Labor inspectorate should answer for migrant worker exploitation: FNV

Trade union FNV said the labor inspectorate should take more responsibility for migrant worker exploitation, in a response to the inspectorate's recent report on the topic. "The labor inspectorate has the capacity and resources to do the basic inspection work, but in practice we do not always see that," the union wrote.

The union cited the example of having to take the inspectorate to court for issues in the transport sector. According to the FNV, "serious reports" are also regularly delayed for a month. "That also ensures that there is no deterrent effect from the inspectorate and that employers simply continue with their dubious practices," says FNV board member Petra Bolster.

In its annual report, the Labor Inspectorate reported on Friday that combating labor exploitation often looks like treating the symptom rather than the cause. The Inspectorate described how some companies and employment agencies intimidate, mistreat and subject migrant workers, especially Eastern European ones, to strict rules. "They even deploy thugs," said project leader Edwin van Berkum.

In 2020, the Roemer Committee, led by former SP leader Emile Roemer, drew up a report with proposals on the position of migrant workers. Municipalities already established earlier this year that the Cabinet is waiting too long before introducing measures to improve the position of labor migrants, according to an NRC inventory of the 20 municipalities with the highest percentage of migrant workers.

The FNV says it recognizes the inspectorate's analysis of the abuses and has also made them known to the inspectorate for years. "It is therefore very important that Roemer's recommendations are immediately implemented by the Cabinet. We are now more than two years later and little has changed. The Cabinet must make haste," Bolster said.