What should be a job opportunity for thousands of hired workers too often turns into an exploitative experience. When this happens under the protection of the State, we are faced with a situation that must clearly be defined as «institutional trafficking.»
Despite recent efforts to introduce corrective measures into the Gecco Order, such as the definition of net salary in contracts, this has never been properly enforced. This inevitably leads to an unavoidable conclusion: 100% of «recruitment at origin» has, until now, operated under fraudulent terms.
Monday, October 14, 2024. The recruitment of workers in their home countries to be relocated to another under promises of decent employment too often turns into a system of total dependence on those who brought them over, be they companies or intermediaries. Once at their destination, these initial promises disappear, and these individuals are forced to accept social, labor, economic, and housing conditions that do not align with what was agreed upon. When this happens under the State’s protection, we are faced with what must be unambiguously termed «institutional trafficking.»
What is presented as a job opportunity for thousands of women hired under the well-known Gecco Order (the regulation from the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security, and Migration governing the Collective Management of Recruitment at Origin) all too frequently turns into an experience of fraud and exploitation. Strawberry harvesters in Huelva, mostly Moroccan women (over 18 and under 45 years old, and necessarily mothers and guardians of children under 15), find themselves trapped in a deeply unequal power relationship. Despite promises of decent, well-paid work, the real conditions they face include precarious wages (even below the legal minimum wage), unsanitary and undignified accommodations, and excessive working hours. Some documented situations take on surreal tones in a state of law such as Spain.
Limited access to public health services and other social benefits (sick leave, subsidies, compensations… for which they rigorously contribute through their payroll like any other worker in the country) further aggravates their situation. Despite working legally, many harvesters do not receive adequate medical or social care. Some cases, even resulting in undignified deaths, have only become known thanks to the media and involve large, “exemplary” companies. This denial of fundamental rights highlights a system that, far from providing opportunities, facilitates structural exploitation.
The Gecco Order, designed to regulate so-called «circular migration» (a solution that the Sánchez government currently insists on promoting as a «conscientious» and «humane» way to tackle irregular immigration) has become more of a control tool than a protection mechanism. Instead of ensuring labor rights, it perpetuates a situation of dependency and vulnerability for workers.
Added to this are actions by bodies like the Civil Guard, which, far from protecting the Gecco workers, often reinforce their subordination through intimidation or failure to act in cases of abuse. The arrival of Guardia Civil officers this year in Huelva during the medical consultation of a Moroccan Gecco worker to search her mobile phone without a court order speaks for itself.
When workers have dared to denounce inhumane conditions, sometimes with aggravating circumstances of harassment and/or sexual assault, the judicial system has turned its back on them. The few cases that reach court are rarely investigated with due diligence, and accusations of harassment or abuse are quickly dismissed. Judgments in well-known cases openly accuse the workers of filing false complaints solely to obtain residence papers or for «ulterior motives.» For example, during the last red fruit season, a case of alleged sexual assault against a Moroccan Gecco worker was resolved in just twelve hours after the complaint was filed — despite incomprehensible and unjustifiable difficulties in submitting it to the Civil Guard. The hearing was held without the complainant having any legal assistance and only accompanied by a court-appointed interpreter. The judge ruled against the worker, citing her testimony as «not credible» and motivated by «ulterior motives.» She left the court with a humiliating sentence already printed minutes after the gavel fell. The prior criminalization of complainants not only discredits the victims but perpetuates the impunity of those exploiting them.
In this context, the «mediation» services designed (and subsidized) to prevent conflicts, such as Interfresa’s PRELSI or the seasonal programs by the Red Cross or Women in Conflict Zones, have proven woefully ineffective. The female harvesters continue to face abusive conditions, and the solutions offered by these organizations have been insufficient or contrary to their fundamental rights.
The Labor and Social Security Inspectorate has admitted its limitations. Diana Zoido, head of the ITSS in Huelva, warned at a public event at the University of Huelva that control mechanisms are fragile and that lack of resources hinders proper supervision. Meanwhile, public authorities and major unions, far from offering strong support to the workers, often side with employer organizations. They defend, like the employers do, that abuses are limited to «isolated cases» and that their public exposure does more harm to the sector than solving the problem.
We must also note the responsibility of the governments of the «origin» countries in this exploitation chain. Workers who denounce abuse rarely receive support from their own states, which often prefer to look the other way. This complicity reinforces the system of «institutional trafficking,» allowing their nationals to be exploited without intervention.
This silenced reality of circular migration is not exclusive to Huelva or the red fruit industry. Similar conditions are visible in other areas of intensive agriculture, such as Almería or Murcia, and even in other European countries. In these regions, companies have found in vulnerable migrant labor a way to increase profits by maintaining conditions at the edge or outside the law.
While governments and major media try to silence or downplay these complaints, the work of small unions, human rights organizations, feminists, and environmentalists is gradually awakening some international social awareness. Also playing a crucial role are influential European consumer organizations and a few alternative media outlets (not tied to major information corporations) like *La Mar de Onuba*. This pressure has already achieved significant advances, such as the recent approval this year of European legislation on due diligence in supply chains. The implementation and mandatory compliance with this new regulation will be a decisive step toward improving the situation of these workers. However, its promoters must not forget that these laws are a direct consequence of violations and frauds of laws and regulations, like the Gecco Order, that already existed.
It is urgent to rethink the model of recruitment from origin. Not only in labor terms but also from a human rights perspective. The exploitation of migrant workers under laws that do not adequately protect them cannot continue to be the norm, especially when circular migration is being presented as a «win-win» solution. A decisive institutional intervention is needed to guarantee basic rights like access to healthcare, protection from abuse, and a justice system that listens to the victims.
It is time to act, not only to prevent thousands of Gecco workers from continuing to be victims of this form of covert «institutional trafficking,» but to build a labor model that respects their dignity and rights as they help sustain our productive system.
In the framework of recruitment from origin regulated by the Gecco Order, an urgent need arises to clarify some of its terms. Although the regulation is designed to protect the rights of temporary workers, its ambiguous wording has allowed for abusive interpretations by employers, with the implicit consent of the responsible administrations. This has serious consequences not only for the workers but also for public finances (Treasury and Social Security).
One of the most critical aspects in this regard is the enforcement of "continuous employment" and the salary obligations derived from it. According to data recently provided by Huelva’s Subdelegate of the Government, María José Rico, during the last agricultural season, a minimum continuous employment rate of 77.81% was achieved, with an average of 112.37 days worked. However, when these figures are compared with the responses obtained through the Transparency Portal, it becomes clear that the Public Employment Service (SEPE) and the National Social Security Institute (INSS) lack the tools to differentiate whether registered temporary contracts pertain to workers recruited from origin under the Gecco Order or to other types of seasonal contracts. According to these responses, the social security affiliation and contribution system does not identify if the contracts belong to foreign workers recruited "at origin," which indicates that the data handled by the government concerning this mass recruitment are not based on precise and specific monitoring of the Gecco workers.
This shortfall in the contract registration system suggests that the data presented by Subdelegate Rico might be based on information provided by the companies and employer organizations themselves, which, unfortunately, at this point raises reasonable doubts about their reliability and accuracy. If the Administration cannot accurately verify which contracts fall under the Gecco category, its ability to ensure compliance with the provisions established in the Order, including "continuous employment" and agreed-upon salaries, is weakened.
The regulation stipulates that continuous employment should not be less than 85% of the usual working time in the agricultural sector. An impartial reading of this should lead us to conclude that this 85% ought to function as a protective measure in exceptional circumstances, such as cases of force majeure preventing the completion of the seasonal work. However, many employers have been using this provision as a "legal cover" to unilaterally alter the conditions promoted and agreed upon "at origin," even without such extraordinary circumstances. This abuse has allowed salary and labor reductions to be justified, resulting in breaches of the regulation that directly affect the workers and the objective of a circular migration system that benefits all parties involved: businesses, workers, and the State.
The flexible use of this margin has also facilitated aberrant practices, such as the "psychological arrests," a term used by a well-known employer, El Curi, in an interview with journalist Jordi Évole, to describe how workers are arbitrarily and unlawfully penalized by being left without work for several days to increase their productivity. This is done without any intervention by the ITSS (Labor and Social Security Inspectorate) or other competent authorities, despite being well aware of it. Such practices not only violate the workers' rights but also negatively impact tax revenues. Every salary reduction means lower contributions to Social Security and less income tax withholding, causing a direct detriment to the public coffers.
Despite recent efforts to introduce corrective measures into the Gecco Order, such as reflecting the estimated total net salary in contracts signed at origin, this has never been enforced. Although the government appears to have overlooked this generalized breach from the outset, it leads us to the inevitable conclusion that 100% of "recruitment from origin" is operating under fraudulent terms.
The Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security, and Migration must act with greater diligence to ensure that the regulation is properly enforced, preventing abusive interpretations that continue to affect both the workers and the state's finances. Before the thousands of Gecco workers begin arriving in a few weeks for another red fruit season in Huelva, and before the recruitment model extends to other sectors in its current weakened state, action must be taken.
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