Seasonal worker visa puts migrants at risk on UK farms
“[Do we need] to put up with being treated like slaves?” asks a worker on a farm in Scotland.
“We are slaves,” writes another.
We often hear comments like this at the Worker Support Centre (WSC), an NGO supporting marginalised and isolated workers in labour sectors with a high risk of exploitation in Scotland. Most of the people we support work in seasonal agriculture on isolated farms…
This year, we’ve received more daily contacts for assistance from seasonal farm workers than at any other point in the history of our service.
The Employment Rights Bill, currently making its way through the UK parliament, is not in its current form suitable for tackling the myriad risks to workers on this visa….
The workers are often geographically isolated and socially marginalised. This makes them dependent on their employer not only for their job security, but also for essential needs such as housing, transport, food and access to medical care…
People on the seasonal worker visa do not have the right to choose their place of employment. They are not allowed to terminate their contract and move to another place of employment, even when the conditions on their farm are abusive….