Glastonbury festival has found itself in quite a mess this year, but not the sort it was anticipating, as it has allegedly left hundreds of workers out of pocket and stranded following this year’s event.
As The Independent reports, the festival hired 700 people from across Europe to collect litter and clean up the site for two weeks following the festival, but instead is alleged to have sent the majority of them off after only two days of paid work.
Apparently the unusually good weather and extra hands on deck during the festival meant that the site was left in a much better state than anticipated (despite countless news stories pointing out the huge amount of mess left behind), so 600 workers are said to have had their employment terminated prematurely, leaving them in Somerset, England with no work and in many cases nowhere to go.
The workers were hired on zero-hour contracts, which means that legally the festival was not obligated to provide them with minimum working hours, but with so many workers traveling to the site, there were clearly expectations in place that there would be far more work.
“We found out quite soon that there was not as much garbage as usual, so there was less work,” Czech man Simon Kadlcak told the publication. “Rumours were being spread about what would happen and there was no proper information.”
He detailed how, after two days of hearsay, almost all of the staff were told they would no longer be given work, and many of them were forced to look for alternative work and accommodation in England as they’d already booked return flights.
“There are people without work still sleeping in tents here because they have nowhere to go, they were expecting two weeks of work,” he said. “One person tried to find us other jobs in the area and get food for us for the weekend.
“The organisers have to have known that there was not enough work for that amount of people. No one spoke to us before, there were these rumours and people are quite nervous about it. No one let us know until yesterday afternoon, they just put up a list of the 100 people who were able to keep working.”
Interviews with more of the workers can be read in The Independent’s investigation.
The whole affair is even more surprising considering that festival organiser Michael Eavis appeared onstage with Jeremy Corbyn, with the Labor leader calling for better treatment of workers – and European workers in particular, considering the situation with Brexit.
“I say they all must stay, and they all must be part of our world, and be part of our community,” The Independent quotes. “Because what festivals, what this festival is about, is about coming together. This festival was envisaged as being for music yes, but also for the environment, and for peace.”
Corby has since reaffirmed his commitment to abolishing these types of employment contracts.
Adding fuel to the fire is footage of a festival supervisor telling a worker during the festival that “Everyone is on a zero hours contract. We have no commitment to feed these people, they’re on paid jobs, their job is over.
“I don’t think it is the responsibility of Glastonbury or anyone else to feed these people,” they continue. “They are responsible adults who can feed themselves… no one is stopping them from leaving the farm to get food.”
The festival may not have been legally obligated to provide work, shelter or food for its hurriedly-axed workers, but many will argue that it had a responsibility to them nonetheless.
Organisers have told The Independent and other publications that they are refusing to comment on the matter, and the last word from the festival shows unexpectedly pristine festival grounds that apparently lead to this unfortunate situation to begin with.
