Co-op Response to Business and Human Rights Resource Centre

Ensuring the safety and welfare of those who work within our supply chain is a priority and a responsibility we take very seriously. A key priority for us has been to work collaboratively with key stakeholders to improve working conditions for workers through the UK Seasonal Worker Scheme (SWS). We have played an active role in supporting two multi-stakeholder Seasonal Worker Scheme Roundtables that has led a wide range of activities and the establishment of the Seasonal Worker Scheme Taskforce where Co-op is part of the governance group.

The Taskforce’s mission is to ‘work collaboratively to develop and implement tangible actions to help safeguard and ensure access to workers’ rights in the UK Seasonal Worker Scheme (SWS) and wider UK horticulture. The Taskforce set out to do this in two key ways:

• By developing practical actions that can be implemented within current Scheme design to improve the responsible recruitment and employment of seasonal workers; and,
• By engaging relevant Government departments on potential changes to Scheme rules, regulation, oversight and enforcement to address structural issues within the Seasonal Worker visa which may exacerbate worker exploitation risks and undermine efforts to safeguard workers’ rights

Our approach to protecting the fundamental rights of workers in our supply chains is shared in our Human Rights & Ethical Trade Position Statement, whilst our Grievance & Remedy Policy outlines the responsibility Co-op shares with suppliers, to identify grievances and provide remedy, should it be required, for any human rights abuses in our UK and global supply chains. We are committed to taking a partnership approach with our horticulture suppliers to ensure individuals helping to produce the food we sell get a fair deal, and have in place long-term strategic contracts to create an enabling environment for this