FEATURE Food strategy
n By Hajera Blagg FOOD ‘STRATEGY’
The government’s new strategy will not fix poverty pay and awful working practices at the root of food production’s endemic staffing problems
Unite has criticised the government’s new food strategy as having very little substance and for failing to consult with the 4m-strong food and agriculture workforce or their representative trade unions.
As Landworker went to press, the government published its food strategy in June, a thin 27-page document in response to a review led
by Leon chain restaurant co-founder Henry Dimbleby, which was carried out last year – the first of its kind since war time rationing 75 years ago.
Dimbleby’s initial review was met with scepticism by Unite because it failed to consult with the union - or any other trade union for that matter - despite Unite representing over 100,000 workers in the food, drink and agriculture sector. In Dimbleby’s 275- page review, there was barely any mention of jobs, workers or employment.
Now, the government’s response to Dimbleby’s review has been widely slammed for failing to include any new or ambitious policy proposals to level up pay or working conditions for the
food workforce; to tackle the rising cost of food; or to mitigate impact of agriculture on the climate emergency, with the Soil Association calling the government’s response “thin gruel, falling far short”.
Of particular concern to Unite was the government’s intention to “release the additional provision of 10,000 visas under the Seasonal Worker Visa Route, including 2,000 for the poultry sector”.
This, Unite believes, directly belies the government’s stated ambition “to contribute to [its] levelling up agenda through good quality jobs around the country”.
As Landworker has reported, migrant workers on the seasonal worker visa scheme are widely exploited, both by many employers and by agents who charge them extortionate – and illegal – recruitment fees.
Separate research by Focus on Labour Exploitation (FLEX) found that the seasonal worker scheme, first launched in 2019, has serious flaws that make migrant workers on the scheme vulnerable to forced labour.
12 uniteLANDWORKER Summer 2022
The FLEX report, which received 146 responses from seasonal migrant workers on the government scheme, identified several concerning issues including migrant workers being forced to pay for recruitment, being threatened by their employer with deportation or loss of work and being refused transfers to alternative work.
Unite is likewise concerned that the minimum wage on the seasonal worker visa is set at £10.10 an hour – over 6 per cent higher than the government’s National Living Wage for UK workers of £9.50 an hour. Given that many workers in the food and agriculture sector are on the minimum wage, Unite believes this wage discrepancy will create a two-tier workforce.
Unite fears that an expansion of the seasonal worker visa, without any additional funding for labour rights enforcement or changes to the scheme to protect workers, will only further undermine pay and terms and conditions in a sector that is already rife with low wages and exploitation.
The government went on to say in its
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