FOOD workers called for action yesterday to eradicate the blight of modern-day slavery in 21st century Britain.

BFAWU delegates gathered in Staffordshire for the bakers’ union's annual conference unanimously backed a motion which condemned the shocking practice, thought to affect 136,000 people nationwide, according to the Work Free Foundation.

The figure is about 10 times the official estimates made by Tory ministers.

Member Kasia Damek told delegates at Yarnfield Park near Stone that the problem affects many in the food and drink sector, especially seasonal workers who travel to Britain for short periods and work in places such as farms picking fruit.

“They are used as cheap labour,” she warned. “The conditions they are accommodated in is also far from any acceptable standard. We have to stop this modern slavery.”

Fellow delegate Nicolae Macari said such workers, often derided as “low-skilled,” face “exploitative wages, poor sanitary and working conditions and even physical attacks from supervisors.”

He slammed government inaction on the issue, saying it is a typical Tory tactic to “underestimate a problem and deny it is much of an issue so they don’t have to do anything about it.”

A 24-hour hotline for seasonal migrant workers to report abuse is needed, urged Mr Macari, who also called for the Gangmasters & Labour Abuse Authority to be given more staff and resources to inspect living and working conditions in workplaces such as farms.

The country needs about 1,800 extra labour market inspectors to meet agreed international standards on enforcement staff and stop the “flagrant abuse of British labour law by bad bosses,” the TUC said last year.

The union confederation also called for reform of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 to force companies to publish plans outlining how they will tackle the issue in their supply chains.

Sanctions — including fines and director disqualifications — for firms that fail to comply with modern slavery laws are needed, it said, alongside liability regulations to allow supply chain workers to hold employers to account.

Access to workplaces for trade unions to check that health and safety and employment rules are being adhered to must be commonplace in every sector, it said.