#MeatTheStandards is an EFFAT–IUF Europe-wide initiative to raise awareness about the urgency for a fairer meat sector in Europe through:

• Increasing trade union membership and workplace representation in the sector
• Improve pay and working conditions through collective bargaining
• Empowering meat workers’ voice into the policy debate

The meat sector is an incredibly profitable industry: with a turnover of a hundred billion euros and a presence of 32,000 companies, it employs a workforce of approximately one million, of which a small proportion is directly employed.

Yet, the sector is sadly renowned for its deplorable working and living conditions: overcrowded accommodation, lack of social security coverage, job insecurity, long and unrecorded working hours, as well as poor health and safety standards and wages are only some of the hardships many meat workers face across Europe.

Such dire reality is the consequence of a model that has developed through business practices and work arrangements aimed at cutting costs and escaping employer liability, such as abusive subcontracting, bogus self-employment or the fraudulent use of temporary agency work. COVID-19 has exacerbated many of these issues, leading to the infection of nearly 30,000 meat-plant workers across the US and Europe.

EFFAT and its global union federation IUF now join forces to call for a serious reform of the sector that would dignify meat workers by raising their labour standards and increasing their trade union power.

Situation in the Meat Sector during COVID-19:
EFFAT Report: COVID-19 Outbreaks in Slaughterhouses and Meat Processing Plants – State of Affairs and Demands for Action at EU Level (September 2020)

Policy Demands:
EFFAT Report: Hungry for Fairness – Raising Standards in the Meat Sector (September 2020)

Video: Mobile & Migrant Workers. What’s the road ahead for their protection in Europe? (May 2023)

EFFAT Proposal: for an EU Directive on Labour Intermediation and Fair Working Conditions Across Subcontracting Chains (May 2023 – FR – ES – BG)

EFFAT Call: for an EU Directive on Labour Intermediaries and Fair Working Conditions across Subcontracting Chains (May 2024 – FR – DE)

EFFAT Final Report: #MeatTheStandards – Improved Working Conditions and Living Conditions in the Meat Sector through Trade Union Action (October 2024 – FR – DE – ES – NL – PL)

EFFAT Model Directive on Labour Intermediaries and Fair Working Conditions across Subcontracting Chains (May 2025)

EFFAT Policy Brief (May 2025 – FR – DE – IT)

EFFAT Video “Ending Abuse: Restoring Fair Work in Europe”

Testimonials:
YouTube Playlist

Visual Material:
#MeatTheStandards | Logo
#MeatTheStandards | EFFAT’s Demands
#MeatTheStandards | Flickr

Useful Read:
Press Release: #MeatTheStandards – Unions in Europe Team Up to Dignify Meat Workers (June 2022)
Op-Ed – Brussels Times: Unions Team Up to Dignify Meat Workers (July 2022)

Follow the campaign and join the conversation on social media using:
#MeatTheStandards