It’s a question not often thought about by consumers. The region, grape variety, vintage year, and perhaps the winemaker come to mind when thinking about a particular wine. But have you ever considered who tends to the vines and harvests the grapes? What about the conditions they work under?
Harvesting Grapes
The idea of vineyards and harvesting grapes is a romantic one often showcased in tourist brochures. The reality is very different. Hand picking grapes is hard manual labour.
A typical plastic crate, when filled, can weigh between 14 – 18 kilograms (30 – 40 pounds). These crates have to be constantly picked up and carried to be emptied. Doing this countless times for extended periods is literally back breaking work.
As the harvest period offers a narrow time window before crops spoil, and as many wine regions pay harvesters by the tonne, this work is done quickly, often for long hours, and with few breaks. In particularly hot wine regions, this work is done in excruciating hot conditions. Think of the Portugal’s Douro Valley which can reach temperatures above 40 Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) during harvest time. This extreme heat will only increase with climate change. Such details are not included in tourist brochures.
Working Conditions
Reports of atrocious working and living conditions for agricultural workers is unfortunately not exceptional nor restricted to one country or agricultural product. Despite not often being discussed, the wine industry cannot be excluded. Reports of the exploitation of migrant workers and human rights violations in the wine industry have been reported in many countries including France, Italy, Chile, South Africa and New Zealand.
While some vineyards employ year-round vineyard staff, pickers are largely seasonal, with or without formal labour contracts. For the latter, workers are without legally required access to health and safety benefits including health care, accident insurance and social safety nets. Living conditions can be poor, unsafe and unsanitary. Unionization is often prohibited leaving workers without a means to address grievances or recourse to redress abuses. A lack of personal protective gear may also leave workers exposed to chemicals and pesticides.
In 2020, Systembolaget, the Swedish state-owned alcohol monopoly and one of the largest purchasers of alcoholic beverages in the world, commissioned the international non-governmental organization, Oxfam, to conduct a human rights impact assessment of the four Italian wine regions which are its main suppliers (Tuscany, Piedmont, Puglia and Sicily).
The findings were revealing: exploitation of migrant workers; forced labour, informal working arrangements, insufficient wages to meet basic needs, excessive hours of work, gender discrimination, fear of reprisal for raising concerns, and health and safety risks. While the study acknowledged it faced some limitations given it was conducted during Italy’s COVID 19-related restrictions, it nonetheless illustrates systematic and potential human rights risks in Systembolaget’s Italian wine supply chains.
Previously in 2011, another international non-governmental organization, Human Rights Watch, found the South African government had “largely failed to monitor and enforce legal protections guaranteeing wages, benefits and safe working and housing conditions for workers” in the wine and fruit industry in its Western Cape.
Just as each bottle of wine is unique, blanket statements cannot be made about the working conditions of harvest workers across the industry. The aforementioned nonetheless serve as examples which cannot be ignored.
Social Sustainability
Discussions on sustainability tend broadly, within and outside the wine industry, to focus on environmental issues often ignoring the “social”, human, aspects of sustainability; the “S” in environmental, social and governance (ESG) reporting frameworks.
Social sustainability includes labour and human rights; fair wages, health and safety as well as diversity, equity and inclusion. They are equally as important as environmental considerations, and must be addressed in any serious approach to sustainability.
European Union regulations including its Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive now require large companies to report on, mitigate, prevent and/or end human rights abuses not only among their own workers, but across their value chain. The proposed Directive on Corporate Sustainable Due Diligence will strengthen this requirement. Additionally, some European countries are introducing specific national legislation.
Going Forward
Understanding and acknowledging the problem is the first step towards addressing it.
Systembolaget’s initiative to undertake a human rights due diligence study, and openly acknowledge it has work to do to minimize the risks of human rights violations in its supply is a positive step forward. They are publicly working on an action plan including revisiting its tendering process, setting a positive example for other retailers. The negative publicity which followed the Human Rights Watch report on South Africa has encouraged improved working conditions and increased transparency.
Certifications such as B-Corp, Fair for Life – Social & Fair Trade Certification, and Fairtrade emphasize respect for human rights, fair working conditions and workers’ rights, and indicate to consumers such conditions are in place.
Just as low-priced fast fashion leaves little to no margin to pay workers, and can be an indication of a lack of safe, human and dignified working conditions, low-priced wine is no different. Consumers must recognize this, and begin to ask who picks the grapes, and under what conditions.
Photo by Maja Petric in Unsplash
