Migrant workers in agricultural supply chains: Companies must act on recruitment, worker voice and traceability
...Within the U.S., for example, over 70 percent of farm workers are immigrants. In this context, and amid rising anti-immigration-rhetoric, food companies need to acknowledge the large numbers of migrant workers in their supply chains – both on farms and in food-processing – and the specific vulnerabilities they face. This includes racism and discrimination, but also hazardous working conditions, and at the worst extreme, situations of modern-day slavery. The Coalition of Immokalee Workers has estimated that in the U.S. alone, around five percent at any given time are subject to forced labor: numbers in other countries can be much higher still.
A new benchmark by KnowTheChain of the world’s 20 largest food companies has found that while they are aware of the risks of forced labor through their supply chains, only a handful are taking action to address it. Three areas in which food companies need to step up their game are recruitment, tracing their supply chains to the level of commodities, and worker voice...