Events | 2010.08.13
Investigation into alleged illegal supply of dairy workers
Gangmasters Licensing Authority questions farmers who were using unlicensed agency to provide dairymen
A criminal investigation into the alleged illegal supply of workers to dairy farms around the country is sending shockwaves through the milk industry.
More than 40 farms have been caught up in the investigation launched by the Gangmasters Licensing Authority earlier this year. They include some of the largest farms in the country with herds of up to a thousand cows as well as those owned or managed by aristocrats and the vice-president of the National Farmers\' Union.
The GLA has in recent weeks interviewed under caution farmers who were using an unlicensed agency, Marden Management, to provide skilled dairymen.
It is an offence under the Gangmasters (Licensing) Act to provide agricultural labour without a licence. The farmers are being investigated by the GLA over their use of Marden as it can be an offence to take workers from an unlicensed gangmaster. Anyone found guilty could face substantial fines or a prison sentence.
The Guardian has established that the investigation has extended to 16 counties in England, Wales and Scotland. The farms involved supply milk to leading processors Arla and Dairy Crest, which in turn supply the major supermarkets.
Many farmers we spoke to said they were "shocked" to find themselves part of a criminal inquiry. Several said they had not realised the law required them to check they were using a licensed gangmaster; others said they believed Marden was licensed. They also said there was an acute shortage of local skilled workers.
Marden Management\'s managing director, Christopher Blakeney, brought dozens of Filipino workers to Britain with a permit from the UK Borders Agency to fill vacancies on large farms from Cornwall to Scotland. He also hired eastern European and British workers, but many of the skilled herdsmen sent to large farms recently were from a pool of 70 Filipinos on his books when the GLA began its inquiry.
Some Filipino workers have alleged that Blakeney co-ordinated with a recruiting agency in the Philippines which charged them for finding jobs and arranging permits and visas. To charge workers for this service is a breach of the licensing standards in the UK. The GLA confirmed it was conducting an inquiry into Wiltshire-based Marden and the supply of labour to the milk industry, but could not comment further. It is also investigating complaints about the pay and conditions of workers employed by Marden.
Among those interviewed under caution is Gavin Davies, farm manager of Stowell Farms in Wiltshire, owned by a trust of the Rothschilds, the banking family. The farm used British and one South African dairymen from Marden on short contracts. Nathaniel Rothschild, whose close friends have included Lord Mandelson and Chancellor George Osborne, has been quoted as taking an interest in agriculture, but a spokesman said he has little day-to-day involvement in the farm.
He added that none of the Rothschild family had been interviewed by the GLA or knew about the Marden contracts.
Vice-president of the National Farmers Union, Gwyn Jones, has also been interviewed under caution. He was using eight dairymen supplied by Marden, many of them Filipinos, but they have now been transferred to another licensed agency. He believed Marden had a licence.
Some Filipinos have also alleged Marden paid less than the agricultural minimum wage, withheld wages as a cash bond and required them to work up to 70 hours a week, although it is not suggested the farmers named here were involved.
Blakeney was subject of an enforcement notice from the GLA this March for operating without a licence. He was also issued an enforcement notice by Defra earlier this year for underpaying an eastern European dairy worker by more than £15,000 between 2005 and 2007 and failing to comply with the Agricultural Wage Order, a criminal offence. Defra ordered him to repay the money. In a further case, a Filipino worker took him to tribunal earlier this year to reclaim a £2,800 cash bond he said had been deducted from his pay.
Russell Reeves, Marden\'s lawyer, said the firm rejected the claims and was cooperating with the authorities, but was unable to comment in detail to avoid prejudicing the inquiry: "Dairy technicians are highly skilled, requiring detailed technical knowledge of animal welfare and husbandry including for example artificial insemination. There is a recognised shortage of skilled dairy technicians within the UK dairy sector. Consequently all of the dairy technicians supplied by Marden Management are highly educated to degree level at least."
One employee\'s story
When Juan came to the UK to work as a fully trained dairyman his waist size was 34 inches. After nearly two years during which he was employed through Marden Management on a large dairy farm in the north of England, he told us that he had lost so much weight from hard labour 12 hours a day six days a week that it had shrunk to 28 inches.
As well as getting up at 3.30am each day to milk the cows from 4am and clean the dairy unit, he was then sent to clear rocks from the fields, before coming back in to milk the cows again in the evening until 6pm.
Juan\'s two short breaks each day were often reduced to around 45 minutes, leaving him barely enough time to eat.
He said he paid nearly £300 to an agency that works with Marden in the Philippines to get him a work permit, and a further similar amount for a visa.
He then also paid a £1,400 bond back home which was supposed to be returned if he completed two years in the job with Marden in the UK.
"It was really hard for me when I came, it was so cold and there was so much snow.
"The hours were very long and I couldn\'t get enough time to eat except in the evening.
"It\'s my choice to come here and I was warned it was really hard in the UK for us, so I suppose I should have been prepared."
Like many of the Filipino dairymen working for Marden he felt trapped by the fact that his immigration and work permit was only valid so long as he stayed with the agency. Eventually, however, he decided he could not go on and resigned.
Once he had done so, he was told he had to leave his accommodation that same day.
He says he is still trying to get his last month\'s pay and to recover the cash bond.
He has now been able to transfer to another agency with a licence and works on a different dairy farm.
Marden said it strongly rejects the claims but has been advised it cannot comment on specific points because of the Gangmasters Licensing Authority investigation.
Felicity Lawrence
• Juan is not his real name and none of the farms named above were involved in his employment.
For more information, please visit
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/aug/13[...]d-illegal-supply-dairy-workers
