European trade unions believe that the rights of seasonal workers in agriculture and horticulture should be legally incorporated into the new European Common Agricultural Policy.
An Open Letter calls for the 'social rights' of temporary agency workers to be enshrined in the current trilogue negotiations on new EU agricultural policy.
The Open Letter is signed by a broad alliance of more than 300 international and national trade unions, workers' organizations, and solidarity groups, including from the Netherlands CNV, FNV, Greenpeace, and Amnesty International.
The appeal refers, among other things, to early last year, at the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, when travel bans were imposed on large groups of foreign hired laborers. They were not allowed to travel anywhere, while agriculture in many EU countries was desperately in need of temporary staff.
The plea to include âsocial rightsâ in the CAP threatens to become a new obstacle in the already difficult trilogue negotiations between the European Parliament, European Commission, and the 27 agriculture ministers.
Many governments have reservations and point to the very large differences in pay and treatment of (mostly foreign) hired laborers. Moreover, these differences exist not only between countries but also between sectors.
Trade unions, on the other hand, cite these large differences precisely as an argument to arrange something at the EU level. The European Parliament recently adopted a regulation for a statutory minimum wage. EU countries counter that working conditions, collective labor agreements, and wages are national issues not subject to EU competences.
The European Parliament has strongly supported the inclusion of âsocial conditionalityâ in the CAP. The conditions would relate to working hours, health and safety, and housing for mobile and migrant workers.
In the Open Letter, published on February 17, it is proposed to link direct CAP payments (in the first pillar) to compliance with labor conditions. Although CAP subsidies are currently already dependent on issues such as environmental standards, public health, and animal welfare, trade union rights and âsocial rightsâ have so far played no role in the disbursement of agricultural subsidies.
According to the signatories, working conditions in the European agricultural sector are among the âmost challenging and precariousâ in the EU economy. They also point out widespread labor abuse and exploitation.
At least ten million people work in European agriculture, mainly as seasonal workers, day laborers, or in other insecure statuses, with as many as 61.2% of agricultural workers engaged in âinformal workâ.