davepoland
Member
We import 50% of our food. Just import the labour intensive crops and switch land use other produce (localise Irish beef, Belgian potatoes, French dairy, etc.).
I'm not everyone.Everyone wants fairness until it hits them in the pocket. Pay an extra quid for your strawberries and we don't have to import and exploit people to live in shipping containers and taking home half the minimum wage but it's all great because it's triple what they'd get in Romania.
I apologise for being against the exploitation of workers, no matter what their nationality, just so I can get some cheap fruit.
If they can't afford to operate by paying a fair wage for work in adequate conditions then the business model doesn't work.
So, going by Cooper Borisette logic, it's easier to fly people from a foreign country during a pandemic than it is to get people already in the country and "economically inactive" to the farms to work.
I'd love to know how that works. Maybe he can explain?
Ok, I'll put it another way: Surely we have thought about this for when the Brexit transition period ends? We'll HAVE to employ the 8 million economically inactive then. We don't we just put whatever plan we have for that into place?ST what you rattling on about?
I quite clearly said why have farmers decided to fly in 1000 Romanians opposed to advertising these jobs, paying a fair wage and guaranteeing health and safety, social distance etc. Supermarkets and government departments have no issue recruiting on a whim at the moment but the farmers can’t? It’s quite clearly cheaper for them to operate on this way
Or it could be loyality? I'm sure most farms have the same people working for them on a seasonal basis year after year?It’s 90 mins by car, bike, public transport or walking. As people from outside can’t claim benefit for ; months that doesn’t apply to this.
Have to ask in this time of national emergency when supermarkets and government departments are hiring people on a whim on or above national minimum wage do the farmers find it more effective to fly 1000 Romanians in. Could have advertised that to people in the local area, guarenteed safety with social distance etc. Oh no we’ll fly 1000 Romanians in.. cheaper by any chance?
If the money was fair, the conditions better, people would probably take these jobs.Why have they gone abroad?
From the BBC
‘Several UK growers have launched a recruitment drive, calling for local workers to join the harvest to prevent millions of tonnes of fruit and vegetables going to waste. However, concerns remain that they won't be able to fulfil the demand on farms’
I spend a lot of time in rural communities and the answers are always the same - those out of work un the UK don’t want ‘this kind of work’
See the job advert above as to why people in this country won't do the work based on that.
It's hypocrisy at it's finest to have a pop at people who voted for Brexit and support employers who are practically supporting slave labour.
Again advertise these jobs at least the minimum wage and guarantee health and safety and see what response you get. Clearly remainers are happy to exploit EU workers, being underpaid and living in poor conditions so they can keep a few pence off their fruit
I’m not sure what your level of experience is here but it doesn’t sound great.
I live and work in Lincolnshire and deal with most of these growers. These people behave really well. They pay living/min wage and have pretty good living conditions. (There will be exception, I’m sure but I genuinely haven’t come across one)
They have a finite time to pick crops and want certainty. They badly want to employ UK workers. If they were honest in public they would say most UK workers think this kind of work is beneath them. They all have stories of going on UK recruitment drives where most people leg it after a day.
It is a real problem that isn’t going to go away and we need a medium term solution. Short term it sounds like there is a willingness to allow workers in which is great for everyone.
The worry is what happens post Jan next year. It needs thinking about in advance and, perversely, the current problem may just force the issue to be resolved.
Ok, I'll put it another way: Surely we have thought about this for when the Brexit transition period ends? We'll HAVE to employ the 8 million economically inactive then. We don't we just put whatever plan we have for that into place?
Rather than risking the lives of Romanians bring them into a covid-19 hotspot?
Surely you Brexiteers aren't too dumb to realise sometime this year we HAVE to employ the fabled 8 million. Why can't we do it now?
You'll be happy ticker, I've enrolled for free,Like the NHS it needs people to enrol and help for free, Farage and the Brexit voters should do this without question.
*head in hands*
1. it’s not the government risking the Romanians it’s the farmers who want cheaper labour and you who seemingly who wants cheap fruit. Again if it was a proper wage guaranteeing health and safety these jobs might get taken up.
2. Again unless you hadn’t realised their is a pandemic going on. You clearly have no idea what is going on in government departments at the moment. You need work coaches to enable job seekers into work and possibly into these jobs (if they decide to pay legal amount). Who do you think is going to do the work to help these people into these jobs. Staff have been decimated at the DWP. What’s left are redeployed into priority areas such as processing claims making sure people get paid as quickly as possible.
We'll take decisions based on the science at exactly the right time.That still doesn't explain why we can't put our Brexit plan into action? This is basically the same problem we'd be facing in January. Just do what we had planned to do then?
That still doesn't explain why we can't put our Brexit plan into action? This is basically the same problem we'd be facing in January. Just do what we had planned to do then?
Cooper - how much are they paying these workers?
Define cheaper please
Who are the folk demanding the cheap fruit and veg Coops?*head in hands*
1. it’s not the government risking the Romanians it’s the farmers who want cheaper labour and you who seemingly who wants cheap fruit. Again if it was a proper wage guaranteeing health and safety these jobs might get taken up.
2. Again unless you hadn’t realised their is a pandemic going on. You clearly have no idea what is going on in government departments at the moment. You need work coaches to enable job seekers into work and possibly into these jobs (if they decide to pay legal amount). Who do you think is going to do the work to help these people into these jobs. Staff have been decimated at the DWP. What’s left are redeployed into priority areas such as processing claims making sure people get paid as quickly as possible.