Foreign Workers Flown In To Pick Seasonal Fruit And Veg

[FIRETHORN1 58]

Thanks for all the replies. I agree that any employer - not just the fruit farmers - should have to pay at least the legal minimum wage and provide the required training and PPE for employees. If the jobs require the workers to live in or on site, the accommodation and food provided to employees should be of a legal standard too.

 

If all the above criteria are met, then all fit and healthy people should be working...if there is work available. The benefits system should only exist for people who are unable to work, due to illness, carer responsibilities etc. No fit and healthy person,  who is capable of working, should be allowed to live on the state just as a "life-style choice". If they refuse to take any legally paid job that meets all the necessary criteria, then stop their benefits - and give more to the people who really deserve to be on benefits.

   

[apelike 10]

5 hours ago, ECCOnoob said:

I simply do not believe that anybody is so dense as you are making out.

 

What the hell you talking about it - it does not have to be picked.  Of course it bloody does.  

 

No it does not! We are talking here about seasonal fruit and veg and its called seasonal for a reason. Most of that at the moment is mainly soft fruits, lettuce and salad stuff which we can do without as it is normally extra to the staple diet foods. Missing one season of picking will not be much of a problem and as I have already stated it sometimes also happens when the weather causes havoc. We are spending £billions keeping people at home to do nothing for a reason as like most countries we are also in lockdown. Now here is a thought, how about those that are now at home being paid to do nothing being called upon to pick it instead of going to the expense of flying in load of others to do it... Would that satisfy you? 

 

Quote

Someone's entire livelihood is based upon making a profit from their efforts in growing that produce.  Those food items that they have produced then becomes the first step in a huge chain of food supply.

 

Does that not also apply to the other businesses that have now stopped operating whose livelihoods are also based on making a profit or is growing fruit somehow different?

 

5 hours ago, ECCOnoob said:

Just how exactly do you think the supermarket shelves get filled and food products that we are queuing up to buy get made.  Feeding the nation isn't done by magic pixie dust and fairy farts.  

 

Just how many have you seen queuing up to buy strawberries, blackcurrants, raspberries etc? Feeding the nation just on fruit I think would actually add to the fairy aroma!

 

Quote

Just take 2 seconds to look at the bigger picture.  You are talking absolute nonsense.

 

I have but it seems you can understand the fact that this is seasonal fruit and veg as per the thread title and the fact that those items are not normally part of the staple diet but a nice addition. I like the occasional salad, I like strawbs but could I go without ... yes of course. 

Edited April 25, 2020 by apelike

[Albert the Cat 0]

11 minutes ago, apelike said:

 

No it does not! We are talking here about seasonal fruit and veg and its called seasonal for a reason. Most of that at the moment is mainly soft fruits, lettuce and salad stuff which we can do without as it is normally extra to the staple diet foods. Missing one season of picking will not be much of a problem and as I have already stated it sometimes also happens when the weather causes havoc. We are spending £billions keeping people at home to do nothing for a reason as like most countries we are also in lockdown. Now here is a thought, how about those that are now at home being paid to do nothing being called upon to pick it instead of going to the expense of flying in load of others to do it... Would that satisfy you? 

 

 

Does that not also apply to the other businesses that have now stopped operating whose livelihoods are also based on making a profit or is growing fruit somehow different?

 

 

Just how many have you seen queuing up to buy strawberries, blackcurrants, raspberries etc? Feeding the nation just on fruit I think would actually add to the fairy aroma!

 

 

I have but it seems you can understand the fact that this is seasonal fruit and veg as per the thread title and the fact that those items are not normally part of the staple diet but a nice addition. I like the occasional salad, I like strawbs but could I go without ... yes of course. 

Long may this lockdown continue.  The social divide needs widening.  

[melthebell 862]

On 24/04/2020 at 22:47, apelike said:

It is but as you have already pointed out it is cheaper for the farmers to get the labour flown in as they then have more control over them. The same is also happening elsewhere in Europe because the farmers go for profit over any safety concerns. Will the pickers be wearing PPE to protect fruit and veg from being coughed or spat on while picking as this all seems very dodgy to me.

 

https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-flying-in-fruit-pickers-from-countries-in-lockdown-is-dangerous-for-everyone-136551

 

Lockdown should mean lockdown so I wont be encouraging any of this and will simply not buy any summer fruit such as strawbs etc. 

 

 

 

Usual anti foreigner crap, so UK pickers won't have the virus too? instead of? As has been pointed out you didn't care about the hygiene of pickers pre 2020 why now? As i believe the virus only lasts on surfaces a short time? Less so on porous surfaces

[apelike 10]

Now quote me on the bit where I said I didn't care about the hygiene of pickers pre 2020 will you otherwise I must assume that is just your usual misguided "he" implied it guff! In any case I have already explained that these foreigners as you put it are already living over here when they come, in crowded and unhealthy conditions which are just rife for spreading this virus, and all this just to pick the seasonal fruit and veg you wish to consume at their expense!

 

You may also believe the virus only lasts on the surface a short time but that is just what you believe and not based on any facts otherwise we would not be encouraged to keep washing our hands. Other viruses and bacteria are known to transfer this way as I have already pointed out and surely it is better to err on the safe side rather than do what you believe. By all accounts anyway Boris is set to announce  soon that all foreigners (as you put it)  and others will need to undergo 14 days quarantine when they enter the UK, so will the fruit pickers now be exempt so you can enjoy your strawberries and cream?

Edited April 26, 2020 by apelike

[Anna B 1,401]

Lack of British workers picking fruit and vegetables has nothing to do with coronavirus.

 

According to a report on TV News programme, the main cause is lack of transport, (many poorly paid British workers do not have cars, and farms and fields are often in remote areas not served by public transport.) And accomodation; foreign workers often arrive for the season, and live on site or together in digs where they can be picked up daily, and taken to the fields in vans. 

British workers on the other hand, have rent or mortgages and council tax to pay, which doesn't stop when they are working away from home and also having to pay for onsite accomodation. The pay is not good, particularly when set against the British cost of living. For British workers it is simply not a viable option.   

 

 

[andyofborg 11]

On 24/04/2020 at 21:52, Baron99 said:

you'd have thought by now we'd have invented some machinery that could do most harvesting work.

some harvesting is quite fiddly, particularly soft fruits like raspberries. You could make a machine which harvested the crop but it wouldn't be saleable either.

 

modern tech can help and i beleive there are moves with the possible loss of fruit pickers due to leaving the EU.

 

the problem is that developing these things costs and the machines wont be cheap either and requires the sort of  medium to long term investment that the country refuses to do 

 

 

Edited April 26, 2020 by andyofborg

[apelike 10]

16 hours ago, FIRETHORN1 said:

Thanks for all the replies. I agree that any employer - not just the fruit farmers - should have to pay at least the legal minimum wage and provide the required training and PPE for employees. If the jobs require the workers to live in or on site, the accommodation and food provided to employees should be of a legal standard too.

 

If all the above criteria are met, then all fit and healthy people should be working...if there is work available.

 

Sorry FIREHORN if I seemed to have skipped this post but I agree and can't fault any of that. I believe the employes, farmers in this case, already have to comply with minimum wage but most of this type of work is on piece work so final wages depend on the amount picked and its quality and is not based on an hourly rate. As this is temporary work I'm not sure about any standards that have to apply to the included accommodation or conditions though.

 

When I did a stint of around 6 weeks picking strawbs and fruit on a farm in Nynehead Somerset I lived in a tent on the farm. The facilities were sparse, toilets constantly overflowing, a couple of standpipes for water and no washing facilities. But that was a while ago and I hope it has all changed for the better since then.

 

16 hours ago, FIRETHORN1 said:

The benefits system should only exist for people who are unable to work, due to illness, carer responsibilities etc. No fit and healthy person,  who is capable of working, should be allowed to live on the state just as a "life-style choice". If they refuse to take any legally paid job that meets all the necessary criteria, then stop their benefits - and give more to the people who really deserve to be on benefits.

   

 

The above is really a different topic as it is now about benefits and entitlement to them which is something already done to death on SF.

 

 

[melthebell 862]

12 hours ago, apelike said:

Now quote me on the bit where I said I didn't care about the hygiene of pickers pre 2020 will you otherwise I must assume that is just your usual misguided "he" implied it guff! In any case I have already explained that these foreigners as you put it are already living over here when they come, in crowded and unhealthy conditions which are just rife for spreading this virus, and all this just to pick the seasonal fruit and veg you wish to consume at their expense!

 

You may also believe the virus only lasts on the surface a short time but that is just what you believe and not based on any facts otherwise we would not be encouraged to keep washing our hands. Other viruses and bacteria are known to transfer this way as I have already pointed out and surely it is better to err on the safe side rather than do what you believe. By all accounts anyway Boris is set to announce  soon that all foreigners (as you put it)  and others will need to undergo 14 days quarantine when they enter the UK, so will the fruit pickers now be exempt so you can enjoy your strawberries and cream?

complete and utter guff...again

[apelike 10]

22 minutes ago, melthebell said:

complete and utter guff...again

Which bits as the first paragraph is true and the second is just based on what you think is true and not what is true. Now can you answer the bit about whether you think fruit pickers entering the country should now be exempt from any 14 days quarantine rules if introduced?

[melthebell 862]

1 minute ago, apelike said:

Which bits as the first paragraph is true and the second is just based on what you think is true and not what is true. Now can you answer the bit about whether you think fruit pickers entering the country should now be exempt from any 14 days quarantine rules if introduced?

nothing you wrote is "true" or factual, its just more xenophobic opinion from yourself, but i expect nothing less

[apelike 10]

1 minute ago, melthebell said:

nothing you wrote is "true" or factual, its just more xenophobic opinion from yourself, but i expect nothing less

Glad to hear it so care to answer the question now about quarantine and fruit pickers? It seems odd that people who have been knocking this government's response to C-19 and were complaining that flights were being allowed into the country with people going unchecked are now complaining when it is being suggested that quarantine restriction may have to be put in place. Would quarantine restrictions also be anti foreigner and xenophobic or is that the right thing to do.

 

Perhaps you could also answer this, do you think it right that foreign cheap labour should be used to pick the fruit for farms just for profit and that the people should live in crowded and sparse cramped condition whilst doing so?