The word is that SIPTU personnel are making the proposed farm visits as part of the on-going negotiations to wrangle a fair deal for workers in the mushroom industry in the South.
Growers are not necessarily very happy with the visits as it is an added pressure to the daily hardships involved in getting the produce grown.
However the whole inspection process is necessary if the industry is to slough off the criticisms that have been levelled at it over the past year.
One source consulted considered that if growers are not able to guarantee the minimum legal entitlements of their workers, there is not a future for the mushroom industry in Ireland.
SIPTU, the Irish Government, the supermarket chains, and also Monaghan Mushrooms seem to be in agreement about this point.
In other words, only those who can guarantee workers' rights and profits will survive.
