When skilled construction worker, Frank - not his real name - lost his job in his native Barbados, he jumped at the chance of a job in the UK earning ￡600 (US$800) a week offered by an acquaintance. But as soon as he and his young son landed, it became clear that he had made a terrible mistake. "They took us back to this house and they let me know the business," Frank told slavery and exploitation charity Unseen. "If I don't do the work, they were going to kill my son. I had no choice. My son was 14 years old, in a strange country. He don't know what's going on." Forced to work long hours with only meagre amounts of food, Frank quickly became one of an unseen army of modern slaves labouring on construction sites around the world. "I used to be in the back of the van with the tools and we drive all over," Frank says. "I was getting up at five in the morning until six at night. Going out in extreme weather conditions. Working in snow with no proper clothing or equipment. I was hungry to the point where you have conversations with your stomach. Lifting 500-600 blocks from one scaffolding to another scaffolding, stirring concrete. Tiling roofs, building walls - boy it was hard."
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