Meat companies across Europe, including the UK, hire thousands of workers through contractors and agencies of dubious origin for much lower pay and unacceptable working conditions, according to a Guardian investigation.
Workers, officials and labor experts explain to the media how the $ 190 billion European meat industry has become a global center of exploitation for workers, many of whom are migrants, with some earning 40-50% less than directly employed workers. at the same enterprises, reports BNR.
The Guardian has evidence of a two-tier hiring system in which pay is well below the minimum wage under appalling working conditions to meet the sector’s need for easily replaceable low-paid workers with flexible schedules.
About 1 million workers are employed in meat processing in Europe, with unions saying many are hired through dubious contractors and agencies.
The situation is particularly difficult for migrants, who also live in appalling conditions and often because they do not know the language, do not understand the texts of the agreements they have signed and cannot assert their rights.
A Romanian in the Netherlands says the worker can be fired immediately without any problems.
The enlargement of the EU in 2004 and the associated free movement led to a massive influx of jobseekers from poorer European countries, and as the economies of some of these poor countries strengthened, the labor market reached such distant countries as the Philippines, India and China. , writes the Guardian.