20 years of the GLAA: A message from our CEO

As we mark 20 years of the GLAA, our CEO Elysia McCaffrey shares her thoughts.

It is 20 years since the Gangmasters Licensing Authority, now the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA), was established.  

I wanted to take this opportunity to say a massive thank you to all our partners and supporters who share our mission to stopping worker exploitation and ensuring that everyone working in the UK can do so free from abuse and slavery.  

In 2004, 23 Chinese cockle pickers lost their lives. They had been trafficked to the UK through the port in Liverpool, and they were put to work to satisfy the greed of their exploiters. There was no regard to their safety or welfare, and this huge loss of life sent shockwaves through the country.  

Our job at the GLAA is to make sure that something like this cannot happen again.   

To do this, we operate a licensing scheme that sets the standards for labour providers who supply workers into Shellfish gathering, Agriculture, Horticulture, Food processing and packaging across the UK. We also have the power to conduct Modern Slavery investigations across England and Wales in all sectors of work.  

Over the last 20 years we have helped thousands of vulnerable people to get out of difficult situations, to seek justice, to get money back that they were owed, and to be supported in living free from exploitation.  

The GLAA is a small organisation, and these successes wouldn’t be possible without the support of our partners in law enforcement, in NGOs, in academic organisations, and in businesses who care about workers and want to see compliance. Every person who has contacted us to share intelligence, to raise concerns for themselves or another has played a part in improving lives for workers in the UK.  

On our 20th anniversary we all want to say a huge thank you for helping us to deliver on our mission to stop the exploitation of workers in the UK and to ensure employers treat them fairly.