Aims & outcomes

In January 2023, ETI launched a two-year project to improve access to grievance mechanisms for vulnerable workers in selected agricultural supply chains of ETI members. This includes a two-pronged approach:

1. Piloting a process to establish effective operational grievance mechanisms at grower level in Spain and Italy. This approach focuses on facilitating workplace dialogue between workers and employers.
2. Establishing and supporting a network of civil society organisations in selected countries of origin and transit for migrant workers (Côte d'Ivoire, Tunisia and Morocco) to share and disseminate accurate information on labour rights and the risk of labour exploitation in agricultural supply chains in Southern Europe. 

Membership, partners & funding

This work is funded by the UK Government through the third phase of the Modern Slavery Innovation Fund. The project has formed a work group consisting of 20 members from ETI, other JETIs and FNET and drawn from UK retailers and suppliers providing oversight to the initiative and facilitating access to growers and suppliers in the countries of production. 

ETI is working with Partner Africa to facilitate the creation of the network to prevent modern slavery in  countries of origin and transit in West and North Africa. The project is also working with Oxfam Business Advisory Service (OBAS) as a technical partner to design the implementation model for the grievance mechanism pilot and is working with the Ethical Trade Forum (Asociación Foros de Comercio Ético) in Spain to pilot grower-level grievance mechanisms. 

Context

Agricultural work relies on cheap and flexible labour often supplied by migrant and seasonal workers. Most pruning and harvesting on western European farms producing fruit, horticultural, and vegetable commodities for UK markets, is undertaken by migrant workers. Carrying out low-skilled jobs in agricultural supply chains around the Mediterranean, migrant workers are vulnerable to high risks of exploitation through illicit recruitment and employment tactics. 

Although companies and governments have responsibilities under the UN Guiding Principles (UNGPs) to respect human rights and remediate harm done, there are currently no agreed best mechanisms to do so. Research carried out as part of the project has demonstrated that existing grievance mechanisms, be they national helplines, retailer telephone numbers or workplace grievance channels, do not work for most migrant workers. A combination of powerful barriers, including lack of knowledge about their labour rights, fear of reprisals and lack of language skills to access existing channels and communicate complaints effectively, prevent most workers from reporting problems and issues they face in the workplace. 

Outputs

The project aims to deliver  several outputs by 31 March 2025:   

• The completion of a pilot initiative on workers’ rights grievance mechanisms in three to four sites supplying UK businesses in Italy and Spain respectively. Consistent with our mission to advocate for the most vulnerable workers by facilitating a united, multi-stakeholder approach, the design of this pilot grievance mechanism will be based on a bottom-up approach where workers’ needs inform the initiative, while also keeping the opinions of employers in mind. 
• A contribution of evidence for how the British private and public sector, in collaboration with other allies, can address systemic issues affecting workers’ rights in the sector. This includes generating lessons learned through preliminary research and the ongoing monitoring and evaluation of the pilot intervention to inform other grievance mechanisms initiatives where applicable and appropriate.   

Establish a modern slavery prevention network to support local organisations in Côte d'Ivoire, Tunisia, and Morocco to communicate access to remedy, ethical recruitment practices, and emerging risks to migrant workers before and during the migration journey. 

Latest updates

As of April 2024, the project has completed its research to inform the approach and design of the pilot grievance mechanism. More than 100 stakeholders (employers, experts, organisations, and academics) have been interviewed individually or participated in moderated roundtable discussions, and just over 200 workers have been interviewed or participated in focus groups. This primary data has been combined with four pieces of desk-based research to produce a synthesis report of our findings. Recommendations for effective operational grievance mechanisms have also been written. While these have been informed by our research findings, they are relevant to all sectors.

Growers in Spain and Italy are being approached to participate in the grievance mechanism pilot set to commence in Summer 2024. 

Interest from 37 civil society organisations in Tunisia, Morocco, and Côte d'Ivoire to participate in the Modern Slavery Prevention Network has been secured. During the first regional network meeting in Rabat in early February 2024, participants agreed on a mission and a name for the network – Digniwork, a regional network with the mission to protect the rights and dignity of migrant workers in the agricultural sector in Europe and throughout the migration journey. The remainder of the project period will be dedicated to further developing and deepening its foundations and future work. Links were also established with civil society organisations working with migrant agricultural workers in Spain and Italy.