The ‘BeAware‘ report surveys for the first time initiatives to guarantee workers’ rights in the fruit and vegetable supply chain. Coop Italy dictates the line
The
exploitation
of workers in agriculture continues, inexorable. In Europe – Spain and Italy, at the top of the list-no less in developing countries.. The alternative exists, however, as the report ‘
BeAware – Best Practices against Work Exploitation.
‘ (Best practices against exploitation in agriculture).
‘BeAware
‘, alternatives to exploitation in agriculture
The research – presented in Rome on 3.10.18 – is promoted by the ‘Milan Center forFoodLaw and Policy,’ the observatory on the right to food, created with Expo Milano 2015 and chaired by Livia Pomodoro, former president of the Juvenile Court of Milan.
Agriculture in Europe is worth more than 400 billion euros, and undeclared work is estimated at 14 billion euros. As in saying that on average, in European agriculture, 25 percent is undeclared labor. Between illegality and exploitation, illegal brokering and slums. With peaks of 40, 50 and 60 percent in Romania, Bulgaria and Portugal.
The European legislature persists in ignoring this serious problem, and so does the Commission. The agricultural confederations, it is clear, prefer to do their laundry at home. But the laundry remains dirty, indeed unclean. And the only glimmer of hope to date can be seen in the voluntary standards systems defined by the few pioneers in the private and cooperative sectors.
Italy, the measures against exploitation
Italy is a leading agricultural player in Europe, second only to France (with 50 billion euros in production, compared to 70 billion beyond the Alps). Illegality unfortunately permeates the supply chain. The ‘Milan Center for Food Law and Policy‘ estimates that the employment of foreign laborers in the black involves 400 thousand people.
Italy and the United Kingdom, at the same time, have the distinction of being the only countries in Europe with ‘ad hoc’ legislation against exploitation in agriculture. Among other things, Law 199/2016 provides for the confiscation of land from companies responsible for caporalism. In addition to intensified monitoring.
The recent Italian law was preceded by an experimental protocol and the Quality Agricultural Labor Network, established by Inps in 2014. Aimed at registering businesses in good standing with contributions, free of convictions for labor offenses, this initiative, however, has had little success so far, with only 3,500 members representing less than 1 percent of the total number of businesses.
One positive note, in this bleak landscape, is the good practices adopted on a voluntary basis. In fact, the ‘BeAware‘ study records as many as 16 initiatives in Italy, among the 35 surveyed in Europe. Thanks to the efforts of the agricultural production and distribution chains, with the support of trade unions and charities active throughout the Peninsula to combat illegalities.
The Made in Italy of good practices
Coop Italy
stands out among the Italian companies cited by the report ‘
BeAware – Best Practices against Work Exploitation.
‘. As early as 1998, the cooperative group, which is the first operator of large-scale retail trade (GDO) in Italy, applied the voluntary standard SA8000 On the entire supply chain. The Good & Fair campaign, in 2016, was worth reaffirming and sharing these values with consumers.
Eradicate all forms of illegality and exploitation in agriculture is the key step in ensuring the social sustainability of products distributed by Coop. It was made possible by sharing with suppliers a Code of Ethics, the implementation of which is subject to timely inspections and audits. And this is, on closer inspection, the best guarantee of sustainability of the whole system, ‘from the farm to the fork,’ which the consumAtors themselves in turn are beginning to consider. ‘
Many suppliers have been working with us for 50 years
‘, explains Renata Pascarelli, Coop Italy’s Quality Director. ‘
We ask them to give farmers the same stability they have received and still receive
‘.
The good and beautiful South
Finagricola, another Italian cooperative, in turn stands out among the ‘BeAware’ champions for best practices. Through investment in innovation and training of workers, including seasonal workers.
‘
Italy’s largest vegetable garden
‘ – in the Sele plain – in the province of Salerno – takes care of the entire production chain, from seed to shelf delivery, of 33 thousand tons of vegetables. With a focus on the corporate organizational climate that is connoted by the presence at the plant of a box suitable for receiving anonymous reports on possible causes of discontent.
In Calabria ,it is Campoverde agricola that stands out for its respect for legality and union rights. In the Sibari Plain, it produces fresh and processed fruit with a turnover of 31 million euros (2013 data).
The good fruit of the North and the Third Sector.
Francescon of Rodigo (Mantua), with other sites in Licata and Senegal, is a leading producer of melons and watermelons. It is cited in the ‘BeAware‘ report for implementing a Code of Ethics geared toward the environment and human resources. Seasonal workers, mostly from India, are hired with regular contracts, housing and union representative. Not surprisingly, their turn over is less than 5%.
Trentino Sustainable Fruit Farm ing, on the other hand, is a public labor organization project run by the Autonomous Province of Trento to mediate between foreign laborers and apple growers.
Closing the circle of solidarity is the Third Sector. Caritas, which has been providing health, legal and bureaucratic assistance to migrants since 2014, with stations in places where laborers are concentrated (Presidio Project). And Flai-Cgil, which since 2010 has organized traveling union branches to reach out to farmworkers in the places where they live and work (Street Union and Rights Camper).
Marta Strinati and Dario Dongo
Professional journalist since January 1995, he has worked for newspapers (Il Messaggero, Paese Sera, La Stampa) and periodicals (NumeroUno, Il Salvagente). She is the author of journalistic surveys on food, she has published the book "Reading labels to know what we eat".
Dario Dongo, lawyer and journalist, PhD in international food law, founder of WIISE (FARE - GIFT - Food Times) and Égalité.
