“Modern developments within the wine sector have introduced a range of human rights challenges,” argues Tom Owtram, the cofounder and general manager of the Sustainable Wine Roundtable (SWR), a global platform for collaboration to advance sustainability across the wine sector. “The industry has been slow to address them proactively, largely because it has not faced the same level of scrutiny from campaigners, activists, and journalists as other sectors have.”
A common thread among these challenges is their disproportionate impact on the lower tiers of the supply chain. The tragic deaths of four pickers in Champagne during the last harvest, for instance, exposed how soaring temperatures, exacerbated by climate change, can pose severe health risks to workers.
“What happened in Champagne is so egregious because the top Champagne brands are all owned by huge companies,” says Jason Glaser, the CEO of La Isla Network, an organization focused on occupational health research and consultancy for workers in warm climates. “They [should] get their act together to make sure workers are protected.”
According to Charles Goemaere, the director of the Comité Champagne, the region has tasked a select group of professionals with implementing new measures aimed at ensuring the safety of grape-pickers in the face of the changing climate, as well as addressing broader concerns regarding accommodation, recruitment practices, and working conditions.
Indeed, human rights concerns within the global wine sector, not just Champagne or France, now extend beyond the risks of harvesting grapes in extreme heat, particularly as the industry becomes increasingly reliant on migrant labor to address a shortage of local workers.
A fragile workforce
The Institute for Human Rights and Business (IHRB) reports that there are nearly 170 million migrant workers worldwide, with a significant presence in the agricultural industry. Neill Wilkins, the head of the migrant workers program at IHRB, asserts that currently, one in every 20 workers is a migrant.
A recent investigation by German broadcaster DW shed light on how some grape pickers in Champagne may endure minimal rest between picking sessions or live in deplorable conditions, a scenario that’s not isolated to a single region or country. Italian association No Cap, which combats human rights abuses in agriculture, claims that the exploitation of migrant laborers is systematically practiced in vineyards across Italy, including in Chianti, the Asti province, and Puglia. There have also been reports of abuses in South Africa and Brazil, among others.
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