A-Infos (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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