The agri-food sector is the highest-risk industry for migrant worker abuse, accounting for nearly one in three recorded incidents globally in 2024, new research has showed.
Of the 665 cases of alleged abuses against migrant workers tracked by the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, 32% (210 cases) were in the agri-food sector – including 162 cases in agriculture and fishing, 40 cases in food processing and packaging, and 16 cases in food distribution and retail.
The UK was the second-worst country for reported incidents in the agri-food sector (23 cases), topped only by the US, with the BHRRC noting the majority of cases affected workers on the government’s Seasonal Worker visa scheme.
There was a 72% increase in demand for support from seasonal workers this year, according to new data from the Worker Support Centre.
Retailers and brands including Asda, Coca-Cola, the Co-op, HelloFresh, Lidl, PepsiCo, Marks & Spencer, Safeway, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose, all profited from selling food and drink “grown, processed, packaged and distributed under exploitative conditions across the globe”, the BHRRC claimed.
Among the companies most frequently linked to cases were Uber including Uber Eats (six), Carrefour (five), and Deliveroo, John Lewis, and Marks & Spencer, with four reported incidents each.
Isobel Archer, senior researcher in labour & migrant worker rights at the BHRRC, said the reported cases were “almost certainly only the tip of the iceberg”.
Read more: Seasonal workers seeking help rose by 72% in 2024, new report finds
“Our new research is an alarm call to the world on the scale of abuses being perpetrated against migrant workers in every sector, globally, every single day.
“Some of the world’s biggest brands are also the world’s worst offenders. These companies must safeguard the rights of the migrant workers who are being exploited in service of profit and, at the least, remedy those harms that have already occurred.”
Workers across both agriculture and fishing, and processing and packaging, most frequently reported occupational health and safety violations.
Farmworkers reported health and safety violations in 63 cases, followed by wage theft in 60 and precarious living conditions in 47.
In 11 cases, the use of dangerous machinery led to injuries or death; in 10 cases, farmworkers became ill due to the use of harmful pesticides; and in 13 cases, workers were exposed to extreme heat.
Temporary labour schemes like Seasonal Worker visa increased migrants’ vulnerability by compounding the power imbalance between migrants and employers using employer or sponsor-tied visas, the BHRRC warned.
Undocumented workers were also at high risk of abuse, but due to deportation fears suppressing complaints, those cases remained underreported.
Read more: Why the UK seasonal labour worker scheme still isn’t working
“The report shows the agricultural and fishing sectors are particularly high-risk, and recommends that alternative initiatives such as Worker-Driven Social Responsibility (WSR) programmes be explored”, said Jasmine Owens, researcher at the Ethical Consumer Research Association.
“We urge UK supermarkets to recognise the WSR projects that are emerging in European seafood and agriculture sectors and to commit to collaborating and fully engaging with these.
“We recognise that it takes time to develop bespoke, worker-led models and that this may be less straightforward and present more challenges compared to continuing with existing certification schemes, audits and multi-stakeholder initiatives. But these have been demonstrated time and again not to work – new ways to improve conditions must be invested in.”
While the global agri-food industry was the top perpetrator, the gig economy was also a “major and growing concern”, the BHRRC said, with companies repeatedly associated with allegations of abuse using gig workers – notably Uber and Deliveroo, both in the top five.
Archer added: “What’s more, with the triple threat of ever-worsening climate change, a new administration in the USA threatening the status and livelihoods of migrant workers, and essential human rights legislation like the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive in Europe in danger, many migrant workers around the world will face enormous challenge in 2025.”
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