasonal workers have welcomed the new government guarantee of at least 32 hours paid work a week to people coming to harvest British crops. Farming minister Mark Spencer confirmed changes to the conditions for 2023 visas. Still, workers’ rights organizations cautioned that the government needs to do even more to protect farm workers from debt bondage.
Labour rights experts said the new measures should help prevent low earnings in the UK, but that more steps were needed to protect foreign workers from exploitation. Kate Roberts, the head of policy at Focus on Labour Exploitation: “The introduction of 32 guaranteed paid hours of work per week would be a positive step forward to reduce risk of destitution and debt on the scheme. Given the reports of workers being left without any work at all after only a short period, this commitment must include targeted enforcement, with clear pathways for reporting issues and accessing compensation if contracts are not respected.”
Tom Bradshaw, deputy president of the farmers’ union, welcomed the announcement and said it gave farmers as well as workers coming to Britain “clarity and confidence” in the scheme. But he said any proposal by workers’ representatives for farms or buyers to cover the cost of workers’ travel was “a step too far”.
Source: theguardian.com