Seasonal agricultural workers make food more accessible.
But behind this accessibility lies a struggle between ordinary villagers and politicians and businessmen.
Very often, the villagers win. Then, the available food product takes on added significance.

Seasonal legal and illegal labour migration in agriculture compete with each other despite serving the same goals. These goals are increasing food availability and agricultural efficiency. This competition arises because villagers and politicians prefer different paths to achieving these goals. These different paths magnify the impact of seasonal labour migration.

Reasons

Seasonal agricultural workers are people invited from abroad for short periods to improve agricultural efficiency. Such actions are a consequence of economic and geopolitical expediency.

Only one reason for this expediency is widely known: a labour shortage during periods of maximum agricultural intensification (planting and harvesting).This labour shortage is experienced by wealthy and highly urbanised countries. In these countries, the rural population is declining, and low-paid agricultural labour is unpopular. In the United States, foreign seasonal workers make up 10 per cent of all agricultural workers. In Italy, this figure is 27 per cent. In Australia, foreign seasonal workers make up half of the workers on vegetable farms. On fruit and nut farms, this figure is 30 per cent. In Canada, foreigners hold 50 per cent of jobs in horticulture. Their share in the vegetable growing industry is 43 per cent.¹ In the EU, seasonal agricultural workers make up 26 per cent of all agricultural workers.²

However, there are other little-known reasons. One of these is the ability to use seasonal agricultural labour to increase economic efficiency. But this is done in a special way on the basis of the temporary use of labour. This is facilitated by the varying human capital indices in different countries.³ Low-skilled seasonal agricultural labour provides the basis for the rapid flow of human resources between countries. Anyone can engage in low-skilled labor. No specialised knowledge is required. Training occurs on the job.

Countries where human resources are very expensive invite people from countries where human resources are cheap to work on their territory. In other words, there’s no point in making Italian citizens 370,000 people who lack valuable knowledge (a good education) and financial capital (sufficient to live in Italy), and therefore cannot significantly contribute to the development of the Italian economy. These people can only work in the country’s agriculture for a few months. The economic impact of such a short period of work is too small for them to be integrated into Italian society. They will remain dependents, supported by other taxpayers whose economic impact is greater. Therefore, the Italian government annually invites these people, from 155 countries, to work. And then they go back home.¹ For the same reason, citizens of the United States and Canada don’t go to Australia to work. But citizens of Tonga, Vanuatu, Timor-Leste, Papua New Guinea, Karibati, Samoa, Fiji, Tuvalu, and the Solomon Islands do. Their labour is cheaper than that of Americans and Canadians.

Another reason is the political influence that organising seasonal agricultural labour provides. A wealthy country that provides temporary work to citizens of a poor country gains greater popularity among these workers, which provides the opportunity to influence their thinking. A classic example of this influence is Ukraine. Its citizens are used en masse and regularly by the EU (especially Poland) for seasonal agricultural work. This is one reason why pro-European sentiments are so popular among Ukrainians. Australian Rural & Regional News reported on the seasonal work of Ukrainians in Polish agriculture in an article titled “How Polish agriculture supports Ukrainian patriotism.”⁴

Principles

The above-mentioned reasons define the basic principles of civilised seasonal labour in agriculture. Namely:

• Seasonal agricultural labour is organised through intergovernmental agreements. For example, the Australian government has agreements with nine countries in the Asia-Pacific region regarding the employment of citizens of these countries.⁵
• Seasonal workers have social benefits provided by their host country and pay taxes there. For example, foreigners coming to work in Canada are eligible to participate in the Canada Pension Plan and some employment insurance benefits. They also pay income tax.⁶
• Seasonal workers must comply with certain restrictions. For example, in the UK, foreign agricultural workers are prohibited from taking up permanent employment, bringing their families with them, receiving government support, working a second job, or working in a job that is not described in the sponsorship certificate.⁷
• Seasonal workers are required to return home. For example, in Australia, this is achieved through an employment contract, which establishes a legal relationship between the worker and the visa sponsor. The signed employment contract stipulates the worker’s return upon completion of the contract.⁵

Flaws

Despite the best efforts of officials, legal seasonal agricultural labour has many drawbacks. One of the main drawbacks is the extremely low wages. Yes, seasonal labour migration is based on the inherently low wages of foreign agricultural workers compared to those of local permanent employees. However, the wage level is sometimes so low that it violates the minimum wage in the host country. Incredible! But this occurs in accordance with current laws. This calls into question the civility of seasonal labour migration and raises questions about the effectiveness of the legislation. For example, American lawyers note that US laws in some cases allow for the exemption from paying seasonal agricultural workers the statutory minimum wage. Existing exceptions allow for the non-payment of minimum wage to “employees primarily engaged in the production of livestock, and certain hand harvest laborers.” The minimum wage may also not be paid to “employers who did not use more than 500 man-days of agricultural labor in any calendar quarter of the preceding calendar year.” The minimum wage may also not be paid to “hand harvest laborers who commute from their permanent residence daily, paid on a piece-rate basis in traditionally piece-rated jobs, and who were employed in agriculture less than 13 weeks during the preceding calendar year.”⁸

The previous problem creates a second problem. This problem is the severe poverty of seasonal agricultural workers. These people do not have sufficient reserves of money to ensure their independence in the labour market. Experts say, “Seasonal workers without sufficient financial resources are therefore inclined to accept any terms offered by their employer, since in the absence of a minimum social security benefit, the only alternative for these workers is often returning to their country of origin. The possibility of returning to the same employer in subsequent years may make workers reluctant to demand better terms, as such demands could reduce their chances of re-employment.”⁹

Also, agricultural workers need to have a certain amount of money to begin working as seasonal agricultural workers. In some countries, employers cover the costs of tickets, work visas, and so on. But this is not always the case. Agricultural workers often have to invest their own funds to find employment. Considering that they are poor, this is not easy. For example, to work in the UK, seasonal workers must pay a registration fee of £319. And also confirm the availability of £1270 pounds for the first working month in the UK.¹⁰

Legal agricultural work also suffers greatly from inadequate government oversight and abuse by businesses. For example, in the EU, authorities cannot accurately determine the exact number of seasonal agricultural workers. The current accounting system does not allow for the identification of those employed through intermediary agencies, nor of those workers who lack personal documents.² Taking advantage of government inefficiencies, businesses attempt to increase profits by violating the rights of seasonal workers. In some countries, such actions by businesses are so widespread that they have provoked public opposition. For example, in the UK, the National Farmers Union, the farm employers’ association, together with the UK’s Transport and General Workers Union (TGWU), are campaigning to protect seasonal agricultural workers from intermediaries. These intermediaries, known as “gangmasters,” abuse their workers through intimidation, underpayment, and illegal deductions from wages.¹¹ However, such actions can only have a limited effect. After all, businesses are unwilling to take on many responsibilities when it comes to seasonal agricultural workers. Experts studying this labour market in Australia acknowledge that “the decline in employer demand for seasonal workers hired under the stricter risk management requirements recently imposed by governments is significant.”⁵

Results

Let’s be honest. Legal international labour migration in the agricultural sector is not perfect. In those countries that are the centre of legal use of foreigners as seasonal agricultural workers, the share of illegal workers ranges from 20 per cent to 60 per cent of the total number of employees. In the United States, this figure is 40 per cent.¹² In the EU, about 60 per cent of agricultural workers work illegally.¹³ In Australian agriculture, 60,000-100,000 people work illegally.¹⁴ This represents 20-30 per cent of the almost 300,000 people employed in Australian agriculture.¹⁵

The reasons for the low effectiveness of legal seasonal labour migration have not been studied in detail. At least, there is no official information about why illegal labour migration is so common. However, an analysis of statistical data suggests the following: seasonal agricultural workers do not agree with being hired by businessmen and politicians for short periods. This means they do not agree with the requirement to return home after completing agricultural work. And mandatory return home is one of the main principles of legal seasonal labour migration in agriculture.

Official US government statistics indicate a reluctance among migrant workers to return home. Undocumented seasonal workers have been living in America and working in the fields for decades. Here’s a report on this: “Only 8 per cent of undocumented agricultural workers currently in the United States entered the country between 1990 and 1995, and 17 per cent entered between 1995 and 2000. Nearly half of the undocumented agricultural workforce arrived between 2000 and 2010, having been part of the US economy for more than a decade. Only 30 per cent of undocumented agricultural workers arrived in the United States within the past 10 years.”¹⁶

Incredible! But ordinary villagers are challenging legal labour migration and doing so in a way that suits them best. The data are so impressive that it raises doubts and provokes questions. Are politicians truly incapable of combating illegal labour migration? Or is illegal labour migration part of government policy designed to help legal labour migration improve agricultural efficiency? There are no definitive answers to these questions. But it’s clear that a combination of legal and illegal seasonal labour migration in agriculture helps maximise the efficiency of economic processes, more than either legal or illegal labor migration alone.

The following is also clear. If a country is a destination for seasonal agricultural workers, it’s a prosperous country. If its citizens go abroad to work, then all is not well in that country. This labour migration is not only one of the drivers of the global economy. It’s also a kind of advertisement for a fashionable lifestyle and effective government policies. In other words, it’s teaching people how to live in order to be prosperous. Therefore, if a seasonal agricultural worker becomes a citizen of the country where they went to work, they’ve learned the lesson of life on the farm.

References
1. https://www.iom.int/sites/g/files/tmzbdl2616/files/documents/seasonal_agricultural_workers_27052020_0.pdf
2. https://www.oxfam.org/en/press-releases/millions-migrant-farm-workers-exploited-europes-fields-says-oxfam
3. https://humancapital.worldbank.org/en/indicator/WB_HCP_HCI
4. https://arr.news/2023/08/28/how-polish-agriculture-supports-ukrainian-patriotism/
5. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/app5.70033
6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seasonal_Agricultural_Worker_Program
7. https://www.gov.uk/seasonal-worker-visa
8. https://nationalaglawcenter.org/state-compilations/agpay/minimumwage/
9. https://academic.oup.com/book/46851/chapter/413597518
10. https://www.gov.uk/seasonal-worker-visa/eligibility
11. https://www.ilo.org/sites/default/files/wcmsp5/groups/public/%40ed_dialogue/%40actrav/documents/publication/wcms_113732.pdf
12. https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/chart-gallery/chart-detail?chartId=63466
13. https://www.evidencity.com/labour-exploitation-in-eu-agriculture-a-persistent-challenge
14. https://openjournals.library.sydney.edu.au/SLR/article/view/19555/16432
15. https://www.agriculture.gov.au/abares/products/insights/snapshot-of-australian-agriculture
16. https://cmsny.org/agricultural-workers-rosenbloom-083022/