On this International Migrants Day, EFFAT honours the indispensable role of migrant and mobile seasonal workers in Europe’s agricultural, tourism and domestic work sectors. These workers, who often face systemic exploitation and discrimination, are the backbone of our food systems and economies. Their contributions ensure food security, combat environmental degradation, and sustain biodiversity, making their labor critical to Europe’s prosperity, health, and sustainability.
Despite their essential role, migrant workers frequently endure:
- Low wages, unsafe workplaces, and excessive working hours, compounded by limited access to social protections.
- Exploitative practices, such as gangmaster systems and unregulated labour intermediaries, which perpetuate precarious working conditions and modern slavery.
- Poor living conditions, including overcrowded, unsafe informal settlements lacking basic sanitation.
Migrant workers’ unique vulnerability often stems from their employment via subcontracting chains and labour intermediaries. These systems, too often unregulated, create a breeding ground for exploitation by obscuring responsibility for labour violations. Undeclared work and wage theft are common, while inspections and enforcement are largely insufficient. For example, inspections in Germany’s asparagus farms occur only once every 350 years, and in 2023, just 0.024% of agricultural companies employing workers were inspected in Italy.
This must change.
EFFAT’s Demands:
To address these injustices, EFFAT calls for bold action to ensure the rights and dignity of migrant workers, including:
- An EU Directive on Labour Intermediaries and Subcontracting Chains, establishing clear responsibilities for employers and ensuring fair working conditions throughout supply chains.
- A Fair and Social Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) with robust social conditionality mechanisms tied to subsidies, incentivizing fair labor practices.
- Increased frequency and scope of labour inspections, targeting sectors where migrant workers are disproportionately employed, such as agriculture.
- Stronger collective bargaining and union representation to amplify the voices of migrant workers and ensure fair wages and conditions.
- Ratification and implementation of ILO Convention 189 on Decent Work for Domestic Workers: the enforcement is essential to improving the conditions of some of the most vulnerable women workers in the EU.
Recognizing and Protecting the Backbone of Europe
The systemic exploitation they face undermines their contributions and Europe’s core values. By regulating subcontracting and labour intermediaries, and enforcing fair labour standards, these workers’ conditions can be imporved and their rights respected.
This International Migrants Day, EFFAT renews its commitment to securing Equal treatment for all migrant and mobile workers in Europe.
