Talk to grape growers and wineries about sustainability, and they’ll often tell you all about water conservation efforts, organic or biodynamic vineyard practices, and even bottle weight. But all too often, there’s one topic that remains so untouched, it feels taboo: workers’ rights. The fact is, many wineries are dependent, particularly at harvest time, on migrant workers, who often face difficult working conditions, struggle to find affordable housing in high cost-of-living wine regions, and lack the resources to build better lives for themselves.
More egregious labor violations have led to heatwave-induced deaths in Champagne, France, and instances of forced labor and blatant abuse, including housing overworked employees in abjectly poor conditions. Even in less severe instances, vineyard workers may struggle to find affordable housing close to their workplaces and suffer from a lack of stability due to inconsistent seasonal wages. In an industry so aligned with luxury, the workers that are perhaps most important to the operation are all too often neglected and exploited, if not outright abused. Many grape producers are aiming to shift to more sustainable vineyard practices, by reducing water and synthetic pesticide use, for instance. But isn’t it time that workers’ rights become a bigger part of the sustainability conversation in the wine industry, too?
