Untitled Document

News Stories - British MPs want control on 'gangmasters'

Farmers and packers have relied on casual labour for centuries to get the harvest in and ready for the shops. They turn to gangmasters to recruit for them. Nowadays, the gangmasters often turn to immigrant labour, both legitimate and otherwise. The report says some gangmasters house their workers in appalling conditions - cramped, damp dormitory blocks with poor sanitation. It says they flout health and safety laws by making untrained workers run potentially dangerous harvesting and packing machinery, and they cheat the Treasury out of huge sums of tax.

The government tried to tackle the problem six years ago when it launched Operation Gangmaster, but the committee chairman David Curry said Operation Gangmaster had no budget, no headquarters and no minister in charge. He said the government didn't even know the scale of the problem. And he said the supermarkets should do more to check that the produce they were buying was legitimately produced. The supermarkets say that's impractical. The report warns that illegal practices by gangmasters causes misery for the exploited, and allows those who cut corners an unfair advantage over producers who stick to the law.

- vocabulary:

casual labour: workers not on permanent jobs
gangmasters: here - seasonal employment agencies
recruit: get people to work for someone

cramped: not big enough for the number of people in them

cheat the Treasury out of huge sums of tax: by acting dishonestly, cause the Treasury (the government department that controls public money) to receive much less tax money

launched: started

the scale of the problem: how big the problem is

cut corners: do something quickly but less thoroughly than you should
stick to the law: act in a legal manner, not break the law