When Home Office minister Phil Woolas announced the addition of 5,000 extra workers to the SAWS scheme in December 2008, it was the Christmas present that fruit and vegetable growers in the UK had been hoping for.
In 2008, just 16,250 low-skilled workers were allowed into the UK for up to six months under SAWS. But permission for 5,000 more from Romania and Bulgaria eased the pressure on a horticultural industry that was struggling last year to source sufficient labour to pick, harvest and pack fruit and vegetable crops.
Of course, the recession has also played its part in alleviating labour pressure. The tide of eastern European workers heading back home due to the improving state of their own economies has been stemmed, and the UK horticulture industry has been able to attract more labour as a result. Also, many workers who had previously left horticulture in favour of other sectors of the economy such as construction - which has suffered significantly at the hands of the recession - have now returned to fruit picking.
Philip Hudson, horticultural adviser to the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) - which lobbied hard on the SAWS issue - says the additional workers have made a difference, but admits that the recession has also impacted on availability of labour.
“There is anecdotal evidence that people who were employed in horticulture in the past and then moved to other parts of the economy have now come back to horticulture,” he says. “The situation on the ground is that this year there is sufficient labour, because of this and the fact the farmers have also been better organised before the season.”
Rob Orme, chief executive of Concordia, a not-for-profit organisation that specialises in supplying low-skilled seasonal workers to UK horticulture under SAWS, says the extension of the scheme has helped a lot. “This year we met all of our growers’ needs, but last year we were 30 per cent short. Obviously this has also been helped by the economic situation - there are more A8 nationals available and the industry has picked up,” he says.
But the horticulture sector is not out of the woods yet. Economies in eastern Europe will pick up again and the possible withdrawal of SAWS at the end of 2010 means the industry may find itself right back at square one.
“Of course, we all hope the recession ends quickly and that we move back to growth, and then we can’t be sure that this current labour situation will continue,” says Hudson. “There are two million unemployed and despite this we are not seeing huge numbers of British citizens looking at fruit picking as a career. The structural problems still remain and have to be surmounted in the future.”
“We are in a very unusual short-term situation,” agrees Robert Mitchell, chairman of Concordia. “There is high UK unemployment and, within that, a natural desire to give British jobs to British workers, and I see where that comes from. But most of the harvesting jobs in the UK horticulture industry are not suitable for British workers. People ask why UK students can’t do these jobs, but the majority go back to university in September, which clashes with the start of the top-fruit season.
“No matter what happens in the UK unemployment market, we still need a chunk of the right kind of labour. That’s why SAWS came in, and that’s why we will still need it in 2011. The government must realise that this short-term situation won’t solve the problem.
“Why fix something if it isn’t broken? The SAWS scheme has excellent accountability and an enormous role in developing international relations, which will become increasingly important as the EU continues to expand.
“If no solution is by found by 2011, we are in trouble,” adds Mitchell. “With the current unemployment scenario I am not optimistic that [SAWS will be extended]. By all means review, modify and improve it - but the basis [for SAWS] is still sound and justified.”
Concordia is moving more into a training and educational role with its Student Worker Education Programme (SWEP), run with Plumpton College and several other agricultural colleges around the country. “Students can earn an NVQ3 in Production Horticulture,” explains Orme. “However, this won’t be the answer to the industry’s problems. We will still need seasonal labour. The way things have worked in the past, we suffer for a couple of years, as we did in 2007 and 2008, and then we have to persuade the government to listen so that crops are not left to rot in the field. We need to keep pushing so that SAWS is extended beyond 2011.”
With the future of SAWS up in the air, labour providers are looking to offer a point of difference in the marketplace. Matt Jarrett, director of Pro-Force, says that his firm’s Picking School initiative is a unique proposition in the UK. The company is only five years old and this summer is its second season in the soft-fruit industry, following work with the nursery sector. Pro-Force operates offices in Kent and Hampshire, along with a satellite office in Leeds and one due to open soon in Scotland.
“You can’t just get people off the street to pick soft fruit, as it is a hard job,” says Jarrett. “I went away and thought how can we make this situation different? So we set up the Pro-Force Picking School. We took on a specific recruitment team to go to Europe and recruit the right people for specific farms. This year, we interviewed 3,000 people and took on 15 per cent of those. We were very specific.”
Jarrett believes pickers from Romania and Bulgaria, to where SAWS recruitment is restricted, are not as hungry for the work as people from other countries were a few years ago. “The quality of labour has reduced over the years,” admits Jarrett. “But having dedicated recruitment means we can induct pickers specifically to certain farms and they understand it is a six-month placement and are motivated from day one.”
The recruited forces then go through the Pro-Force Picking School, which benefits farms through increased productivity, efficiencies and, ultimately, profitability. A Categorised Management Scheme also assists growers with a one-stop solution, improving seasonal labour through on-site management through to full harvest management.
“The three-day picking programme is an induction for pickers, teaching them how to be efficient and work to best practice, so that they are hitting their targets on day one for the farmers,” says Jarrett. “We manage the staff for the grower, as well throughout the season, with a team out in the fields.”
This year, Pro-Force recruiters targeted Poland and Latvia - Poland because it is a traditional source for horticultural labour, says Jarrett, and Latvia because the country has such high unemployment that people are motivated to find jobs.
Pro-Force also works with the top-fruit industry, with 100 workers doing husbandry work and thinning at the moment and due to move into picking from August onwards.
“Next year, we are launching a School of Excellence for the training and development of supervisors,” says Jarrett. “We will be specifically recruiting for supervisors, with a three-week programme to train them up.”
Labour costs are rising while productivity is dipping, according to Jarrett, so Pro-Force is “pro-actively” seeking to redress this balance. “There is a lot of labour available this year due to the global recession,” he says. “Last year was pretty bad for labour but the economies of countries such as Poland have been hit hard, so there has been a big effect there.
“However, when we come out of recession, jobs in areas such as construction will pick up and people might not want to go back to picking fruit. It has been easier this year, but what will we be doing long term?
“Let’s not kid ourselves; it will get tough again,” adds Jarrett. “It is the likes of Pro-Force that are looking to the future.”
Registration issues
In April, a bitter blow was dealt to the fresh produce industry with the government’s last-minute decision to maintain for a further two years the Worker Registration Scheme (WRS), under which workers from eight EU members have to pay a £90 fee when they begin work in the UK.
Reacting with anger, the Association of Labour Providers (ALP) was directly on to the government, with chairman Mark Boleat writing to the Home Secretary. The ALP represents employment businesses that supply the food and agriculture industries in the UK and which rely heavily on A8 workers.
In a statement, the ALP said: “The association believes that the decision cannot be justified either in its own right or under EU law and it seeks support from MPs, the European Commission and others for the decision to be changed…
“For political reasons the government has decided to extend the WRS for a further two years, imposing a considerable burden on low-paid workers and a lesser burden on their employers. The government asked the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) for a report only after it had decided to extend the scheme. The MAC itself admits that it took no account of the interests of workers or of employers…
“There is no suggestion that workers from the A8 countries are seriously disrupting the labour market…
“The decision was taken without taking due regard to the interests of, or proper consultation with, the social partners and other stakeholders…
“At various times the government has given different reasons for retaining the scheme - limiting access to social security benefits… counting A8 workers in Britain… and deterring workers from coming to Britain…
“The decision is of questionable legality,” the ALP added.
The NFU is also very concerned by the extension of the WRS. “Of course we wanted its abolition because the cost has increased and we see it as counter-productive,” says Hudson. “There is no longer a long-term need for this scheme. The original need was really to count the people coming into the UK from the A8 states when they joined the EU in 2004. The WRS provided a counting mechanism and gave an idea of the numbers. Of course, it doesn’t count the numbers leaving the country. The cost of registration also falls back on to the worker and that can discourage them from coming into the UK.”
Protocol concerns
Another key concern in the labour industry at the moment is the proposed implementation of a Supermarket Protocol by the Gangmasters’ Licensing Authority (GLA), a body set up to curb the exploitation of workers in the agricultural, horticultural, shellfish gathering and associated processing and packing industries.
Developed through discussions with Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons, The Co-operative, Waitrose, Marks & Spencer and Iceland, the protocol seeks to establish common principles for how the GLA and supermarkets will work together. This includes exchanging information on workplace abuse and conducting joint visits in the supply chain.
The proposals involve joint retailer/GLA visits to suppliers, aimed at widening retailers’ knowledge of labour-based issues. However, concerns have been voiced that as the proposal stands, this could increase the already considerable power wielded by retailers in the supply chain.
Nigel Jenney, chief executive of the Fresh Produce Consortium (FPC), says: “The supply chain is at the forefront of tackling labour abuse, including developing guidance to labour users, and FPC members support the GLA in its successful work to curb the exploitation of workers by unscrupulous labour providers.
“However, any protocol must treat retailers and suppliers as equal and constructive partners in the fight to eradicate the abuse of workers.
“It is essential to ensure that the GLA and all sectors of the supply chain understand fully the impact of the proposed GLA Supermarket Protocol. The protocol raises concerns about sharing sensitive commercial information obtained during joint retailer/GLA visits to suppliers and the potential use of retailers’ commercial power in the supply chain as an extension of the operational powers of the GLA.
“FPC members have raised their concerns regarding aspects of the proposal and we arranged a meeting with the GLA to discuss these issues.We urge suppliers to take part in the GLA’s consultation and the FPC will be ensuring that their views are heard. It is imperative that all the supply chain is involved in eradicating the exploitation of workers.”
The NFU is working in close conjunction with the FPC on this issue. “Broadly speaking, there are some concerns about the protocol and implications for labour users, and our concerns are shared by the FPC,” says Hudson. “Our concern is that clearly the protocol needs to include the labour users - the actual suppliers - in its application, because they are an inherent part of the chain. We cannot see how a protocol could not include them.
“We have all signed up to stamp out exploitation but it is important the GLA takes the supply chain with it. Some of the GLA successes to date have been achieved by working with the supply chain, and we are concerned that the protocol [as it stands] works against the current good will in the supply chain. Including suppliers and labour users is the key issue.
“In essence the GLA has responded with this consultation, but more detail needs to be covered off. We all want to stamp out exploitation but it can’t be done without the support and good will of the labour users.”
Following a series of workshops and consultation groups, the consultation will close on July 31.
Paul Whitehouse, chairman of the GLA, says that the regulatory body has taken on board the concerns of the industry. “The GLA is seeing if we can allay those concerns, whether they have misunderstood the protocol or if we should make alterations to the protocol,” he says. “The whole point of this initiative is to get people working together.
“We want to ensure suppliers are doing what they are supposed to be doing [in terms of labour] and not turning a blind eye - but in most cases this pressure is not necessary. The vast majority of suppliers want to do the job properly and use gangmasters who are licensed.”
In March, an independent report into the performance of the GLA praised the body’s stringent enforcement approach, stating that “industry appreciates tough regulation”. According to Whitehouse, there is widespread acceptance that the GLA is working for the greater good of the industry. “I was at a labour provider user group recently and there is a general acceptance that we are going in the right direction,” he says. “The only people upset by the work we do are those who get caught out, but if you are a labour user doing it right then you are generally delighted if those undercutting you get caught.”
The GLA is in the process of recruiting four full-time enforcement officers and is also seeking a further six officers for a period of two years, to work in certain areas where there are more notable problems. This would give the body an extra 10 officers overall.
“This is a 30 per cent increase in our current number of enforcement officers and we are confident it will have a marked effect,” says Whitehouse. “We don’t have as great a presence as we would like in London and the South East and, with more officers, our existing officers will have to travel far less.”
Looking to the future, the GLA will ensure it continues to make use of the substantial information it receives and turn that into intelligence, says Whitehouse. “We are not about trying to catch out people who get small things wrong - we will offer them advice and then expect them to act on it, however,” he explains. “We have 1,200 licensees and of them, I would say 1,000 are doing a good job, 100 are trying to do a good job but need a bit of help, and the last 100 are not doing a good job and need to be brought into line, warranting action from us.
“There is also an unknown number of unlicensed labour providers and we want to make sure we deal effectively with them.”
ASSOCIATION OF LABOUR PROVIDERS’ CHECKLIST
Using a labour provider should provide a time-saving, cost-effective solution to your business. The flexibility of temporary working allows labour users to react quickly to additional orders or shortfalls, production variations and seasonal fluctuations.
Here are the reasonable steps that a labour user can take to ensure that temporary labour, supplied through a labour provider, is being treated legally and ethically:
• Check that the labour provider is GLA-licensed
• Ensure that the rate paid to labour providers covers legal requirements - the rate that labour users pay to labour providers is a matter for negotiation. However, labour users must not offer rates that they know cannot be met without cutting legal corners. Where a seemingly low rate is being paid, the labour user must verify with the labour provider how it is meeting its legal obligations and seek confirmation that it is doing so
• Work in partnership to set and agree standards - the labour provider and labour user should work together to agree the ‘Contractual Terms and Conditions’, the legal agreement that governs the terms of supply, and the ‘Service Level Agreement’, which is a procedural document that details the operational processes that will apply in the supply of labour
• Conduct ongoing due diligence - labour users should conduct regular audits, checks and interviews in partnership with their labour provider.
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