Should our unemployed be forced to pick fruit?

[hauxwell 243]

Many Students worked in fruit picking during vacs, some went abroad to pick grapes and were taught to prune as well as pick. One of my aunts lived out in the countryside and did potato planting and picking before that was automated. Hard work but gave her extra income. As was said earlier Farmers who advertise locally get their labour locally, they will rehire good workers year after year.

Does anyone remember the outcry a few years ago when people were being picked up in vans to be taken out to farms to work and then finding that the Gangmasters were taking most of their wages no national insurance and tax arrangements, leaving in the dark getting back to the centre of Sheffield in the dark.

 

I can remember something about that. I know it was not fruit picking but I remember the disaster in Morcecame Bay when Chinese migrants drowned picking cockles, and I am sure that was Gangmasters doing the same thing.

[Margarita Ma 10]

I can remember something about that. I know it was not fruit picking but I remember the disaster in Morcecame Bay when Chinese migrants drowned picking cockles, and I am sure that was Gangmasters doing the same thing.

 

No not fruit picking it was winter vegetables. I think a lot of the Chinese who drowned were illegal immigrants poor sods, no chance at all, those sands are treacherous and need a local knowledge. I wonder how many odd ones were lost before the major tragedy happened. There is always someone ready to make a fortune off the back of some unwary, hapless, person.

[Beechwood_S6 101]

I've a new found respect for the uk and foreign unemployed, having met quite a few at the end of November, I can genuinely say I feel for them, decent honest and let down by employers who hire on zero hours, these people in particular were/are Royal Mail casuals hired in October on the promise of shift work through the Xmas period only to have their start dates put back by 2 weeks, then in the last couple of weeks to have every shift cancelled some very late on the very day they are meant to be working, this has been happening around the country not just to casuals hired for Xmas, but also by agency workers on zero hour contracts.

 

The only reason given for cancellations is not enough volume of work available, I can only imagine the inconvenience it must cause to their benefits etc meanwhile on the postal workers forum they are reporting very high levels of missed deliveries stacking up in delivery depots due the high volume of work.

 

based on the contact I have had with these supposed scrounges they are very far from work shy people just shafted by a system that is stacked against them, I can count myself to be in a very privileged position having never been in their a situation or likely ever to be, to be booked for 24 shifts and only needed on 2 of them must be so frustrating wasted travel expenses etc, Seems to be very little good will being shown at anytime of the year generally for those in economically hardship, they bare the brunt of any public or tabloid outcry.

[alchresearch 215]

No not fruit picking it was winter vegetables. I think a lot of the Chinese who drowned were illegal immigrants poor sods, no chance at all, those sands are treacherous and need a local knowledge. I wonder how many odd ones were lost before the major tragedy happened. There is always someone ready to make a fortune off the back of some unwary, hapless, person.

 

Its still happening, this report is from 2011, but there are still lots of Eastern Europeans doing it - I saw them on Saturday.

 

After more than 20 emergency call-outs since fishing resumed, the Ribble and Wirral cockle beds have been closed.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/the-northerner/2011/nov/08/cockle-beds-closed-lancashire

[ukdobby 224]

Saw a programme on benefit fraud last night,they were forging wage slips sect so though they worked full time could claim they worked less than 16 hours.

[Bob Arctor 11]

I've a new found respect for the uk and foreign unemployed, having met quite a few at the end of November, I can genuinely say I feel for them, decent honest and let down by employers who hire on zero hours, these people in particular were/are Royal Mail casuals hired in October on the promise of shift work through the Xmas period only to have their start dates put back by 2 weeks, then in the last couple of weeks to have every shift cancelled some very late on the very day they are meant to be working, this has been happening around the country not just to casuals hired for Xmas, but also by agency workers on zero hour contracts.

 

The only reason given for cancellations is not enough volume of work available, I can only imagine the inconvenience it must cause to their benefits etc meanwhile on the postal workers forum they are reporting very high levels of missed deliveries stacking up in delivery depots due the high volume of work.

 

based on the contact I have had with these supposed scrounges they are very far from work shy people just shafted by a system that is stacked against them, I can count myself to be in a very privileged position having never been in their a situation or likely ever to be, to be booked for 24 shifts and only needed on 2 of them must be so frustrating wasted travel expenses etc, Seems to be very little good will being shown at anytime of the year generally for those in economically hardship, they bare the brunt of any public or tabloid outcry.

 

Excellent points, well made. I too have met a lot of unemployed people, nearly all of whom really wanted to work but who need steady work; landlords and others want paying on time, not whenever the employer puts some work their way. The idea floated in the OP is based on a false premise, that there are lots of people who are happy living on £73.10 a week and just want to be left alone - there really aren't.

[Margarita Ma 10]

Excellent points, well made. I too have met a lot of unemployed people, nearly all of whom really wanted to work but who need steady work; landlords and others want paying on time, not whenever the employer puts some work their way. The idea floated in the OP is based on a false premise, that there are lots of people who are happy living on £73.10 a week and just want to be left alone - there really aren't.

 

Hear Here. An appalling state of affairs and then people wonder why there are so many homeless, not all landlords are understanding, we do have bills to pay too Insurance and other bills.

People very often don't get in touch to explain what has happened this is a big mistake. I had a tenant who used up all his savings before telling me he had lost his job. He could not see to make a claim so I had to help him make a back claim which was successful, he signed the payment over to me and I was able to refund him.

He could have saved himself the extra stress if he had got in touch sooner rather than later.

The Council will send out auto-generated letters when there are arrears and tenants can be terrified by them as they threaten court proceedings.