18.01.2024 / Press releases /

UVW migrant seasonal worker could be a victim of human trafficking and modern slavery, Home Office finds in preliminary decision

• The Home Office has decided that there are reasonable grounds (RG) to believe a seasonal fruit picker recruited in Latin America to work at Haygrove farms over the 2023 summer could be a victim of human trafficking and modern slavery. 
• United Voices of the World (UVW) union and legal charity ATLEU are supporting and representing Julia Quecano Casimiro as she battles the system to obtain justice and compensation for the alleged abuses committed against her. 
• The fact that the Home Office suspects human trafficking and modern slavery may have taken place is highly significant as it is their own Seasonal Visa Scheme which seems to put people at risk of trafficking and labour exploitation.
• Separately, UVW launched tribunal proceedings against Haygrove Limited for alleged  harassment and race discrimination, unlawful deductions of wages and whistleblowing victimisation after raising health and safety issues experienced at a farm in Herefordshire. The preliminary Employment Tribunal hearing will take place in March.

The Home Office’s National Referral Mechanism (NRM) suspects Julia Quecano Casimiro, a seasonal fruit picker from Bolivia, could be a victim of human trafficking and modern slavery because of the circumstances and conditions of her recruitment and employment at a Haygrove farm in Herefordhisre during the 2023 summer. Julia was recruited in Chile alongside other workers as part of the government’s Seasonal Worker Visa scheme, expanded to Latin America for the first time last year.  

Julia was part of a group of 88 Latin American seasonal fruit pickers who staged the UK’s first ever strike by workers on seasonal visas, over wage theft, discrimination and harassment and poor working conditions in July 2023. Haygrove, which has fruit growing farms in the UK, South Africa and Portugal, has refuted the allegations.  

Julia contacted UVW in extremis after fleeing the farm. The union launched legal proceedings against Haygrove and contacted legal charity ATLEU, which organised her referral to the NRM.  The NRM is the Home Office’s system for identifying and recognising victims of trafficking and modern slavery and only accepts referrals from certain certified bodies.  

The fact that the Home Office suspects it’s highly likely human trafficking and modern slavery happened in Julia’s case is very significant as the threshold for making a positive ‘reasonable grounds’ decision has been recently raised by the government, and it’s not purely based on a person’s account but also on objective evidence.

The UK could be ‘breaching international law’ with the seasonal visa scheme and the Home Office has been found to be failing to investigate ‘clear indicators of forced labour’, according to comments by the UN’s special rapporteur on modern slavery published in the media. 

A conclusive decision on Julia’s case is expected by mid February.  

Separately, UVW, which has supported Julia from day one, is taking her case to the Employment Tribunal (ET) on grounds of alleged harassment and discrimination. With the metrics of labour abuse and modern slavery being similar there is a lot of overlap with the NRM arguments. The first hearing is scheduled for March 21 2024. 

Petros Elia, UVW General Secretary:  

“We welcome the Home Office’s preliminary decision, which suspects Julia was indeed subject to human trafficking and modern slavery, as an indictment of their own visa scheme, which we have been denouncing for long as an abomination. Seasonal workers on the scheme, like Julia, are tied to their employer or recruiter and can’t resign and find alternative work legally even if their rights are violated. This is a breach of migrant worker’s most basic freedoms and labour rights akin to mediaeval servitude… In UVW we believe all workers should be subject to the same rights and protections, be free to walk away from mistreatment and be treated as equals, whether seasonal labourers or not, and we will always be by their side in this struggle. “

Claire Marcel, Head of Legal at UVW:  

“The fact that the Home Office suspects that a fruit picker recruited under the very Visa Scheme it created was a victim of modern slavery is quite telling. It shows that the exploitation and abuse of migrant workers in this country has become so prevalent and extreme that it cannot be denied anymore, and that even the most precarious and vulnerable are now seeking justice. This RG decision should reinforce our Employment Tribunal claim that Julia was exploited and discriminated against at Haygrove Farms, as the metrics of labour abuse and modern slavery are similar.”

Johanna White, solicitor at§ ATLEU: 

“We have received many reports of seasonal workers being subjected to mistreatment including underpayment of wages, no sick leave, and debt bondage where workers have had to pay high upfront travel, visa and recruitment fees in their home countries. Julia’s case demonstrates that the current scheme creates a serious risk of labour exploitation, trafficking and modern slavery by placing considerable power in the hands of profit-seeking recruitment companies; and creating a vulnerable class of workers who may be less willing or able to speak out about poor treatment and exploitation.”

For further information contact the UVW comms team.

Cristina: 07548 759340 

Isabel: 07706 987443
Jim: 07749 765264

E-mail: comms@uvwunion.org.uk 

Notes for editors

Previous stories about the case: 

• No English, no union, no fear: Julia’s story 
• ​​UVW union launches legal action against UK fruit farm over exploitation of seasonal Latin American workers  

About Haygrove Limited

• In May 2022, local news reported that Angus Davison, Haygrove founder and chairman, had stated finding enough labour was an issue for the company, and that out of 2,000 British workers employed during lockdown, 60 didn’t last the first week and only 30 stayed until the end of the season.  
• According to Technavio, Haygrove is one of the ‘major market participants” in the global berry market, which is expected  to grow by USD 10,200.36 million between 2022 and 2027. 
• Haygrove itself states it has been “the largest organic berry growers in the UK for 20 years“, operating “184 hectares across 7 sites in the UK including 14 hectares of glasshouses, 197 hectares across 4 sites in South Africa and 68 hectares in Portugal.” It says it employs “616 permanent staff and 2,860 seasonal staff worldwide” with a “turnover of £60m.”
• Intelligence reports point at the UK Berries Market size being estimated at USD 1.65 billion in 2023, and expected to reach USD 2.18 billion by 2028, growing at a CAGR of 5.74% during the forecast period (2023-2028).

About UVW

United Voices of the World is an anti-racist, member-led, direct action, campaigning trade union and we exist to support and empower the most vulnerable groups of precarious, low-paid and predominantly BAME and migrant workers in the UK. We fight the bosses through direct action on the streets and through the courts and demand that all members receive at least the London Living Wage, full pay, sick pay, dignity, equality and respect.

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