Dutch meat sector again promises improvement after new threat to ban foreign workers

The Dutch meat industry has once again promised to improve working conditions in slaughterhouses and meat processing plants, after the government threatened to ban temporary workers in the sector. Many migrant workers are employed in the sector and often face exploitation, Nieuwsuur reports.

In 2020, former SP leader Emile Roemer published a scathing report on how the Netherlands treats migrant workers. There have been “serious abuses for years,” including in the meat sector, with migrant workers working too long hours, for too little pay, and living in terrible conditions in housing provided by the employer. Little has changed since.

Earlier this month, Minister Hans Vijlbrief of Social Affairs and Employment threatened to ban temporary workers in the sector if the meat industry did not take swift action. That would entail that every worker in the meat sector must be hired on a permanent contract, with the associated rights and costs.

VleesNL has now sent the government another action plan, stating that companies in the meat sector have taken “demonstrable steps” on all fronts, and promising more improvement. The sector claims it is working exclusively with “certified” employment agencies and has reduced the number of accidents in the workplace.

VleesNL also says that it has reduced the number of summary dismissals. At several temporary employment agencies, 40 to 80 percent of temporary workers in the meat industry were dismissed without notice, often leaving them homeless as their housing was provided by their employer. According to VleesNL, this will be below 1 percent in July.

Trade union FNV does not believe VleesNL’s account of reality. According to the union, it hasn’t seen a single promised improvement. Migrant workers are still being exploited and intimidated, FNV vice-chair Nine Kooman told Nieuwsuur. The action plan VleesNL presented to Vijlbrief is “a paper reality” and “a case of the butcher judging his own meat,” she said.

FNV wants the Netherlands to follow Germany’s example in tackling abuses in the meat sector. In Germany, it is prohibited to link housing to employment contracts. The country has also banned temporary employment agencies in the meat sector.

The meat sector is against a ban on temporary workers, saying that it would make meat much more expensive. But according to Kooiman, Germany shows that a ban can work. “In Germany, people are employed en masse, and they still eat affordable bratwurst. They pay their employees decently, and our sector should want that too.”

Marian Raicu, who works as an intermediary for Romanian migrant workers, agrees with FNV that the meat sector has not become safer. “If you have no experience and don’t want to lose your hands or fingers, you’d better not work in the meat sector,” Raicu told Nieuwsuur. Unlike FNV, he is against a ban on temporary workers in the sector. Instead, the government should focus on helping good employment agencies attract migrant workers in a responsible manner, he said.

Minister Vijlbrief has not yet responded to VleesNL’s new action plan. He is expected to do so over two weeks, after the Labor Inspectorate releases a new report on the conditions in the meat sector.