Columbia International Affairs Online: Policy Briefs

CIAO DATE: 11/2009

How best to protect workers employed by gangmasters, five years after Morecambe Bay

July 2009

Oxfam Publishing

Abstract

This paper evaluates the current protection afforded to workers in the industries regulated by the Gangmasters Licensing Authority (GLA). It highlights that a significant number of unlicensed gangmasters continue to exist, and exploitation of workers is still reported. The GLA's efforts to reduce exploitation are fundamentally thwarted by workers' fear of blowing the whistle, particularly during a recession.