Supply chain solidarities in the food system
FAWN continues acting as a venue for discussion on, and organisation of food work across the supply chain. Jake Richardson reports on our July workshop exploring different models of doing so, including 'industrial hubs' that coordinate union membership and activity in different sites of the food chain, but in a specific town or region.
‘Union bureaucracy; competition between unions for the same workers; a lack of resources to do this kind of organising; precarious contracting practices; conflicting interests between different workers; and legal barriers that make organising coordinated strike action extremely difficult’.
On Friday 19th July, FAWN hosted a gathering of workers from the food sector, the charity sector, and academia to discuss “supply chain solidarity”. The event aimed to build on the momentum generated from a number of worker-led projects over the past year which have stressed the importance of bringing food sector workers together, including The Climate Justice Coalition’s “We Make Tomorrow” conference, Issue 18 of Notes from Below, and a previous FAWN event on agroecology and the labour movement.. The event was also inspired by previous struggles that have highlighted both: (1) the opportunities for coordinated worker action along fragile, time-sensitive food supply chains; and (2) the necessity of coordinating against monopolistic actors that possess immense power over said supply chains, supermarkets being the prime example.
Organising in horticulture and land trades
The day started with two fantastic talks about labour conditions in horticulture and land trades. First, Jacob Bolton from Focus on Labour Exploitation (FLEX), an NGO that does research and policy advocacy on labour rights, presented their research on the seasonal worker visa scheme for migrant agricultural labourers. Their interviews have revealed opaque recruitment pathways through which workers accrue significant debts, extremely exploitative working conditions, and cramped, mouldy, and isolated accommodation. Workers on the scheme have organised wildcat strikes, and, with the support of UVW, launched legal action against Haygrove ltd, a major player in the horticulture sector in the UK. However, Jacob pointed out that the nature of the scheme presents numerous challenges to worker organising, including a highly diffuse governance structure and a woefully inadequate reporting infrastructure.
Following this, Ellie Paganini, from Solidarity Across Land Trades (SALT), gave an account of the struggle that this grassroots union has been engaged in over the past few years. SALT is a union of workers involved in horticulture, forestry, and other land-based work, particularly in the part of the sector that is concerned with ecological practices. Ellie highlighted that unfortunately, ecological concern and certifications rarely also ensure good labour conditions. Drawing from the workers’ inquiry SALT has carried out, she described the common use of the unpaid labour of trainees and volunteers, extremely low pay for long hours, and neglect of health and safety standards, amongst other issues. Whilst operating in a different segment of the horticultural sector, similarities in working conditions were noted by the group. The downward pressure that supermarkets place upon supply chains could be seen in the depreciation of working conditions in both cases. Again, similarly, organising work faces many obstacles; the isolation and small size of workplaces making coordinated action difficult for instance. However, SALT have seen some success in fighting against unpaid traineeships, and hope to reach more of the sector as they continue to organise.
Connecting Struggles
Building on the connections drawn between the morning’s talks, we spent the afternoon exploring ways of connecting struggles across food supply chains. The importance of this task was agreed upon strongly, when facing common enemies like supermarkets, for successfully connecting ecological and labour struggles, and in being able to extend solidarity internationally. Equally though, plenty of obstacles were identified to this kind of organising: union bureaucracy; competition between unions for the same workers; a lack of resources to do this kind of organising; precarious contracting practices; conflicting interests between different workers; and legal barriers that make organising coordinated strike action extremely difficult. However, some past examples, like the Asda workers that went on strike in solidarity with Sri Lankan garment workers earlier in the year, gave reason for optimism. Additionally, potential forms for future organising were posited, from charity workers agreeing to only do advocacy work with unionised farms, to the targeting of supply chains that are more consolidated – like hummus – and thus easier to completely shut down. Regardless of the form, increased organising power within individual food sectors was highlighted as a key prerequisite, along with more widespread political education about food production, to which civil society and academia certainly have the means and responsibility to contribute.
Next Steps
Overall, we found the day productive and inspiring, and hope it was for everyone who participated. The composition of the group made for engaging conversations, though it may have been a bit heavy on the academic side, a recurring problem that needs addressing as we continue to forge collaborations of this type. We had a good first discussion, identifying key areas for organising and research work. Most importantly, we shared some amazing food from Pitted Olive and made connections that will hopefully turn into longer-term collaborations. If you would like to be included in future workshops please get in touch!