A group of Indonesian fruit pickers who were allegedly sacked for not meeting picking targets have been left in debt after paying recruiters fees, which are illegal under the UK’s Seasonal Workers Scheme (SWS).
According to a report in the Guardian, the five workers were sacked by Hereford-based Haygrove for failing to meet performance targets. After receiving written warnings from the farm in Ledbury, they were dismissed between five or six weeks after starting work on 24th June and booked on flights home the following day, having earned between £2,555 and £3,874.
One of the workers said, “It was very hard to meet the target because day by day there was less fruit.” Some of the workers are reported to have sold land, and motorbikes to pay the costs associated with coming to the UK, including illegal fees of up to £1,100 charged by their recruiters.
Beverly Dixon, the managing director of farming at Haygrove, said the farm had consistently had to make up the men’s wages because of poor performance and had supported them to try to improve. She told the newspaper targets were “set based on achievable standards with the majority of pickers sometimes achieving more than double that speed.” She added that Haygrove was “deeply concerned” to hear of the “alleged financial challenge faced by the Indonesian workers, particularly if one or more paid an illegal recruiter in Indonesia” and the farm was fully supporting an investigation by the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA) which was launched last month.
Agri-HR, the licenced recruiter which began working in Indonesia last year, commented said: “On hearing these allegations, Agri-HR immediately contacted the GLAA with the request to investigate these claims. The GLAA interviewed some workers that same day and are continuing with their investigations and further worker interviews have taken place and are scheduled.”
Part of the investigation is focused on a third party in Indonesia called Forkom, chaired by Agus Hariyono, which appears to charge fees for faster recruitment and allegedly put pressure on sacked workers, something which is illegal under both UK and Indonesian law. Following a number of issues with third-party recruiters overseas, a number of growers have suggested changing the law to allow them to directly recruit their own staff overseas under the SWS, something which is backed by organisations such as British Berry Growers.
However, migrant worker specialist Andy Hall told the Guardian, “This scandal shows once again that the entire burden of shouldering the multiple risks associated with the seasonal workers scheme in the UK is placed not on supermarkets, farms, scheme operators or other supply chain actors but on vulnerable workers from overseas.”
