In the latest scandal involving Bulgarian migrant workers employed by the UK's agricultural sector, a Bulgarian gang-master stands accused of luring workers to the UK where he then illegally deducted large sums from their salaries, the British based Gangmaster Licensing Authority (GLA) said in a press statement on October 12 2009. 

The Bulgarian national, Kostadin Todorov of Todorov and Co Limited, will be prosecuted if he tries to lure more workers without  appropriate documentation. He has also had his business licence revoked by the British authorities.

Bulgarians workers were sent to Arbroath, Angus and Cambridgeshire, but later complained of having to relinquish 16 per cent of earnings to Todorov. Furthermore, Todorov charged British farmers a weekly rate for the supplied workers as well, and according to the GLA report, neither the British nor Bulgarians who were victimised in the process could understand why.

Moreover, the Bulgarian workers received their wages without a payslip and, in most cases, the payment was delayed severely. Todorov has been charged with "exploitation of workers" and with "inflicting harm on British farmers" while both groups (Bulgarians and British) acted on "goodwill and faith".

UK farmers themselves faced hefty National Insurance demands stemming from workers wages that were never properly covered by Todorov as their employer.

"I have sympathy for the workers who took the job in good faith, but none for Mr Todorov. His actions have harmed the workers and also brought financial penalties on the farms he supplied," Paul Whitehouse Chairman of the GLA said in a press statement.

In his defence, Mr Todorov said the workers had been properly sent to the UK to work in the agricultural sector.

In response to that claim however, the British mounted an operation themselves and two GLA officers were dispatched to Bulgaria. In pursuit of their inquiries, [they] uncovered that the applications for Todorov's workers posted to the UK had had their applications turned down by Bulgarians authorities who viewed Todorov's business as illegitimate.

All the Bulgarians have now returned home and have taken up the issue of wages unpaid by Todorov and Co with local authorities.

Earlier this year in July 10 2009, The UK's Independent newspaper told of migrant farm workers arriving from Bulgaria and Romania who were allegedly exploited this time around by British farmers.

According to the newspaper, foreign fruit pickers were worked hard but took home as little as 45 pounds sterling a week at S&A Produce, which provides some of Britain's largest supermarkets with fruit.

The migrants, interviewed by The Independent, said they headed for Britain confident they would be working for decent pay for at least six months before going home. Instead, out of the initial 2400 workers initially requested by the British government, 346 were told to leave because pickings were slim. Moreover, the wages turned out to be far lower than they imagined and far lower than the minimum wage.

S&A Produce, which supplies both Tesco and Sainsbury's, employs thousands of eastern Europeans who are given a specific work visa allowing them to work for the company. They were lured by the prospect of earning up to 200 pounds sterling a week by picking fruit on its farms in Herefordshire and Kent, but the Independent discovered, through pay slips obtained by migrant workers, that the real hourly rate for the company's fruit pickers often amounts to less than half the minimum wage once a series of obligatory charges have been deducted.

The Independent quotes Rebecca Edmonds, a spokeswoman for S&A Davies, as saying pay deductions were needed to provide accommodation. She also denied that the company was exploiting workers. "We try to make it as clear as we can that we cannot guarantee the number of days or hours worked because of the seasonal nature of fruit picking. Regrettably we have had to offer fewer hours than we would have liked. But at least 84 per cent of the people we had to let go indicated in writing that they would like to come back next year which suggests that it is a minority, not a majority, or workers who have disliked working with us."

Anyone wishing to obtain further information on the matter or file a complaint  of exploitation should feel free to contact the GLA on (0044) 0845 602 5020 or report anonymously at www.gla.gov.uk/report

Public inquiries: (0044) 0845 602 5020
Media inquiries: (0044) 0115 900 8962