Working conditions
Anita, 24, worked on a farm near Nairobi until she was partially blinded by the chemicals. " The company I worked for sprayed pesticides just feet from where I was harvesting. The greenhouses were sprayed the bosses did not ask us to leave or give us protective clothing. Sometimes my body was wet from the chemicals"
The pressure to keep up a supply of "perfect quality" blooms to fill our supermarket shelves can have a devastating impact on workers.
- Forced overtime: Workers sometimes work 15hrs a day to meet retailers demands. Without prior warning workers are unable to arrange care for their children.
- Sexual Harassment: Women workers are subject to verbal abuse and are offered permanent contracts for sexual favours.
- Low wages: Workers cannot afford to send their children to school or cover health costs. Wages are not paid on a regular basis.
- Exposure to harmful chemicals: Workers are not always provided with protected clothing and in same cases pressured to return to greenhouses during fumigation.
- Lack of Unionisation: Union activity is discouraged on many farms.
The dangers of casualisation
A significant proportion of workers on flower and vegetable farms in East Africa are casual workers, and the majority of these workers are women.
Casualisation of the workforce is one of the biggest problems for women workers in the horticulture industry. Employing a large casual workforce means that employers have cheaper labour costs compared to an employer who takes on more permanent workers.
Our research has found that non-permanent workers often do not have written contracts, are paid lower wages than other workers, paid erratically, are not entitled to any benefits, and are told they are not entitled to unionise. They are also most at risk of employer abuse, because when they complain, they are told to not come back to work the next day.
Such exploitation by employers is often exacerbated, if not caused, by the pressure to meet the stringent production deadlines of European buyers. Top-down pressure throughout the supply chain is too often coming to rest on the shoulders of those who can least bear it - the workers.