WORLD WORLDWIDE EUROPE Uk uk United Kingdom - (en) Uk, ACG, Jackdaw #23 - Super-exploitation on UK Farms (ca, de, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

 Agricultural workers are underrepresented and largely ignored in the

trade union movement. They make up less than 1% of the workforce and are
mainly migrants.  Recently, however, the workers themselves are
organising, supported by grass roots unions. ---- Since Brexit, the UK
has struggled to get workers for the low-paid and back-breaking jobs
characteristic of the farming industry. The government therefore
launched a special scheme- the Seasonal Worker Visa Scheme, which is now
set to run until at least 2029.
This scheme is for workers who have a job offer in the UK to do seasonal
horticulture work or poultry production work with a sponsor who is an
approved scheme operator.
In theory, the pay and conditions of these workers is regulated but it
is becoming increasingly apparent that the scheme is just a way for
employers to exploit workers, maximising their own profits.
Strikes and Support
The United Workers of the World (UVW) is largely a London-based union,
focusing its efforts on low- paid and precarious workers, usually
migrants. However, in 2023, they responded for a call for help by a
worker on a farm in Herefordshire, an official sponsor in the Seasonal
Worker Visa Scheme.
 From the UVW website:
"Some 88 workers took strike action in July at a Haygrove farm in
Herefordshire over health and safety concerns, claims of wage theft,
breach of contract, discrimination and appalling conditions. The final
straw was when workers realised they would be charged over £400 more
than the cost of the flight they had agreed to pay back. After plane
tickets and accommodation deductions, some of the workers would have
been left with barely no money in their pockets and no possibility of
saving money to send back home.
UVW is informed that some 130 Latin Americans workers and workers from
other countries participated in drawing up their demands. The following
morning, having received no response, around 88 workers walked off the
job. After taking part in the strike action some of the workers were
forced to flee the Haygrove farm over the degrading working conditions
and pay.
With the help of UVW, one of them, Julia from Bolivia, has launched
legal proceedings. The claim includes allegations breach of contract as
Haygrove failed to provide from day one the 42 hours of work some were
verbally promised when they were recruited in Chile - leading to the
loss of hundreds of pounds; bosses are also accused of threatening to
remove shifts as "punishment" for not picking enough fruit; harassment
and discrimination including threatening dismissal, exerting excessive
pressure, and insults such as "stupid" and "slow"; a lack of health and
safety training to prevent accidents, a lack of protective gloves,
glasses, boots, or waterproof jacket, and a lack of toilet or drinking
water facilities on site."
In January 2024, The Home Office decided that there were reasonable
grounds (RG) to believe that Julia could be a victim of human
trafficking and modern slavery.  Julia and the UVW are still fighting
this case, which has highlighted the problems facing hundreds of other
workers.
Solidarity Across Land Trades (SALT)
This is a new union, which started as an independent initiative, but is
now part of the Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union. It seems that
SALT is largely autonomous with its own website (See:
https://saltunion.org/). What is unusual about this union is that it
organises among volunteers and free lancers, usually focusing on workers
in the alternative, agroecological and organic sector.
"Solidarity Across Land Trades (SALT) is a grassroots trade union
organising for fairer conditions, solidarity, care and justice. We are a
collective of workers, trainees, freelancers, co-op members and
volunteers who are employed by others in land-related trades. We fight
for better standards of pay, working conditions and cultures within our
sectors, support our members with workplace issues and build community
between landworkers and wider social justice movements."
It achieved its first win on a supposedly ethical dairy farm, which was
underpaying its workers, as well as showing cruelty to animals
(https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2024-12-19/chrissie-hynde-turns-back-on-ethical-farm-after-animal-welfare-allegations/).

SALT published a very critical report of the alternative agricultural
sector based on a survey of their membership:
https://saltunion.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/burnt-out-overworked-and-underpaid-salt-report-revised-20th-feb.pdf.

Its focus on volunteers and trainees has also brought it into some
conflict with Land Workers Alliance (LWA), the best known organisation
campaigning for a radical transformation of the food system. This is
because the LWA also includes farms, both rural and urban, who employ
workers and who often rely on volunteers and training schemes.
SALT hopes to move beyond organising in the alternative farming sector
to organise among workers in the traditional farming industry. They
firmly supported the actions of the UVW to organise the migrant workers
who predominate in this sector.
Building an effective movement for justice
The case of Julia, and the general situation of farm workers, was the
focus of a protest outside the Home Office in January. It was supported
by UVW as well as by SALT and LWA. We hope is a sign of things to come:
a militant, self-organised movement agricultural workers against the
super exploitation of capitalist agriculture, in all its forms.
However, we need to go well-beyond organising workers within the current
system. Agricultural land is largely privately owned, just like other
resources. When someone owns land, they use it to make profit for
themselves. Given the labour-intensive nature of much land-based work,
the owners will seek to pay workers as little as possible. The only
solution is to actually place the land into collective stewardship, such
that land is used for the common good, controlled and managed by those
who do the work. And, links need to be made directly with people who eat
the food produced, side-lining the supermarkets who exploit both
producers and consumers.
For more information about land reform and transformation of the food
system see: Manifesto for Land Justice available to download at
www.peopleslandpolicy.org.

https://www.anarchistcommunism.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/jackdaw23c.pdf
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