Salad pickers 'cheated out of pay'

Britain's major supermarkets are investigating allegations that workers who grow the salads and winter vegetables they sell are routinely mistreated and cheated out of pay.

Politicians and workers in Spain have claimed in an investigation by Channel 4 News that migrants employed to pick salad for companies whose produce ends up on the shelves of British supermarkets are forced to work weeks on end, cheated out of wages and exposed to pesticides.

The investigation spoke to workers picking vegetables for the Spanish company Agroherni, whose produce is supplied to Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda, Waitrose and Marks and Spencer.

The company uses an employment agency called Integra Empleo to provide casual staff to pick the produce in its fields, Channel 4 News said.

One lettuce picker told the programme: "They suck the blood out of people. You work for two or four months and then they sack you without severance, without payment, without anything."

Another worker claimed he had worked 22 days in one month, but was only paid for 17.

Agroherni told Channel 4 News that it had strict procedures in place to ensure workers were safe from pesticides and said they were provided with appropriate protective clothing.

But the programme said it spoke to two workers employed to work on their farms who claimed they had fallen ill from pesticide inhalation.

Agroherni told the programme: "No pesticides are permitted on farms to be harvested. Workers are forbidden to enter any farm within 24 hours of the application of pesticides.

"Agroherni's management are not aware of any relevant incidents taking place."

Tesco, Marks and Spencer, Waitrose, Sainsbury's and Asda all say they source our food responsibly and they have all signed up to the Global Ethical Trading Initiative, designed to protect workers' rights.

The Ethical Trading Initiative says that all overtime should be voluntary and no deductions should be made from wages without a worker's consent.

It also says that workers must be free to voice complaints without being discriminated against.

But Channel 4 News said the allegations it heard during its investigation suggested that employment agencies who supply much of the seasonal casual labour were "less than rigorous about maintaining ethical standards".

It said both Agroherni and Integra Empleo denied all the allegations had launched investigations into the claims.

Agroherni told Channel 4 News that it strongly denied any claim that it mistreated or exploited agency workers and said the fair treatment and safety of workers was "paramount".

It said 15 third party audits had been carried out on its farms in 2014/15 but "only a discrete number of issues were highlighted".

However, it said that as a result of the investigation it had ceased working with Integra Empleo and was making arrangements to directly employ the workers.

Sainsbury's said: "We expect our suppliers to adhere to the highest quality and welfare standards, regardless of where they operate in the world.

"We are taking these allegations very seriously and will be conducting our own investigation."

Tesco and Marks and Spencer declined to comment directly, instead choosing to be represented by the industry body the British Retail Consortium (BRC).

The BRC's director for food and sustainability, Andrew Opie, said: "Ensuring workers are treated fairly in our supply chains is a key concern for retailers and we know all supermarkets will examine these allegations closely to take both immediate action where appropriate and refine their auditing procedures.

"Investment in ethical auditing has been a priority for UK supermarkets and they will continue to improve and adapt them to meet future challenges, something we made clear in our clear support for the Modern Slavery Act.

"However, ethical auditing is only one part of the solution to this which also requires effective day to day management of labour issues by suppliers and clear support from governments, both here and abroad, to enforce basic labour legislation."

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