Migrant workers

[Bobajob]

Is it me, I thought we were by social distancing, forced controlling our movements with this lockdown is helping slow the spread of this corona virus to protect the NHS?
The first batch of 180 migrant fruit pickers from Romania arrived yesterday by a private charter plane.
There are another 10 min private charter planes already booked to fly into the UK as Fruit Farmers cant apparently get the help they need. Germany also has a raft of migrant workers arriving to do jobs.
Look at New Zealand's policy and you can see why they have such a low spread rate per population compared to us.
Am I missing something here, whats peoples views on this?

 

[Woosh]

we need them more.
apparently, some farmer in Lincolnshire advertised for crop pickers.
52,000 replied. When they been told the nature of the jobs and pay, only 62 are willing to work.
Either our farmers need to pay much more or our system needs to change.
Leaving crops rotting in the field is not an option.

 

[mike killay]

The plain fact is that UK farmers are not willing to pay a proper wage.

 

[Andy-Mat]

The plain fact is that UK farmers are not willing to pay a proper wage.

I think that it has more to do with customers using large supermarkets not wanting to pay double or even triple the prices for "local produce"....
(And I may have underestimated the difference!)
Andy

 

[nigelbb]

Is it me, I thought we were by social distancing, forced controlling our movements with this lockdown is helping slow the spread of this corona virus to protect the NHS?
The first batch of 180 migrant fruit pickers from Romania arrived yesterday by a private charter plane.
There are another 10 min private charter planes already booked to fly into the UK as Fruit Farmers cant apparently get the help they need. Germany also has a raft of migrant workers arriving to do jobs.
Look at New Zealand's policy and you can see why they have such a low spread rate per population compared to us.
Am I missing something here, whats peoples views on this?

New Zealand has a population of under 5 million with a land area the size of the United Kingdom. Their policy could not be applied to the UK & is probably not sustainable in any case unless they cut themselves off from the rest of the world for the next 18 months until a vaccine is available.

 

[nigelbb]

The plain fact is that UK farmers are not willing to pay a proper wage.

UK consumers are not prepared to pay a fair price for food. Food prices have been driven down enormously over the last 50-60 years. The proportion of the household budget that is spent on food is a fraction of what it was while housing costs are many times what they were.

 

[RossG]

At the same time people are constantly complaining about the cost of food in the UK citing prices in other countries, hence the popularity of large stores like Lidl & Aldi.

 

[nigelbb]

At the same time people are constantly complaining about the cost of food in the UK citing prices in other countries, hence the popularity of large stores like Lidl & Aldi.

I don't know what people complain about the price of food in the UK or what other countries they compare to but UK food is the cheapest in Europe mostly due to the supermarkets totally screwing their suppliers on price.

 

[Wicky]

The Tory plan to replace migrant farm workers after Brexit ('Will of the People') and mid pandemic lockdown with home grown pensioners* etc. is unviable and clearly not capable of plugging the gap - so pragmatically back to what we know works in the interim to get required essential key workers in.

“All passengers will be temperature checked, will have to fill in a questionnaire for a health declaration and will be given hand sanitiser and masks on the flight. They will also be socially distanced in the seating,” he said.

Romanian fruit pickers flown to UK amid crisis in farming sector

Charter flights organised after appeal fails to recruit enough British workers

www.theguardian.com

*Conservative MP Owen Paterson wanted to get pensioners to pick fruit for less than the minimum wage... (and) abolish the Agricultural Workers Scheme, which allowed Eastern European workers to come to the UK to do jobs like harvesting fruit and vegetables.

 

[Wicky]

Or dob a neighbour in for social distancing rule breaking... ;-)

Row erupts after Tory candidate calls for nuisance neighbours to live in tents and pick potatoes

A Tory candidate in a marginal seat has sparked a row after claiming nuisance neighbours should be forced to live “in a tent, in the middle o...

www.politicshome.com

 

[Andy52]

Or dob a neighbour in for social distancing rule breaking... ;-)

Row erupts after Tory candidate calls for nuisance neighbours to live in tents and pick potatoes

A Tory candidate in a marginal seat has sparked a row after claiming nuisance neighbours should be forced to live “in a tent, in the middle o...

www.politicshome.com

"Arbeit macht frei"

 

[Bobajob]

New Zealand has a population of under 5 million with a land area the size of the United Kingdom. Their policy could not be applied to the UK & is probably not sustainable in any case unless they cut themselves off from the rest of the world for the next 18 months until a vaccine is available.

Can you explain why?

 

[nigelbb]

Can you explain why?

You can stop the spread of the virus by a severe lockdown perhaps even eradicate it if you lockdown early enough. New Zealanders can only leave their homes to walk, buy groceries or see a doctor. Even if eradication succeeds its borders will have to remain closed to the rest of the world to keep the virus out. That will decimate the tourism industry which is its largest source of foreign exchange earnings.

 

[nigelbb]

“All passengers will be temperature checked, will have to fill in a questionnaire for a health declaration and will be given hand sanitiser and masks on the flight. They will also be socially distanced in the seating,” he said.

Travelling First Class with 2m separation between each passenger? I doubt it.

 

[RoadieRoger]

An Airbus A320 with 180 Passengers is full , no Social distancing there, unless some are sitting on the wings .

 

[MikelBikel]

First 190 Bulgarians, of some 900 expected, arrived in Ireland today, by air.
So maybe another plane, or they were packed in hold too, as freight! Hehe

Irish airline said it would restart flights with middle seat of each 3 empty. As we know the air, heated via the engines, is largely recirculated & filtration is minimal.

Seriously. No-one here wants the bad jobs, the pandemic just sharpens people's focus on them, and exposes the contradictions of shipping people across Europe to get veg out of the ground.

We still need to eat, so local produce is a strategic asset, and better than importing, *if* we can get it.

 

[RossG]

An Airbus A320 with 180 Passengers is full , no Social distancing there, unless some are sitting on the wings .

That's the discounted seating

 

[BazP]

Is it me, I thought we were by social distancing, forced controlling our movements with this lockdown is helping slow the spread of this corona virus to protect the NHS?
The first batch of 180 migrant fruit pickers from Romania arrived yesterday by a private charter plane.
There are another 10 min private charter planes already booked to fly into the UK as Fruit Farmers cant apparently get the help they need. Germany also has a raft of migrant workers arriving to do jobs.
Look at New Zealand's policy and you can see why they have such a low spread rate per population compared to us.
Am I missing something here, whats peoples views on this?

Whatever the wages paid by farmers, we have 1.4 million people out of work and drawing benefits which are coming out of yours and my tax. They should be made to do work if it is available. It’s not exactly technical work.

 

[Charliefox]

The plain fact is that UK farmers are not willing to pay a proper wage.

Do they have a choice when what they get for their produce is controlled by the supermarkets, nearly all the big 7. Are the same folks complaining about low wages prepared to pay more for their weekly shop? I wonder.

 

[Charliefox]

Whatever the wages paid by farmers, we have 1.4 million people out of work and drawing benefits which are coming out of yours and my tax. They should be made to do work if it is available. It’s not exactly technical work.

It is pretty back breaking work though if you have never done it before. Farmers say their East European regulars who come over ever year, are faster and better pickers, don't slack and spend time looking at their smart phones every half hour!