Continuities of Exploitation: Seasonal Migrant Workers in German Agriculture during the COVID-19 pandemic

Seasonal migrant farmworkers have been declared ‘essential’ in Germany at the very outset of the pandemic. Two harvest seasons later, continuing poor working conditions, infection outbreaks on farms and a general exemption from social security show that the recognition of the ‘essential’ character of the job did not translate into any improvements for workers. Based on interviews with trade union linked counsellors for migrant workers in Germany and analysis of the legal measures introduced during the pandemic, this paper demonstrates how previously established institutional structures of exploitation in relation to seasonal farm work have been sustained and further reinforced during the pandemic.