display
Erfurt / Gera (dpa / th) - The industrial union building-agrar-environment (IG BAU) East Thuringia has called for better protection for harvest workers.
Seasonal workers in the region who work in the harvest and sowing are at a particularly high risk of contracting Covid-19.
“Most of the harvest workers are still housed in communal accommodation.
It is just as dangerous when employees are driven to the fields in collective transports, ”said IG-BAU district chairman Frieder Neudeck on Monday.
The seasonal workers, mainly from Eastern Europe, made sure that asparagus, strawberries and cucumbers did not run out in the supermarkets.
They worked for low wages and often without health insurance.
The authorities would have to enforce increased occupational safety and hygiene controls.
Seasonal workers are likely to be no more vulnerable than people who work in offices or on construction sites, according to the union.
According to a new regulation, harvest workers will also be able to work in agriculture for 102 days instead of the previous 70 days without social security contributions, it said.
That puts them even worse in terms of their social security, criticized the union.
display
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210426-99-356119 / 2