Seasonal workers on UK farms given ‘unhealthy and dangerous’ accommodation | ITV News
https://www.itv.com/news/2024-09-05/seasonal-workers-on-uk-farms-given-unhealthy-and-dangerous-accommodation?utm_source=NewsApp&utm_medium=SocialShare&fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR3WhgVHi8Sqktp6OTYcpzK2goGYyKa_cVgapkqOq-y_hmzv-LmzCNXRbVY_aem_ztdFpMisWQfJyT6Tiis9zA
Posted by Socialistinoneroom
10 Comments
“british people just dont want to work anymore” they would say as the reason they need foreign workers…
Who would have guessed the repeatedly mentioned issues of low pay, iffy as hell accomodation/charging for living on site etc might just be the issues? And the reason they want foreign workers is because its easier to exploit them?
Its not new, its been like this for a very long time, people just chose to ignore it.
There really should be more in this then “oh we wont do it again”, the farmers should have the land taken from them for starters, criminal prosecutions and prison terms should follow.
FAFO should be 100% in effect on these abusive people.
It would be a real shame if this put them off coming here.
The issue is that the government shouldn’t allow them to do this. It’s sad that foreign workers get exploited for this and British workers get the reputation of not wanting to do this kind of work. We need more regulation in the conditions these workers have to put up with, and if it meets the standard that’s expected I bet a lot of British people will apply to work their
Unfortunately, this kind of work is a race to the bottom. I was watching the news last week and a Cornish cauliflower farmer was saying that his Kyrgyz workers he brought in would sometimes work back breaking 13-hour shifts and could earn £100 if they worked quickly (He seemed to think this was good) ! He then bemoaned British workers for not taking this work. We do have our fair share of lazy folk of course we do but let’s not demonise British people for not being happy with slogging their guts out in a field for 13-hours for a pittance. The employment standards need to raise, not the other way around.
>ITV News has also learned how a two-bedroom caravan at Castleton is being rented out for approximately £1,200 per month.
>We checked and this is well above the going rate for two-bed accommodation in the area.
>For context, a modern two-bedroom modern apartment is commonly listed at less than half that price in the nearest towns.
How are they able to get away with that?
>Ultimately, government sets the rate for how much seasonal workers can be charged for accommodation
Oh right. This should be easy to fix then. The Government can set the rate to be lower and issue large fines to any farm overcharging.
It’s always been like this, unfortunately…. our addiction to cheap labour is the only reason some of our industries even function.
But I guess the same old excuses will be wheeled out by the farmers “nobody in the UK wants to work anymore” and “British people have become lazy”….. funny isn’t it, most of us will agree it’s inhumane to have people work like dogs for such little money, but we probably wouldn’t be happy about paying more for the products if it meant they got better working conditions & pay.
If we can afford to buy foreign food we an afford to grow food at home.
I might be swedes and cabbages though.
I do always enjoy the Brexit promise people still tout of “if you improve conditions British people will do it”. We should improve conditions but seasonal labour is an age old agricultural problem that has always attracted “outsiders”, traditionally it’s what travelling communities did. British people have probably been a minority of seasonal labourers for centuries – they were already working the farm the rest of the year or have some other full time occupation.
But you still need a load of labourers to turn up from nowhere at a certain time of year. So you need people who are mobile to do it where they earn enough in a few harvests to live somewhere cheaper the rest of the year. It’s how it’s always worked.
Nothing new, as student in 2003, (since 2006 actually I moved to UK, as despite farm i bloody felt in love in UK), i worked on strawberry farm. We lived in old wooden stable with some wooden division walls to create rooms, 2 double beds for 4 spaces in room 2.5mx3.5m, doors were made of textile curtain 😀 lol we called some agent from Erasmus (as it was organised by them as work experience for students, i was tgen 3rd yr student of agricultural university) to report..luckily we were heard, we had normal lockable doors installed and 2 people per room (farmer had to hire camper caravans). Lol 4 months, terrible fun..as students we werent really tgat bothered with the rest.
We’re totally don’t want modern slaves, honest.
Anyway, that’ll be £100 for the day you spent in the shack thanks.