FLMG London, 2013 One step forward, two steps back: Who will protect the Unprotected?

1. FLMG London, 2013 One step forward, two steps back: Who will protect the Unprotected? Dr Mick Wilkinson, University of Hull.

2. A regulatory vacuum: The gangmaster cometh • 1994 Deregulation and Contracting Out Act: Legal standards and protection for temporary labourremoved. • A govt. induced economic environment where market liberalization and deregulation have become the dominant discourse. • An estimated 10,000 gangmasters in the UK (SOCA) as 80% of UK employers subcontract ‘Flexibility and casualisation have spawned a culture of worker abuse by creating opportunities for rogue employers to thrive across the economy.’ Tony Woodley, General Secretary of the TGWU, 2005

3. Undocumented migrants: A vast pool of exploitable labour • Unknown numbers - estimates range from 300,000 to 800,000 + (Home Office median = 430,000) Defining characteristics • Illegally residing in the UK & in constant fear of deportation • Cannot secure legitimate work and the minimum wage • Not protected by employment law / shy away from authorities and support agencies

4. They work compulsory, long and unsociable hours in unsafe working conditions for little or no remuneration. Permanently ‘on-call.’ • Cannot access social welfare, including health care • Debt bondage: Trapped through compulsory payments at both ends • Sub-standard tied accommodation: overcrowded death traps and ‘hot bedding’ • Widespread racism and verbal abuse • Threats of violence and actual violence are commonplace.

5. “ They are brutal. This is beyond all comprehension of brutality in terms of what they will do. The people in these situations actually fear for their lives – it’s not about a pound an hour. We had one person who stood up within the Portuguese community who had their child kidnapped.” • Trade Union Official, The Midlands • Women live in Constant fear of sexual assault; • ‘... the things I’m hearing about, particularly from women, is sexual exploitation – and their mental condition is absolutely dreadful. They can’t get access to mental health services because they’re illegal – so they’re in limbo.... A lot of them have spent a lot of time getting here – and it’s an underground journey to get here and they have been sexually exploited – a lot of rape, a lot of sexual abuse.’ • Migrant Advocate, Lincolnshire

6. Hsiao-Hung Pai (2008) 170,000 to 200,000 undocumented Chinese workers and sex workers in the UK ...... “A lot of Europeans will have a basic level of English. Chinese won’t. The Chinese will come over and be completely isolated. And you can get to Eastern Europe for a pretty small amount of money. But [if you’re from] China, you’re isolated. Once you’re here, you’re captured. You really are stuck.’ UNITE Officer, London

7. New Labour’s (limited) approach: The Gangmasters Licensing Act, 2004. GLA remit limited to those who supply labour or use workers to provide services in agriculture, forestry, horticulture, shellfish gathering and food processing and packaging. So that other key sectors, including construction, contract cleaning, hospitality and care, which are all highly dependent upon migrant labour, remain beyond the GLA’s remit.

8. Unlike most other labour related enforcement agencies, the GLA is considered highly effective by labour providers, retailers, trades unions and other representatives of vulnerable workers. They have significantly improved working conditions for migrant workers and have curtailed the activities of some of the most exploitative, abusive and vicious gangmasters.

9. Insufficient resources – less than 30 officers to cover UK – • every farm, shoreline, packhouse, etc. Too dependent on • info. from the public / victims • Exploitation continues within the GLA’s sectoral remit • Outside the GLA’s remit, worker exploitation is endemic • The failure to expand the GLA’s remit into all sectors of • vulnerable employment is nonsensical and wilful negligence. Meanwhile.... • Courts passing down light sentences to people traffickers • - Between 2004 and 2010 sentences passed averaged 4.7 yrs. • Individual police forces do not treat forced labour as an • operational priority

10. Civil Penalty Regime • ‘We’ve come across a number of experiences where an employer, knowing that the status of the workers is irregular, had chosen not to pay them after a month ... they’re left high and dry and they’ve also maybe got themselves into massive debt to come here ... The message this is sending out is that vulnerable workers are criminals. And that’s dangerous, that puts people further and further into the black economy. It’s very difficult to reach them then.’ • Campaigns and Media, Unite. • ‘Less than one year after the introduction of the new regime, widespread and damaging impacts in workplaces across the UK have emerged.’Migrants’ Rights Network • Economic downturn: the most unscrupulous labour providers • and labour users cushion themselves by further exploiting vulnerable • workers.

11. Coalition Government Waving goodbye to progress ...... • More barriers to legal working • Reductions in GLA funding

12. WHAT IS NEEDED: • The GLA’s remit must be extended to all temporary • labour in the UK. It should have a specific remit to • uncover forced labour and the resources including • undercover operatives to do that. • The UKHTC should also cover forced labour, not just trafficking • One overarching body is required to coordinate a multi-agency • response to forced labour. • Trades unions should be invited to engage in undercover activities • and inspection processes. • Guidance to the courts on minimum sentencing & confiscation of • assets.

13. A user-friendly process for individual redress and restitution for all • workers, regardless of legal / documented status. • Govt. should institute a one-off programme of regularisation • for undocumented migrant workers • Govt.should establish an independent review of the activities of • supermarket buyers in the food and horticultural sectors. It should • bring pressure on major retailers to eradicate forced labour practices • in their supply chains.