BANGKOK (AP) — Indonesian shrimp farmer Yulius Cahyonugroho operated more than two dozen ponds only a few years ago, employing seven people and making more than enough to support his family.

Since then, the 39-year-old says the prices he gets from purchasers have fallen by half and he’s had to scale back to four workers and about one-third the ponds, some months not even breaking even. His wife has had to take a job at a watermelon farm to help support their two children.

“It is more stable than the shrimp farms,” said the farmer from Indonesia’s Central Java province.

As big Western supermarkets make windfall profits, their aggressive pursuit of ever-lower wholesale prices is causing misery for people at the bottom end of the supply chain — people like Cahyonugroho who produce and process the seafood, according to an investigation by an alliance of NGOs focused on three of the world’s largest producers of shrimp provided to The Associated Press ahead of its publication on Monday.

The analysis of the industry in Vietnam, Indonesia and India, which provide about half the shrimp in the world’s top four markets, found a 20%-60% drop in earnings from pre-pandemic levels as producers struggle to meet pricing demands by cutting labor costs.

In many places this has meant unpaid and underpaid work through longer hours, wage insecurity as rates fluctuate, and many workers not even making low minimum wages. The report also found hazardous working conditions, particularly in India and parts of Indonesia, and even child labor in some places in India.

“The supermarket procurement practices changed, and the working conditions were affected — directly and rapidly,” said Katrin Nakamura of Sustainability Incubator, who wrote the regional report and whose Hawaii-based nonprofit led the research on the industry in Vietnam. “Those two things go together because they’re tied together through the pricing.”

Tubagus Haeru Rahayu, the director general of aquaculture for Indonesia’s Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry, said he was surprised by the report’s findings and had already reached out to people in the industry to investigate the price pressures.

“If there is pressure like that, there will definitely be a reaction — not only in Indonesia but in Vietnam and India too,” he told the AP in an interview at his Jakarta office.

Indian and Vietnamese officials refused to comment.

Supermarkets linked to facilities where exploited labor was reported by workers include Target, Walmart and Costco in the United States, Britain’s Sainsbury’s and Tesco, and Aldi and Co-op in Europe.

Switzerland’s Co-op said it had a “zero tolerance” policy for violations of labor law, and that its producers “receive fair and market-driven prices.”

Germany’s Aldi did not specifically address the issue of pricing, but said it uses independent certification schemes to ensure responsibly sourcing for farmed shrimp products, and would continue to monitor the allegations.

“We are committed to fulfilling our responsibility to respect human rights,” Aldi said.

Sainsbury’s referred to a comment from the British Retail Consortium industry group, which said its members were committed to sourcing products at a “fair, sustainable price” and that the welfare of people and communities in supply chains is fundamental to their purchasing practices.

None of the other retailers named in the report responded to multiple requests for comment on the report, titled “Human Rights for Dinner.”

In Vietnam, researchers found that workers who peel, gut and devein shrimp typically work six or seven days a week, often in rooms kept extremely cold to keep the product fresh.

Some 80% of those involved in processing the shrimp are women who rise at 4 a.m. and return home at 6 p.m., with the exception of pregnant women and new mothers who can stop one hour earlier.

“The work day for peelers consists of standing in a refrigerated and disinfected room and working extremely rapidly with a knife while taking care not to make a mistake,” researchers said.

Wages are generally not disclosed ahead of time and are based upon production. Sometimes workers make minimum wage, but frequently they do not.

The Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers issued a statement calling the allegations in the report “unfounded, misleading and detrimental to the reputation of Vietnam’s shrimp exports.”

It cited government labor policies in a four-page statement but did not specifically address the findings, and did not respond to queries.

After food supply chain disruptions during the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission reported earlier this year that some grocers have used the situation “as an opportunity to further raise prices to increase their profits, which remain elevated today.”

The demands for lower wholesale shrimp prices — combined with rising production costs and an oversupply — means farmers often must sell their products under cost just to keep operations going, the Sustainability Incubator analysis found.

Cahyonugroho said he’s stuck selling his shrimp at the price offered by middlemen who then sell it to factories for processing. He can’t scrape together the startup costs needed to sell directly to factories or markets to earn more.

“The opportunity is there,” he said, “but you need a lot of capital if you want to jump into something like that.”

The middlemen who buy the shrimp obfuscate the true sources of shrimp that appear in Western supermarkets, so many retailers may not be following ethical commitments they’ve made about procuring shrimp.

Only about 2,000 of the 2 million shrimp farms in the major producing countries of India, Indonesia, Vietnam, Ecuador, Thailand and Bangladesh are certified by either the Aquaculture Stewardship Council or the Best Aquaculture Practices ecolabel.

“With the yield from most certified shrimp farms being very small, it is mathematically impossible for certified farms to produce enough shrimp per month to supply all of the supermarkets that boast commitments to purchasing certified shrimp,” the report said.

Ideally, supermarkets should pay higher wholesale prices and ensure that the extra money makes it all the way down the supply chain, Nakamura said.

U.S. policymakers could use antitrust and other laws already in place to establish oversight to ensure fair pricing from Western retailers, rather than adding punishing tariffs on suppliers for labor violations, she said.

Awareness about the trends hurting suppliers is growing.

In July, the European Union adopted a new directive requiring companies to “identify and address adverse human rights and environmental impacts of their actions inside and outside Europe.”

Britain’s Groceries Code Adjudicator office published a “deep dive” into views of suppliers about the conduct of supermarkets, saying they had chosen to conduct “warfare” with suppliers.

Higher wholesale prices don’t have to mean higher prices for consumers, Sustainability Incubator said.

“Prices to farmers would be at least 200% higher than today if the shrimp sold in Global North supermarkets was made at minimum wage rates and in compliance with applicable domestic laws for labor, workplace health, and safety,” the report said. “This would not necessarily mean higher consumer prices, because supermarkets are already profiting at existing consumer prices.”

Researchers from the Corporate Accountability Lab found that Indian shrimp industry workers face “dangerous and abusive conditions” and that highly-salinated water from newly-dug hatcheries and ponds, tainted with chemicals and toxic algae, are contaminating surrounding water and soil.

Unpaid labor prevails, including salaries below minimum wage, unpaid overtime, wage deductions for costs of work and “significant” debt bondage, the report found.

Child labor was also identified, with girls aged 14 and 15 being recruited for peeling work.

In Indonesia, three non-profit research organizations found that shrimp workers’ wages have declined since the pandemic and now average $160 per month, below Indonesia’s minimum wage in most of the biggest shrimp-producing provinces. Shrimp peelers were found to be routinely required to work at least 12 hours per day to meet minimum targets.

Still, given widespread poverty most workers said they’re happy to have their jobs, said lead researcher Kharisma Nugroho of the Migunani Research Institute.

“It’s exploitation of the vulnerability of the workers, because they have a lack of options,” he said.

“They’re paid the minimum wages but they have to work 150% of the normal,” he told the AP. “Can they live? Yes. Can they move? Yes. Do they make a complaint? No. They’re still there.”

The regional report compiled more than 500 interviews conducted in-person with workers in their native languages, in India, Indonesia and Vietnam, supplemented with secondary data and interviews from Thailand, Bangladesh and Ecuador.

After the Indonesia country report was issued recently, government officials asked to meet with the authors, and Nugroho said they showed a “genuine willingness to improve the situation.”

Vietnamese officials have also engaged with Sustainability Incubator to talk about the findings.

Government and industry intervention has already helped in Thailand, which has been criticized after the AP exposed serious labor abuses in the shrimp industry in the past. That, however, has led to higher prices for Thai shrimp, leading some buyers to shift sourcing to India and Ecuador.

Ecuador has an industrial approach to shrimp farming — unlike the smaller, often family-run operations in Southeast Asia — and is now the world’s largest exporter of shrimp. It has the lowest prices, followed by India; China, which wasn’t included in the report; then Vietnam and Indonesia.

But with the demand for lower wholesale prices, while Ecuador’s exports rose 12% in volume in 2023, they fell 5% in value. India’s exports rose 1% but dropped nearly 11% in value.

Meantime, with their relatively higher prices, Vietnam’s exports were down 25% in 2023 in volume Indonesia’s dropped 9.5%.

“Labor exploitation in shrimp aquaculture industries is not company, sector, or country-specific,” the report concluded. “Instead, it is the result of a hidden business model that exploits people for profit.”

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Associated Press writer Edna Tarigan in Jakarta, Indonesia, contributed to this report.

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This story was supported by funding from the Walton Family Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

UK economic growth between April and June was less than previously estimated, according to official figures.

Gross domestic product (GDP) – which measures all the economic activity of companies, governments and people in a country – rose by 0.5%, down from an initial reading of 0.6%.

The manufacturing and construction sectors fell by more than first thought.

The data has emerged as the Labour government, which has made economic growth one of its key policies, prepares to announce its first Budget in four weeks’ time.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS), which published the figures, said the production of transport and related equipment tumbled by 3.1% between April and June after a long period of growth.

It was first estimated to have fallen by 0.7%.

The ONS said there was evidence to suggest that factories had reduced manufacturing as they prepared for the shift to making electric cars.

Construction also dropped due to a continuing decline in building new homes. However, the ONS said there were some signs this was beginning to ease.

Paul Dales, chief UK economist at Capital Economics, said the downward revision “shouldn’t make the Bank of England worry too much about the economy running out of momentum”.

However, he added: “It may add to the Bank’s view that interest rates need to be reduced further.”

The Bank of England cut interest rates for the first time in nearly four years in August, to 5% from 5.25%.

Financial planning firm Calton has appointed Bruce Hendry as executive director to lead its head office in Edinburgh

He will take up the role from today (30 September).

The appointment is the capstone of a year of growth and consolidation and is key to Calton’s strategy for UK growth.

Hendry is a chartered fellow of both the Personal Finance Society and the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment.

He holds an Executive MBA from Edinburgh University Business School and has previously lectured at Dundee and Edinburgh Universities.

He has held previous roles at Thomson Cooper Accountants, Charles Stanley and Co and Barclays Wealth and Investment Management.

He will join Tom Ham, Laura Bruce, Gary Dale and Mark Polson on the company’s board of directors.

Commenting on his appointment, Hendry said: “I have been watching Calton’s development closely. The firm’s vision aligns with mine – to build client confidence through delivering exceptional outcomes and service.

“Much of that is about values, but Calton is also breaking new ground in developing systems that will help make that vision a reality. I look forward to showcasing this to the profession.”

Calton Wealth uses AI to cut out ‘menial tasks’ for advisers

Calton founder and group chief executive Tom Ham said: “Bruce choosing Calton is a vote of confidence in our mission and ambition.

“He has already built a distinguished senior career in advising and investment management across the UK and has a proven track record of building and growing departments.

“His expertise and dynamism is second to none. He will be an essential force in taking Calton and our talented team to new heights in the service we offer our clients.”

Over the past 12 months, Calton has moved to a new flagship office in Rutland Square in the heart of Edinburgh’s financial district.

Calton Wealth makes first acquisition in ‘key step’ for growth plans

It has increased its client-facing and support staff and launched a new digital presence. A groundbreaking new management system will launch later this autumn.

Ham added: “We are focused firmly on a future in which technological solutions will ease friction in our day-to-day processes while ensuring that we adhere to the highest professional standards.

“Our bespoke management system will be an essential tool across our team, from advisers to paraplanners, to marketing, monitoring and reporting.”

Calton is a financial planning and investment management firm founded in Edinburgh by Tom Ham in 2021.

With offices in London and the Scottish Borders, it has clients across the UK.

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In the article featured in the Winter 2023-2024 edition of Rethinking Schools, titled “The Takeover of Houston Public Schools,” Larry Miller reported on the Texas state legislature taking control of Houston’s Independent School District (ISD) through its Texas Education Agency. State officials chose to dissolve the elected school board, appointing Mike Miles, a person with no relevant experience or degrees in education, as the new superintendent. Miles’s actions as superintendent call for the reassignment of school libraries into detention centers, termination of teachers, and elimination of special education services. Miles’s vision has been to introduce the New Education System (NES), a program he created, to the district.

NES looks to reshape K-12 education, utilizing a contemporary staffing model that allows teachers to focus on their core subjects with wages varying. Teachers and parents have voiced concerns about this program, believing it to be damaging to special education and misaligned with the requirements of Individualized Education Programs (IEP) that are designed to provide learning accommodations for students with disabilities. Protests have broken out in response to NES, resulting in library closures. Based on previous schools where Miles implemented NES, there’s no real evidence that these reforms are beneficial for students or the education systems that are supposed to serve them. 

The implementation of NES has begun in 28 schools so far, with 57 additional schools expected to align with the program by the end of this school year. With this implementation, 130 teachers resigned districtwide during the first month. The district targeted by the program has around 90 percent students of color, including 67 percent Latino and 22 percent Black. A well-respected teacher of 43 years in the district, Nelva Williamson, expressed concerns for students as “children are already bored and frustrated. We know the best way to educate children, and that has nothing to do with what [Miles] is doing.”

Williamson is also concerned for students whose special education is disrupted. It is noted that special education students are not being instructed on the basis of their IEPs. According to Williamson, “If a 504 student or a special ed student is having difficulty learning, they might be pulled out of the classroom and sent to the detention room to view the classroom virtually with the assistance of a TA, not a certified teacher.”

The nation’s most prestigious news outlets have covered what is happening in Houston’s public schools, but they have provided only minimal coverage of  Superintendent Miles’s NES program.  Local newspapers in the Houston area have done the only in-depth coverage of this issue. In contrast, corporate media coverage, including the Washington Post, glosses over the NES as “military style” curriculum, due to Miles’s military background. 

Although this coverage exposes some of the wrongdoing, schools are not the military and the coverage is not enough. The specific details of the New Education System curriculum are essential to the story. As Larry Miller’s report for Rethinking Schools highlights, NES was not implemented to improve students’ learning experiences, but to improve their standardized test scores and the overall image of Houston’s public schools.

Miller backs these claims with statistics that document injustices in the New Education System. The ability to amplify the voices of the teachers and parents who are fighting for their kids can only extend so far based on local news coverage. Corporate media coverage could help this cause by shining a light on the teachers, students, and parents who oppose the New Education System and seek constructive changes in Houston’s public schools.

Source: Larry Miller, “The Takeover of Houston Public Schools,” Rethinking Schools, Winter 2023-2024.

Student Researchers: Lucas Chamberlin, Ryan Hunt, and Chloe Venuk (University of Massachusetts Amherst)

Faculty Evaluator: Allison Butler (University of Massachusetts Amherst)

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UK house prices rose at their fastest annual pace for two years in September, in a sign of the impact of falling mortgage rates on the property market.

The average property price rose by an annual rate of 3.2 per cent, up from 2.4 per cent in August and the fastest rate since November 2022, according to new figures from mortgage lender Nationwide.

Economists polled by Reuters had expected a rise of 2.7 per cent.

On a monthly basis, the rise was 0.7 per cent, bringing the UK’s average house price to £266,094, about 2 per cent below the all-time highs recorded in the summer of 2022.

Robert Gardner, chief economist at Nationwide, said increases in incomes had continued to outstrip the rise in house prices in recent months, while borrowing costs had edged lower amid expectations that the Bank of England would continue to lower interest rates.

“These trends have helped to improve affordability for prospective buyers and underpinned a modest increase in activity and house prices, though both remain subdued by historic standards,” he said.