The Guardian has evidence of a two-tier employment system, with payments far below the minimum in appalling working conditions.
Companies in the meat processing industry across Europe, including the United Kingdom, hire thousands of workers through subcontractors and agencies of dubious origin for much lower pay and unacceptable working conditions, according to an investigation by the Guardian.
Workers, officials and labor experts explain to the media how Europe’s 190 billion meat processing industry has become a global center for the exploitation of migrant workers, some of them migrants. earn between 40-50% less than directly employed employees in the same enterprises, BNR reported.
The Guardian has evidence of a two-tier employment system, with payments well below the minimum terrible working conditionsto meet the sector’s need for easily replaceable low-paid workers with flexible working hours.
About 1 million workers are involved in meat processing in Europe, with unions noting that most of them are hired through dubious subcontractors and agencies.
The situation of migrants is particularly difficult, as they also live in appalling conditions and often, because they do not speak the language, do not understand the texts of the agreements they have signed, nor can they claim their rights.
A Romanian in the Netherlands is quoted as saying that no problem a worker can be fired immediately and lose everything.
The enlargement of the EU in 2004 and the ensuing free movement have led to a massive influx of jobseekers from poorer European countries, and after the strengthening of some of the economies of these poorer countries, the market for such labor has reached as far as the Philippines, India and China, commented the Guardian.
This is another revelation of poor working conditions in slaughterhouses in Europe and the UK. In June last year, an inspection at a German slaughterhouse after a covid outbreak revealed 1,900 irregularities related to the housing conditions of mostly Eastern European workers. These include overcrowding, mold, the risk of falling, leaking roofs, “catastrophic bathrooms”, violations of fire safety requirements and a lack of disinfectants.
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