Migrant agricultural workers have held a protest outside the Home Office in London to demand an end to exploitation of overseas workers on UK farms.
This was the first time migrant farm workers, who arrive in the UK as part of the Seasonal Worker Scheme, have organised a protest in the capital.
The rally was also attended by various farming and workers rights organisations, including the Landworkers’ Alliance, Land In Our Names and SALT Union.
In July 2023, after claims of wage theft, discrimination and health and safety concerns, 88 seasonal workers took strike action at Redbank Farm in Herefordshire.
A group of these, who are organising as ‘Justice Is Not Seasonal’, are taking the farm's owner, Haygrove, to court over alleged harassment and race discrimination.
The workers also allege unlawful deductions of wages and whistleblowing victimisation after raising health and safety concerns.
In order to bring their campaign to light, they held a demonstration outside the Home Office today (24 January) to demand justice for migrant workers who come to work on UK farms.
Their demands were an end to forced labour and exploitation in UK farms and full accountability for those responsible.
They also asked for fair wages and safe working conditions, as well as access to justice and remediation.
Julia Quecaño Casimiro, a former berry picker for Haygrove, is taking the company to court over allegations of unfair dismissal.
She came to the UK as part of the Seasonal Worker Scheme, and was one of the organisers of the demonstration.
She said: "We were brought to this country with deceit and with false promises. When we arrived we found ourselves vulnerable, and we were treated as anything but human.
"Our supervisors and bosses didn’t hear us, they did not consider us because we are foreigners.
"We even went to the police and they did nothing, so that means the authorities in charge had no answer, and we weren’t protected by them."
There is currently an investigation by the Gangmaster and Labour Abuse Authority, which has been ongoing for almost a year.
In October 2024, the Labour government announced a new phase of the seasonal worker scheme for 2025.
They confirmed that 43,000 seasonal visas would be available to workers from overseas who wish to work in the horticulture sector, and 2,000 visas for the poultry sector.
However, without reforms, the SWS is far from being something to be celebrated, according to the Landworkers’ Alliance, which attended today's protest.
Catherine McAndrew, of the alliance, said: “We are here to hear from these workers, to hear their experiences, to end the silencing of the people who pick our food, the people who pick our crops.
"It’s been such an effort to try and tell the Home Office and the authorities about what has happened to these workers. They don’t care.
"They only care that they make money, they only care that the supermarkets make money."
