المنتدى العالمي المعني بالأمن الغذائي والتغذية

This comment to the HLPE is submitted by the IUF*, the global trade union federation representing workers in agriculture, food processing and in the hotel, restaurant and catering industries.

The IUF welcomes the consultation by the HLPE on the scope of the report it has been asked to prepare for the CFS on sustainable agricultural development for food security and nutrition, including the role of livestock, which will feed into CFS debates at the CFS Plenary session of October 2016.

The IUF’s affiliates represent workers throughout the livestock sector - on livestock farms (animal rearing), in poultry, in dairies and in meat slaughtering and processing. Some affiliates represent workers in more informal livestock sectors.

We call on the HLPE to include working conditions in the livestock sectors as a specific area to be addressed in the report they will prepare for the CFS.

Globally the meat sector alone involves over 3 million workers with many millions more in dairy and pastoral work. Information we have received from our affiliates indicates that the workers often face very poor working conditions. We have noted the following trends in the meat industry:

1. Industry reliance on a casual or precarious workforce, with a predominance of migrant and contract workers. The recent horsemeat scandal highlights the issues around multiple layers of outsourcing and precarious jobs as does  the report of extensive Campylobacter contamination in UK poultry. Our affiliates are fighting to combat both discrimination against migrant workers and precarious work and we can provide concrete examples of good practice on these issues;

2. The hazardous nature of jobs in the meat packing industry (see below for more details);

3. Major retailers placing pressure on industry processors and packers to lower costs and the effect this has on wages and conditions;

4. The lower wages and conditions in the poultry industry compared to the red meat industry.

Occupational health and safety for livestock workers in meat processing

Our affiliates report serious widespread occupational health and safety issues in the meat processing sector. Many of these are related to line speeds. Workers suffer from  crippling repetitive  strain  injuries.  These  type of  injuries  affect  in  particular women workers in the meat sector.

For  many  years  our  affiliates  in  Brazil  have   campaigned  for  better  legislative protection for workers in the meat industry. Recently further  significant  progress was made when our regional organization together with our Brazilian and  Argentinian affiliates won  commitments from the two governments to work together to to promote cooperation and assistance in government labour policies and on the elimination of human trafficking.

The  agreement  also  provides  for  union/government  coordination  in  promoting freedom of association and in strengthening collective bargaining and establishes a steering committee to monitor progress in the bilateral work.

Occupational health and safety issues are by no means confined to the global South. A  new study released in 2014 by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and

Health (NIOSH) confirms what workers in the poultry industry have been saying for decades - it is among the most dangerous places to work in America.

The report concluded that:

• 42 percent of workers had evidence of carpal tunnel syndrome;
• 41 percent of workers performed daily tasks above the threshold recommended by industry experts;
• 57 percent of workers reported at least one musculoskeletal symptom.

We strongly urge you to ensure that working conditions in the livestock sector are addressed in the HLPE report and in particular:

• the situation of vulnerable migrant workers, and
• occupational health and safety issues.

The IUF believes that the right to food/food security of vulnerable migrant workers in the meat sector is undermined by their poor working and living conditions and that poor occupational health and safety for all workers in the sector puts at risk their health, well-being and ability to earn income to feed their families.

The IUF and its affiliates are ready to assist the HLPE project team and to supply information on living and working conditions for livestock workers. To this end we have nominated Dennis Olson to join the livestock project team. He has already submitted the application form and his CV.

Yours sincerely,

Ron Oswald

General secretary

*The International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers' Associations (IUF) is an international federation of trade unions representing workers employed in agriculture and plantations; the preparation and manufacture of food and beverages; hotels, restaurants and catering services; all stages of tobacco processing.  The IUF is composed of 390 affiliated organizations in 125 countries representing a combined membership of around 2,6 million.