UK: Migrant farmworkers supplying big-name supermarkets reveal "squalid", cramped accommodation; incl. co. comments
Summary
Date Reported: 13 Apr 2023
Location: United Kingdom
Companies
Lidl - Buyer , Co-operative Group - Buyer , Edward Vinson - Supplier , Tesco - BuyerAffected
Total individuals affected: Number unknown
Migrant & immigrant workers: ( Number unknown - South Africa , Agriculture & livestock , Women , Documented migrants )Issues
Precarious/Unsuitable Living ConditionsResponse
Response sought: Yes, by Media
External link to response: (Find out more)
Action taken: Edward Vinson did not respond to a request for comment. The three supermarkets were among those that directed journalists to a joint statement from the British Retail Consortium.
Source type: News outlet
Summary
Date Reported: 13 Apr 2023
Location: United Kingdom
Companies
ALDI South - Buyer , SPAR - Buyer , UK Salads - SupplierAffected
Total individuals affected: Number unknown
Migrant & immigrant workers: ( Number unknown - Kazakhstan , Agriculture & livestock , Men , Documented migrants )Issues
Occupational Health & Safety , Illness , Intimidation , Precarious/Unsuitable Living ConditionsResponse
Response sought: Yes, by Media
External link to response: (Find out more)
Action taken: UK Salads provided a comment. Spar said it would end all contracts with UK Salads by May. Aldi provided a response jointly with other supermarkets from British Retail Consortium.
Source type: News outlet
Summary
Date Reported: 13 Apr 2023
Location: United Kingdom
Companies
Morrisons - Buyer , Homme Soft Fruit Farm (part of EC Drummond) - Supplier , Tesco - Buyer , ALDI South - BuyerAffected
Total individuals affected: Number unknown
Migrant & immigrant workers: ( Number unknown - Location unknown , Agriculture & livestock , Men , Documented migrants )Issues
Access to Non-Judicial Remedy , Precarious/Unsuitable Living ConditionsResponse
Response sought: Yes, by Media
External link to response: (Find out more)
Action taken: Homme Farm did not respond to a request for comment. Morrisons, Tesco and Aldi were among several supermarkets that directed journalists to a joint statement from the British Retail Consortium.
Source type: News outlet
Summary
Date Reported: 13 Apr 2023
Location: United Kingdom
Companies
Mains of Errol Farm (W Glen and Son) - Supplier , Sainsbury's - BuyerAffected
Total individuals affected: Number unknown
Migrant & immigrant workers: ( Number unknown - Location unknown , Agriculture & livestock , Men )Issues
Precarious/Unsuitable Living ConditionsResponse
Response sought: Yes, by Media
External link to response: (Find out more)
Action taken: Mains of Errol said it routinely checks all caravans and provided a statement in response. Sainsbury's was one of several supermarkets to direct journalists to a statement from the British Retail Consortium.
Source type: News outlet
" 'It's almost the same as living on the street:' This is how people picking your vegetables gave to live,"
Sardov came to the UK from Kazakhstan last September on a British government visa scheme for farm workers. He worked at a packhouse in Essex for UK Salads, packing vegetables that would end up on the shelves of UK supermarkets including Aldi and Spar.
The packhouse was refrigerated, but the caravan he would go home to at night was almost as cold...
… Spar said all its contracts with UK Salads would end by May. A spokesperson said: “We take the working conditions provided by our suppliers very seriously.”
UK Salads did not dispute the content of photographs supplied in the course of this investigation, but said it had “robust processes in place to safeguard employee welfare...”...
One worker, at Mains of Errol, a farm in Perthshire, Scotland, which supplies Sainsbury’s, said that he had to sleep with a blanket over his face because of water dripping from the ceiling…
Mains of Errol said it checks all of its caravans annually, and had re-checked for leaks upon being contacted…
When Fikile Masuku, 43, arrived from South Africa at the Edward Vinson’s Sandbanks farm in Kent, she [South African worker Filile Masuku] was shocked to discover that she had to share a double bed with another woman she had never met before. The company, which supplies Tesco, Co-op and Lidl, offered only one solution: moving to another caravan where a group of men lived...
The GLAA said it investigated the matter and it did not find any modern slavery or licensing offences...
Edward Vinson farms did not respond...
Co-op said: “We are concerned about the issues raised and have followed up with our supplier to investigate, as the safety and welfare of those who work within our supply chain is a priority...”...
Even in the rare cases where workers were housed in hostels or houses, there were problems. Andrey, 24, worked at Homme Farm in Herefordshire, which supplies soft fruit to Morrisons, Tesco and Aldi. He lived with about 20 other workers in a hostel owned by the farm. It was often cold, and complaints were rarely dealt with...
Homme Farm did not respond to a request for comment.
In response to the allegations at multiple farms, Aldi, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Lidl directed TBIJ and VICE World News to a statement by the British Retail Consortium, which said: “Our members are urgently reviewing the allegations raised by these workers, engaging with their primary suppliers to ensure a comprehensive investigation is undertaken.”...