Bitter grapes: Norwegian rapport uncovers harassment and illegal wages on South African wine farms

 

A confidential audit report from Norwegian government-owned alcoholic beverage retailer Vinmonopolet has uncovered harassment, unionization prohibitions and salaries below the minimum wage at several of its wine producers in South Africa.

By: Peter Kennworthy posted on Afrika.dk

The report is based on inspections of 22 South African wine facilities in March and April. Is was prepared for Vinmonopolet by American safety consulting and certification company UL, and conducted “to investigate and identify social compliance gaps within the wine supply chain in the Western Cape Province.”

Vinmonopolet is working hard to ensure that offending producers improve conditions and live up to their ethical guidelines, the Norwegian company insists.

In June, Vinmonopolet sold over 100.000 litres of South African wine of a total of over 6 million litres of wine. Vinmonopolet (literally “the Wine Monopoly”) is the only retailer allowed to sell wine in Norway.

Harassment, lack of training and illegal wages
According to Vinmonopolet’s audit report, nine of the 22 inspected facilities “did not hold health and safety meetings regularly,” employees on four facilities experienced “verbal harassment and physical harassment,” three facilities “had not issued employees with employment contracts” and “paid employees below the minimum wage,” and two “prohibited employees from joining trade unions of their choice.”

Four facilities “had deductions that were more than the stipulated legal limit,” and three “did not provide occupational health and safety training including pesticide handling training to employees.”

“The Client provided the audited facilities with the opportunity to correct reported findings before the end of the project,” the report stated in its concluding remarks.

Concerns must be resolved
In December 2016 Vinmonopolet had demanded that eight concerns related to worker’s rights, health and safety issues, wages and grievance mechanisms must be resolved. This was following the screening of “Bitter Grapes,” Danish investigative journalist Tom Heinemann’s highly critical documentary on the wine industry in the Western Cape, on Norwegian national television.

According to Senior Business Executive and CSR-responsible at Vinmonopolet Kristian Hogstad, Vinmonopolet does not wish to disclose which wine facilities were inspected by UL because they wish to focus on improving conditions and act in regard to the workers on the inspected farms.

A follow-up process and new inspections will be carried out in the future to ensure that conditions have improved, including a Vinmonopolet visit in the fall to ensure that this is indeed the case, Hogstad says.

Vinmonopolet continues to sell wine from the Western Cape, however, for instance from its bestseller Robertson Winery (not one of the inspected farms, according to Hogstad), stating that they are working with importers and the South African producers and unions to improve conditions. In Heinemann’s documentary, Robertson Winery was one of the main offenders.

Contracts may be annulled
Vinmonopolet has previously annulled contracts with importers and stopped selling products on several occasions, when producers have not complied with Vinmonopolet’s ethical guidelines. These include the right to unionization, a decent and legal wage, and a healthy and safe working environment.

“Our goal is to contribute to improvements in the supply chain and not rid ourselves of producers that do not live up to our ethical guidelines. This is subject to breeches of our guidelines being rectified, however. If not, we will consider revoking agreements,” says Hogstad.

The criteria for avoiding having ones contract revoked is to correct guideline breaches within at reasonable period of time (depending on how quickly the breach can feasibly be corrected), allow future inspections  to take place, and generally give Vinmonopolet the information they ask for, Hogstad adds.

“Annulling an agreement prematurely will not necessarily help improve the situation, as the producer loses an important source of income and might exploit their workers even more to compensate. This must be weighed against the risk we take by continuing to sell products that do not live up to our guidelines, and whether we succeed in convincing people that it is better to give producers the time to make these improvements.”

Generally, Hogstad says that in the future Vinmonopolet is planning to improve its presence in South Africa, continue and improve dialogue with the unions, and inform and train producers and importers in regard to its guidelines.

Improvements needed for years
But on the face of it, improvements in the standards of several South African wine farms have been necessary for some years now.

A 2011 report from Human Rights Watch called “Ripe with Abuse – Human Rights Conditions in South Africa’s Fruit and Wine Industries” exposed “obstacles to union formation,” “long,” “gruelling”  and “harsh” working conditions, and workers being denied “benefits to which they are legally entitled” and exposed to toxic pesticides without “adequate safety equipment,” as well as earning “among the lowest wages in South Africa.”

Tom Heinemann’s documentary started both a media storm and an array of inspections of offending farms by both retailers such as Vinmonopolet, Swedish Systembolaget and Danish Dagrofa, as well as by local authorities in the Western Cape. He agrees that improvements need to be made.

“For decades – if not centuries –conditions in the vineyards in South Africa have been appalling. My hope is that the new focus from authorities, buyers and importers in investigating the industry more rigorously can and will make changes. If not, there is no way out but to stop buying wine from farms that do not want to learn that workers are not their property that they can treat to slave-like conditions,” says Heinemann.

Sydafrikanske vinarbejdere får norsk pris med dansk islæt

Af: Peter Kenworthy

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Den sydafrikanske fagforening for vin- og landarbejdere, CSAAWU, har vundet en norsk fagforeningspris, som en direkte konsekvens af en dansk dokumentarfilms afsløring af slavelignende tilstande i dele af den sydafrikanske vinindustri.

Commercial Stevedoring and Allied Workers Union (CSAAWU) har vundet Artur Svenssons internationale pris for faglige rettigheder for 2017, som tildeles af det norske fagforbund Industri Energi. Valget faldt på CSAAWU, efter at juryen havde set danske Tom Heinemanns dokumentar om forholdene i den Sydafrikanske vinindustri, ”Bitre Druer.”

Industri Energi har over 60.000 medlemmer der arbejder inden for olie-, gas-, og jordbaseret industri. Med prisen følger 500.000 norske kroner.

Slavelignende tilstande
Ifølge Leif Sande, der er fagforeningsleder og juryleder for uddelingen af prisen, blev prisen tildelt CSAAWU, for deres kamp imod vinarbejdernes elendige arbejdsforhold.

”De systematiske brud på grundlæggende rettigheder, som præger arbejderne på Sydafrikas vingårde er så omfattende, er der er tale om slavelignende tilstande. CSAAWU gør et fantastisk arbejde med at organisere blandt arbejdstagerne, til trods for meget knappe resurser, udtaler Sande.

Han håber at prisen vil være med til at øge den internationale opmærksomhed om vinarbejdernes situation, og at de penge som følger med prisen vil gøre det muligt for CSAAWU at organisere sig endnu bedre i kampen for anstændige løn- og arbejdsvilkår.

Ifølge generalsekretær for CSAAWU, Trevor Christians, er prisen en stor gevinst, både moralsk og økonomisk.

”Den anerkendelse, som prisen giver os, samt de penge der følger med, vil gøre CSAAWU i stand til i langt højere grad at hjælpe landarbejderne, i deres kamp for ordentlige rettigheder,” udtaler Christians.

Undersøgende journalistik virker
Den norske fagforbund og prisuddelerne blev opmærksom på CSAAWUs kamp, efter at have set dokumentarfilmen ”Bitre Druer” på norsk TV. Filmen afslører slavelignende tilstande på flere vingårde i Sydafrika, skriver de i en pressemeddelelse.

Ifølge den prisvindende danske instruktør af ”Bitre Druer,” Tom Heinemann, er den opmærksomhed som hans film har fået, et godt eksempel på, at dybdeborende og undersøgende journalistik er en nødvendig del af mediebilledet.

”I en verden, hvor fake news og click-helvedet er i foruroligende fremgang, og journalisters troværdighed konstant er under pres, er jeg utrolig glad for at ’old school’ undersøgende journalistik kan ændre en virkelighed, der i alt for mange år har været gældende,” siger Heinemann.

”Det norske Vinmonopolet er – som en konsekvens af filmen – for tiden på en længere inspektionstur i Sydafrika og myndighederne har strammet gevaldigt op på kontrollen med vingårdene. At fagforeningen CSAAWU nu også får en pris fra deres norske kolleger, er for mig endnu et eksempel på, at det nytter at fortælle de historier, som så mange ønsker ikke vil have frem.”

Danske supermarkeder droppede vin 
Heinemanns film havde tidligere, sammen med en CSAAWU-strejke og -kampagne, pres fra organisationer som danske Afrika Kontakt, og avisoverskrifter over hele verden, ført til at danske supermarkedskæder som COOP og Dagrofa droppede vin fra en af de vingårde som blev stillet i et dårligt lys i filmen, Robertson Winery.

Filmen er nemlig også blevet vist på DR2, og har fået stor opmærksomhed herhjemme, ligesom den har fået stor omtale i medierne i Sydafrika.

De lokale myndigheder i Western Cape-provinsen i Sydafrika følte sig derfor presset til mere dybdegående at undersøge hvad landbrugsministeren i Western Capes provinsregering kaldte ”uacceptable” og ”uetiske” forhold på vingårdene i Western Cape-området.

Filmen havde blandt andet dokumenteret elendige arbejds- og boligforhold, ulovlig brug af farlige sprøjtegifte, samt lønninger under mindstelønnen på cirka 4000 kroner om måneden.

Tidligere har både Human Rights Watch, den internationale arbejdsorganisation ILO, og andre organisationer draget lignede konklusioner om ”apartheid-lignende forhold” i rapporter om den sydafrikanske vinindustri.

South African farmworkers get Norwegian award

By: Peter Kenworthy

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The Commercial Stevedoring and Allied Workers Union (CSAAWU) have won the Norwegian Artur Svenssons 2017 international award, for fighting poor conditions in South African wineries.

The award, that includes a 740.000 rand prize, is awarded by Norwegian trade union confederation Industri Energi, who organizes workers in the Norwegian oil-, gas- and land-based industries. The confederation has 60.000 members.

Slave-like conditions
According to leader of Industri Energi and head of the award jury, Leif Sande, the award was given to CSAAWU because of their fight for farm worker rights.

“The systematic violations of basic rights on South African wineries are so comprehensive that conditions can be described as slave-like. CSAAWU is doing a marvelous job in organizing workers, despite their scarce resources,” Sande says.

According to CSAAWU’s Secretary General, Trevor Christians, the award is much appreciated.

“The international recognition and prize money will put CSAAWU in a much better position to increase our outreach to more farmworkers, to assist them to defend and advance their rights as workers,” Christians said in a statement.

Investigative journalism works
The Norwegians were alerted to CSAAWU’s struggle by seeing “Bitter Grapes,” a documentary about the conditions on South African wineries made by Danish journalist Tom Heinemann, on Norwegian television.

“Bitter Grapes” portrayed conditions of extremely poor work- and accommodation conditions on several South African wineries, as well as salaries below the minimum wage.

Heinemann says he is pleased that his film is being used to positive effect.

“The Norwegian wine importer Vinmonopolet is presently on a lengthy inspection tour of South Africa and the authorities have tightened the control of the wineries significantly. That CSAAWU have now been presented with an award from their Norwegian colleagues shows that even in a world where fake news and click-bate is on the rise, and the credibility of journalists is under pressure, ‘old-school’ investigative journalism can still be effective,” Heinemann says.

Danes ditched Robertson
Last year two large Danish supermarket chains removed wine from Robertson Winery, one of the wineries portrayed in the film, from their shelves after adverse press coverage due to Heinemanns film.

It also led to local authorities in the Western Cape calling conditions in the wineries in the area “unacceptable” and “unethical” and improving the level and quality of inspections.

Human Rights Watch, the International Labour Organisation and other organisations have previously documented similar conditions on South African Wineries.

BITTER GRAPES Documentary – An Exemplary Cooperation

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The revealing story in the documentary BITRE DRUER (SOUR GRAPES) about the slave-like conditions for vineyard workers in South Africa, is a textbook example of a cooperation in Nordic investigative journalism at its best, according to editor Fredrik Laurin from SVT’s Uppdrag Granskning (UG). 

By: Henrik Hartmann

The last decade has seen a sharp rise in wine imports from South Africa, especially in Denmark and Sweden. In Denmark, imports have risen by 78 % and Systembolaget in Sweden
is now South Africa’s 3rd biggest wine customer. Wine from South Africa is cheap and consumers love it, but there’s a dark side to the story.

Tom Heinemann, the investigating journalist from Denmark, has produced several documentaries for Nordic public service companies. Recently, while completing another programme series for Nordvision, he got a tip about slave-like conditions for vineyard workers in several of South Africa’s vineyards. With development funding from SVT and DR Sales, he took
a research trip to South Africa. What he saw and heard con rmed the tip. The working and living conditions for vineyard labourers was unacceptable. He pitched the story to the investigative journalist group in Nordvision, and then received production support from DR, NRK and SVT, from Danida (Dansk development aid) and resources from the Nordvision fund.

Thorough Research 

Heinemann and his photographer Lotte la Cour went to South Africa three times to gather stories and cover wine production from start to nish: spraying, harvesting and cutting. Heinemann says:

“When we had identi ed where some of the wine that ends up in the Nordics came from, we went around visiting the relevant vineyards to talk to former and current employees Getting 

permission to lm was hard right from the start Everywhere we went we were refused entry and we had to work with really tiny cameras so as not to cause alarm ”
Before the third and nal production trip, Heinemann sent questions around to all the farms he wanted to visit and owners he wanted to interview. The response was an audible silence. None of the managers wanted to meet the TV crew.

Thorough Safety 

Safety precautions on the nal trip had to be thorough because a few months previously a couple of SVT journalists had been imprisoned in Zambia. It is also not unusual for people and journalists to be attacked in South Africa.

Fredrik Laurin, chief editor at UG, explains:

“We equipped Tom and his photographer with a project phone that had a tracking function, which we use in situations that may involve threats or where we know we have to be extra careful They used the phone daily and checked in regularly to report where they were and what was happening Back in the editorial o ce at UG in Gothenburg, we monitored the tra c from the project phone and talked to them about the di erent conditions ” 

It was particularly at the end, when two of the vineyard owners – with intervention from the national wine certi cation label entity – agreed to meet the TV crew that the situation grew very tense. The two vineyard owners had come only to make threats and to tell the journalists o . They had no intention of being involved in the programme.

Cooperation Between Danish External Producer
and Uppdrag Granskning (SVT)
Fredrik Laurin at UG in SVT can’t see any particular di erence between whether a project is in-house, outsourced or with a Swedish or Danish producer. He explains:
“We follow quite a strict, established pattern with the editor, reporter and the ‘devil’s advocate,’ who reviews the entire script line by line in a set standardised form where all factual information and controversial conditions must have a footnote and be fully sourced with further supportive evidence ” 

Major Debate in Sweden 

SVT were delighted with the story about the South Africa wine and reactions to the documentary resulted in an almost bigger debate in Sweden than in Denmark. Laurin says:
“We had a major debate in Sweden, which is slightly unusual 

for a UG project Part of the reason was that Systembolaget and the importer, who also represents Robertson Winery, chose a proactive press style and commented on and denied information before we released it This raised the expectations of the programme and awareness in other media ” 

Heinemann was also pleased with the documentary and has spent over a month being interviewed by varioius international and South African medias:
“I think this lm will have a major impact We can already see how several South African authorities have highlighted a long list of conditions in the South African wine industry, all of which are being criticised My local contacts and trade unions in South Africa tell me that our lm is a gamechanger when it comes to changing working and living conditions for the better” 

Recipe for Nordic Success 

Laurin sees major bene ts in Nordvision being able to work cooperatively on such complex productions, in which investigative stories invariably are.
“Being able to cooperate when you have subject matters that are universal or have cross-national interests, is only ever positive We can do it cheaper and maybe even better Personally, I think BITRE DRUER is a textbook example of how it should be done ” 

BITRE DRUER is Heinemann ́s fth Nordic co-production show in 10 years. He explains: “I know that the Nordic documentary editorial team wants a national angle That’s why it’s important to have a universal story, but also a story with a thread that leads to two or more Nordic countries As a producer you need to be able to deliver a modular story so that each documentary team can tailor it to create their own national version of the programme ” 

Inspections of South African Wine producers and sub suppliers of grapes

The state owned Norwegian alcohol monopoly, Vinmonopolet has just released the following press release:

 

Vinmonopolet will be conducting Special Inspections in the Western Cape between the 13.03.2017 and the 07.04.2017 on the supply chain for products sold in our retail and online stores.

We hope to inspect 30-40 farms and will address eight specific points related to:
  • The BSCI Code of Conduct. All workers must aware of their rights and responsibilities according to this code of conduct.
  • Freedom of Association and worker rights w.r.t joining and communicating with trade unions.
  • Access to clean drinking water whilst working.
  • Health and Safety and training, especially w.r.t. working with pesticides and personal protective equipment.
  • Grievance mechanisms and follow up on grievances.
  • Minimum wage and legality of deductions.

Our goal:

  • To address important concerns raised in the TV documentary Bitter Grapes and to contribute to improvements in the supply Chain
  • To ensure that all products sold at our stores are produced in accordance to the BSCI Code of Conduct and the South African Law.
  • To empower employers and employees with the right guidelines, if we find non compliances.

Unsure what the BSCI Code of conduct is?

This is the Code of Conduct that all importers sign when selling products to Vinmonopolet and our minimum requirement w.r.t. the products we sell.

See http://www.bsci-intl.org/

A short guide on the BSCI Code of conduct can be found on this poster.

For more information on workers’ rights, visit the CCMA website: http://www.ccma.org.za/Advice/Information-Sheet

Here you will find useful information on a variety of topics related to our audit.

We are in dialogue with:

  • The Nordic Importers
  • Local trade unions under the AWETUC Umbrella organisation in South Africa
  • Industry interest organisations in South Africa
  • NPOs in South Africa
  • Producers of wines and sub suppliers of wine grapes
  • Trade unions, Akademikerforbundet and FKV, in Vinmonopolet

The auditor:

Our inspections will be completed by an experienced and independent auditor with BSCI qualifications. The project coordinator will be present for most of the inspections and will act as Vinmonopolet`s ambassador. She will be reporting daily progress directly to the Vinmonopolet`s management in Norway.

The Auditor will contact all producers and farms to be inspected, a short time before the inspection.

Preparation for inspections

Vinmonopolet offers all producers and suppliers of wine grapes with information meetings.
Meeting times, dates and (eventually) locations for these meetings are to be found on http://vinmonopolet.pameldingssystem.no/information-meetings-for-wine-producers-and-suppliers-of-wine-grapes

A copy of the presentation is found here.

Trade Unions and employers may also choose to have meetings for their members or employees before the inspections, so to inform about the process ahead. We recommend that a copy of the BSCI Code of Conduct (as previously mentioned) is supplied and explained to all employees in a language they understand.

Since Vinmonopolet will not be providing such meetings to employees, we have been in dialogue with trade unions and they may be contacting facilities to apply for access, so to provide similar information meetings for employees. A copy of the presentation has been sent to leadership of AWETUC members :CSAAWU, BAWUSA; SAPTU, SDTU; AFRIWU and FAWU

Our target groups to be interviewed:

  • Farm  Management and Wine Producers
  • Casual, Migrant and Permanent workers on farms and at wine producers (Male and Female, Unionised and NON unionised)

The Results

These Special Reports will be shared with the relevant producers and farms, the importer and our Nordic Partners.

Consequences of non-compliance

If minor non- compliances are found, the employer will be given a short deadline to rectify this non-compliance.

If larger non compliances are found, the following steps will be taken:

  • Step 1: The producer/farm will be placed under full BSCI audit in 2018. (Paid by Vinmonopolet)
  • Step 2: Non-compliance after full BSCI audit will lead to a remediation plan and another BSCI audit. This BSCI audit will have to be paid by the producer/sub supplier.
  • Step 3: If all matters are rectified, the producer/sub supplier will be able to recommend other exporters to see the reports on the BSCI platform. The benefits of the BSCI audit is noted here: http://www.bsci-intl.org/content/benefits

If major non compliances are found after all audits, Vinmonopolet will consider terminating the contract.

13. mars starter Vinmonopolet inspeksjoner i Sør-Afrika

Som en del av oppfølgingen etter TV-dokumentaren Bitre druer, om forhold i vinindustrien i Sør-Afrika, har vi startet et omfattende inspeksjonsprogram. Hensikten er å sikre at brudd på våre retningslinjer blir utbedret.

TEKST:
Vinmonopolet

I TV-dokumentaren Bitre druer, som ble sendt på NRK Brennpunkt 1. november i fjor, ble det vist bilder og intervjuer som vitnet om svært kritikkverdige forhold innen sørafrikansk vinindustri – forhold som bryter med Vinmonopolets etiske retningslinjer for vår leverandørkjede. Vinmonopolet har de siste månedene jobbet med å adressere disse forholdene i vår leverandørkjede, 13. mars startet vi et fire ukers inspeksjonsprogram av sørafrikanske produsenter og farmer som vi selger produkter fra. Vi har leid inn en uavhengig revisor som vil gjennomføre disse inspeksjonene for oss, sammen med en representant fra Vinmonopolet.

Vi følger opp åtte sentrale tema

I lys av dokumentaren har vi identifisert åtte tema som vi mener det er viktig å ta tak i. Dette er innen helse- og sikkerhet og opplæring på arbeidsplassen, organisasjonsfrihet, lønninger og anledning til å klage på forhold som ikke er tråd med våre etiske retningslinjer.

I desember forlangte vi av våre importører at de viet umiddelbar oppmerksomhet til disse åtte temaene, og at de sørget for å gjennomføre nødvendige forbedringer hos sine produsenter for å etterleve våre krav. Du kan lese listen med de åtte temaene her.

Fristen for å utbedre eventuelle forhold var satt til 1. mars. Etter denne dato måtte alle forvente å bli inspisert – både produsentene og deres underleverandører av druer. Det er disse inspeksjonene vi startet opp 13. mars.

Her kan du lese mer om inspeksjonsprogrammet vårt.

Dialog med fagforeninger og produsenter i Sør-Afrika

Vi har i forbindelse med dette inspeksjonsprogrammet hatt en bred og god dialog med flere sørafrikanske fagforeninger. I slutten av februar reiste vi til Sør-Afrika for å møte fagforeningene, hovedsakelig for å få innspill til hvilke produsenter og farmer de mente vi burde inspisere, og vi har i stor grad tatt hensyn til deres innspill når vi har satt opp programmet.

Vi møtte AWETUC, som er en gruppering av åtte ulike fagforeninger. En av disse er CSAAWU, som hadde en fremtredende rolle i TV-dokumentaren. De hevdet der at nordiske forhandlere gjør for lite for å bedre forholdene hos sørafrikanske produsenter og farmer, og at forholdene for farmarbeiderne og fagforeningene dessuten har blitt verre de siste årene. I våre møter med CSAAWU viste de en positiv innstilling til vårt program, og fortalte oss at «dette er en god og viktig start som vil føre til forbedringer – også for sørafrikanske fagforeninger». AWETUC og de andre fagforeningene viste en tilsvarende positiv holdning til programmet.

Vi møtte også flere av produsentene og farmene som kommer til å bli inspisert av vår revisor. Disse viste også en positiv innstilling til programmet. Noen signaliserte at de har mange underleverandører som også strekker seg over flere ledd, og at Vinmonopolet med dette initiativet bidrar til skaffe dem bedre oversikt over sine egne underleverandører og om forholdene hos disse.

Produsenter som ikke lever opp til våre krav må gjennomføre nødvendige utbedringer, og dette kommer vi til å følge opp bl.a. i form av nye inspeksjoner. Selv om vi legger store ressurser i dette enkeltstående prosjektet, vil Sør-Afrika fortsatt være et fokusområde for oss også i årene som kommer.

SVT: Vingårdar har tvingats till förbättringar

Flera vingårdar har efter Uppdrag gransknings reportage tvingats genomföra förbättringar för sina anställda. Bland annat har barnpassningen flyttats från lokalerna där bekämpningsmedel förvaras.

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I reportaget ”Bittra druvor” som sändes i oktober avslöjade den danske journalisten Tom Heinemann hur flera stora gårdar helt struntade i att följa både den sydafrikanska lagen och Systembolagets etiska kod för arbetsvillkor för sina anställda.

Dokumentären orsakade stor uppmärksamhet – inte minst i sydafrikanska medier. Vinföretagen och Systembolaget menade att filmen var ensidig men sa samtidigt att arbetet med oberoende inspektioner skulle intensifieras.

Oanmälda inspektioner

Men de sydafrikanska myndigheterna hann före. Kort efter att filmen hade sänts åkte arbetsmarknadsdepartementets lokala och nationella representanter ut på oanmälda inspektioner på några av de farmer som var med i filmen.

Alla de fem besökta farmerna tvingades vidta åtgärder, i vissa fall så snart som inom två veckor.

En av de besökta farmerna var Leeuwenkuil Family Vineyards, som är en Systembolagets största leverantörer. Mer än 30 vingårdar producerar druvor till Leeuwenkuil. Tre av deras gårdar, varav en var med i filmen, fick besök av inspektörerna. De fann flera brister som hade pågått under flera år.

Förbättringar redan genomförda

Både Leewenkuils skandinaviska importör och den lokala fackföreningen bekräftar att många förbättringar redan har genomförts.

Men två frågor återstår att lösa. En av dem är det faktum att arbetarna under tre år har betalt hyra för bostäder som inte lever upp till lagens krav. Dessutom har stora avdrag gjorts för levnadsomkostnader som varje månad synts på arbetarnas lönespecifikationer. Myndigheterna har bestämt att dessa pengar ska betalas tillbaka till arbetarna, men så har alltså ännu inte skett.

Systembolaget har själva under hösten gjort 11 egna inspektioner på gårdar som tillhör Leeuwenkuil men har inte velat kommentera vad de kommit fram till. Så här skriver Ida Ingerö, biträdande presschef på Systembolaget i ett mail:

” …åtgärdsplanerna efter dessa revisioner…  …är en del av affärsrelationen mellan oss och våra leverantörer, de svenska importföretagen. Vi lämnar därför inte ut åtgärdsplanerna till tredje part.”

”Avgörande seger efter sex års kamp”

Biträdande generalsekreteraren i CSAAWU som är vinarbetarnas fackförbund, Karel Swart, välkomnar många av förbättringarna som genomförts och kallar dem för en ”avgörande seger efter sex års kamp”. Men fortfarande menar han att livet för många av arbetarna på Leeuwenkuil är jämförbart med livet för en slav.

– Ägaren Willie Dreyer är fortfarande väldigt otrevlig och förolämpar dem, säger Karel Swart till Uppdrag granskning.

Willie Dreyer förnekar alla anklagelser och i en skriftlig kommentar slår han fast att ”…falska anklagelser och negativ kommunikation via media kan ha en skadlig effekt på våra affärer.”

Han skriver att han därför inte kommer att tveka att vidta lagliga åtgärder om det skulle behövas.

ÅTGÄRDER SOM LEEUWENKUIL TVINGATS GENOMFÖRA:

* Riva de hus som på grund av rasrisk inte gick att bo i.

* Börja följa lagen vad gäller sjukersättning. Arbetarna fick inte betalt trots att de hade skriftliga sjukintyg.

* Ta bort oskyddade elledningar som var en fara för arbetarna och deras barn.

* Lokalerna där små barn passades när föräldrarna jobbade var samma som där kemiska bekämpningsmedel förvaras. Verksamheten måste nu flyttas.

* Stoppa försäljningen på en av de gårdsbutiker där arbetarna handlar. De tog överpriser vilket ledde till att arbetarna fick alldeles för stora avdrag på grund av sina levnadsomkostnader.

* Hälso- och säkerhetsutrustning ska delas ut till arbetarna.

* Kvaliteten på dricksvattnet måste omedelbart förbättras.

When bitter grapes turns sweet

Major improvements for workers on one of the big exporters

By Tom Heinemann

 

Even if there is an upper limit to everything, there is good news for some of the farm workers at one of the big vineyards in South Africa.

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After exposing numerous violations of national law and the Swedish alcohol monopoly, Systembolaget’s ethical code of conduct pictured in the documentary film, “Bitter Grapes – Slavery in the vineyards”, some good things have started to happen.

After the film was aired in Scandinavia in October a storm broke out – especially in the South African media. After denying most – calling the documentary film “biased” and “one-sided” – industry bodies, importers and Systembolaget ensured the consumers that more independent inspections would be intensified.

However, the authorities overturned all the good intentions. Shortly after the film was aired, the Department of Labour along with the local government in the Western Cape went on an un-announced tour of inspections at the very same farms that were pictured in the documentary film.

And the results were depressing. On all five farms a number of corrective actions had to be taken. Some within two weeks others within 60 days.

One of the farms was Leeuwenkuil Family Vineyards, one of the big sellers at Systembolaget in Sweden. More than 30 different vineyards are producing grapes to Leeuwenkuil.

The inspectors from the Department of Labour visited three of the Leewuenkuil farms in the area and where one of them was part of the documentary.

Here they found a number of violations that apparently had been going on for years.

After the Department of Labour did their inspection at the three local Leewenkuil-farms they had to improve the following:

* Demolition of one or two houses that was not fit for people to live in as there were fear for that the houses could collapse.

* Leeuwenkuil must comply with the Basic Conditions of Employment Act concerning sick leave, as workers were not paid – even when they had made a written sick-leave document as stipulated in the law.

* Removal of “open” electrical wires that was endangering the lives and safety for workers and children

* The room where small children were taken care of during working hours had to me moved as it was in the same building where the chemicals and other pesticides were stored.

* Full stop of the farm shop (apparently owned by the wife of the owner)) as it was charging much over the normal rates and that it was therefore the huge deductions were made.

* Health and safety equipment must be handed out to the workers.

* The quality of drinking water had to be improved immediately

Both the importer of Leewenkuil to Scandinavia as well as the local representative of the Union CSAAWU, confirms that all the issues have been settled to the benefit of the workers.

However, two issues are still in progress. One is the fact that some of the workers for three years have paid rent for houses that didn’t live up to the legislation. Therefore the Department of Labour has demanded that the company have to pay back the money to the workers.

Finally, it is also a demand, that some of large deductions that were made on the workers monthly pay slips have to be paid back to the workers.

While the official inspections was commented by the local authorities, the Swedish alcohol monopoly, Systembolaget do not wish to comment on their own findings. According to the press officer from Systembolaget, Ida Ingerö, 11 inspections at various farms belonging to Leeuwenkuil were made during the fall:

“Regarding the results and what needs to be done is part of the business relations between us and our suppliers and the Swedish importers. Therefore we do not hand these plans out to others.”

 

Still a long way to go

Even if Deputy Secretary General, Karel Swart from CVSAAWU welcomes the many improvements for the workers at Leeuwenkuil as a “major victory after six years of battle”, he still describes the life of Leeuwenkuil workers is equal to the life of a slave:

“The owner Willie Dreyer still treats many of his workers as slaves. He acts very rude and keeps on insulting the workers. If we don’t keep up the pressure, he will continue to do so. This man belongs to the heritage of racism and Apartheid and if we don’t step up the pressure on him, he will continue to act like this”

When confronted with the complaints from the workers, the owner of Leeuwenkuil, Willie Dreyer denies all allegations. In a written response, he states that any “ (…) false allegations and negative communications via the media may have a detrimental effect on our business (…)”

Therefore Willie Dreyer will “(…) not hesitate to take legal action should it be required.”