The Gangmasters Licensing Authority (GLA) will turn its attention to stamping out abuses in the foodservice sector and non-supermarket trade in 2011, freshinfo can reveal.
The revelation comes in a week when seven children under 15 were found harvesting spring onions in Worcestershire in the first case of child exploitation the authority has discovered. The youngsters were part of a group of 50 Romanians found working with inadequate clothing and transport on 20 October.
GLA chairman Paul Whitehouse conceded that price-pressure in the marketplace may be a factor in driving people to exploitation and illegality and said his organisation will now be turning its attention to the non-supermarket business. “Of course this is a market-driven economy and some people will the see the opportunity to make a fast buck and will do that by exploiting other people,” he told FPJ. “Yes, there is a squeeze on prices, but the supermarkets have a better handle on the situation. We are more concerned now with those that are supplying the foodservice and wholesale sectors. Suppliers to supermarkets are getting better because of our pressure.”
He added that working with the retailers first made sense as the major multiples control a large portion of the market. “We have a protocol in place with the retailers and we hope to get foodservice operators into the same line,” said Whitehouse. “We hope to do that next year, but foodservice is much more fragmented and we need to work at it. There are also other areas in agriculture we need to turn our attention to. Fresh produce has led the way here.”
The GLA, police, tax and immigration authorities are still trying to trace the unlicensed gangmaster in the child labour case. It is currently unclear who owned the crop the group were picking. Despite near freezing temperatures, the women were found working in thin cotton skirts and wearing sandals. One of the vehicles that brought them to work was a box van with a sofa in the back.
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