Union Leader Slams Low Pay in Food Sector at Westminster Food Inquiry

The union leader cited their recent report, Foodworkers on the Breadline, which showed clear evidence of how so many workers in the food industry could not afford to purchase the goods that they themselves produced. 

Sarah Woolley said:

“Food workers are key workers who keep the nation fed. They were pivotal in ensuring people were fed during the pandemic. Shamefully, the value that food workers bring to our society is not reflected in their wages and working conditions. 

Food workers have experienced a decade of austerity and falling pay, exacerbated by wages that have nowhere near kept up with rising inflation, resulting in so many struggling to meet their basic needs. Yet, at the same time as food workers worry about feeding their own families, shareholders of the major supermarkets have seen their ordinary dividends soar to the highest level since 2015, with Tesco alone paying out £859m last year. 

The food sector is blighted by unfairness, low pay, zero hours contracts, short term, temporary contracts and often the exploitation of migrant workers. Food workers are not getting a fair deal and it is high time that as a country we value much more the work of food workers and give them the fair deal that they need and deserve.” 

Notes

To see the whole evidence session pleasevisit https://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/a46b0253-93e0-4fc5-a012-777ad6da7a19

To read Foodworkers on the Breadline please visit https://www.bfawu.org/foodworkers-on-the-breadline/