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THECOMMERCIAL GREENHOUSEGROWER • MARCH 2018
• NEWS
LATEST
NEWS
Gangmasters’ arrests show
industry under scrutiny
ARomanian couplewhobrought six people to theUK to
work in a salads processingplant arebeing investigated
after being arrestedby officers from theGangmasters
andLabour AbuseAuthority GLAA inCambridgeshire on
suspicionofmodern slavery andgangmaster offences.
It follows two recent unrelatedoperations involving
theprovisionof labour tohorticultural businesses in
Cornwall. InFebruary threepeoplewere arrestedon
suspicionofmodern slavery offences connectedwith
supplyingworkers to a Åower farm, andof operating
as gangmasterswithout a licence. Around 200migrant
workerswereworking at the farm. And in 1anuary
another gangmaster operating inCornwall, providing
workers for harvest and cropprocessingwork, hadher
licence revoked for what theGLAAdescribed as ‘Åagrant
disregard for the safety andwelfare of her employees’,
includingparticular concerns about the conditionof the
caravan accommodationprovided and irregularities over
wagepayments. TheGangmasters LicensingAuthority
became theGLAA last year with stronger powers to
investigate labour abuse and exploitation. It says growers
need to take steps to ensure they know how their
seasonal workers arebeing supplied, inorder to avoid
being complicit inbreaches of the lawor of customers’
audit requirements.
Growers showBrexit MP
the skills needed for crop
production
Glasshouse growers in the LeaValley had the chance
todiscuss the impact of possible restrictions on free
movement of ‘unskilled’ EU labour withprominent pro-
BrexitMP IainDuncanSmithwhen he visited the area at
the endof 1anuary following an invitationby the LeaValley
GrowersAssociation Commercial GreenhouseGrower,
1anuary .Mr DuncanSmith, who isMP for Chingford
andWoodfordGreenwhich is adjacent to the LeaValley,
touredGlinwell’s nursery inNaaeing, Essex, where he
wasmet by the association’s chairman andGlinwell
director 1oeColletti, Glinwell director SamCannatella
and technical managerMatthewSimon, whohas also
recently been appointed chairmanof theBritishTomato
GrowersAssociation. The invitation toMr DuncanSmith
followedpublicationof an immigrationpolicy document
by the ‘Leavemeans leave’ campaign, which he supports,
calling for restrictions on admissionof EUworkers for
‘lower skilled’ employment. ¸Wewere interested in
knowingwhether working inour sectormight fall under
his definitionof unskilled labour,¹ said the association’s
secretary, LeeStiles. ¸Sowewere keen todemonstrate
the skilled roles of glasshouse technical staff and that
they shouldbe coveredby anyworkpermit system set
up to enable skilledworkers to come in the future. ¸We
were left with the impression that he’dunderstoodour
point and that he felt aworkpermit system for skilled
labour could include our sector, thoughhis viewwas
that itmay favour people fromCommonwealth countries
rather than theEU.¹Mr DuncanSmith said: ¸Glinwell
has adiverseworkforcewithEUworkers integral in its
success, something it hopeswill continue.¹He added
that withmanymigrant workers now returning home
and the availability of future labour ‘uncertain in apost-
Brexit economy’, initiatives that encouraged ‘upskilling’
of theUKworkforce or offeredmore opportunities to
local individuals, who are unemployedor would like to
gain the relevant skills, would help. ¸Wediddiscuss the
possibilities for newqualifications,¹ saidMr Stiles. ¸But we
made thepoint that we have hadnumerous programmes
to recruit locally overmany years andget very little
interest. It’s hard to see how that will change especially as
unemployment levels are so low in the area.¹
Official statistics for 1anuary 2018 show unemployment in
theBroxbourne constituency, which includesmost of the
LeaValley, running at 1.2%or a total of 745 individuals.
IainDuncanSmithMPhears about the skills involved in
commercial tomatoproduction fromSamCannatella and
1oeColletti.
