Going after the workers but not the companies doesn’t solve the problem. The government will only play a permanent whack-a-mole as these companies continue to hire more migrants to do their bidding. The gig economy is not the only sector it’s happening in either, the social care sector has a lot of bad faith employers exploiting and scamming foreign migrants too.
RangoCricket on
Given that Labour had their conference sponsored by deliveroo, and the whole P&O debacle, don’t expect anything to happen here, unless it’s to fuck the workers over.
IllustriousLynx8099 on
So these are the same people who were interviewed by the Guardian last month and are now shocked that immigration came knocking? Imagine somebody in the Home Office couldn’t believe their luck when they read that article.
The Government do need to crack down on account sharing on these apps.
Lidl_Security_Guard on
When a fucking *guardian* article has this:
> There are estimated to be between 800,000 and 1.2 million undocumented migrants in the UK who do not have valid visas or other types of immigration documentation. More than half of them have been in the country for at least five years.
You MUST concede there is a massive problem.
Minimum-Geologist-58 on
Sometimes the British State is the master of turning a blind eye and feigning ignorance. “A lot of Deliveroo riders are the victims of modern slavery? I’m shocked I tell you! Shocked!”
Whereas it’s been pretty bloody obvious to the general public for years!
blahchopz on
They need to clamp the loop on “barely can drive” riders as well as taxi drivers
MeanCustardCreme on
My wife is an immigrant, and as a result I have a broad network of family and friends who are also immigrants. I also speak a second language, and have a fair amount of visibility to their community in the UK. I do not have an issue with people coming to the UK and trying to make something of their lives, but my wife and friends all did it legally, and got jobs that were above board, paid their taxes, and have built successful careers.
However there is a serious problem with people coming to the UK on “holidays” and staying for years. Yes, I somewhat sympathise with those who are being “taken advantage of” by businesses, but on the other hand they are here illegally. It’s not just Deliveroo drivers and the likes, but it extends to small time drug dealing, and a bunch of other illegal activities that have an impact on the country as a whole.
There are entire areas, with caravans, houses, flats, with illegal immigrants working under cover. Often they will rent a house with 4 rooms, with multiple people in a singe room. There are beds which are rented, with two people taking shifts on a bed. For example, a nightshift worker coming back home in the morning and swapping with somebody who has a day job.
But to say this is “victims of labour exploitation” is pretty weird mental gymnastics. I’ve seen other cases where it is presented as the UK introducing some kind of modern slavery, when the network is almost entirely driven by the illegal immigrants themselves. Of course, people lap it up because it adds to their idea that Britain are historically racist colonisers looking take advantage of “slaves”.
These people know what they are doing. They are here illegally, not paying taxes, and doing jobs in the undercurrent. They take advantage of weak points in our culture, claiming they are being exploited, when they are doing the exploiting.
I see other comments saying that this is the fault of the companies involved. However it doesn’t need to be one or the other. It can simultaneously be an issue with both companies and illegal immigration.
Ebeneezer_G00de on
“Campos echoed calls by the deputy leader of [Bristol](https://www.theguardian.com/uk/bristol) council, Heather Mack, to give undocumented workers a route to citizenship to protect them from exploitation. Mack said: “Why not create a way to help immigrants work here legally? That way, they would be helping us and at the same time gaining more labour to help the country grow.”
Why not send them back to Brazil and create a way to help our own young people work here for proper secure jobs with guaranteed hours and wages and salaries that are actually not only enough to live on but enough to raise and support a family on?
Why not bring back cookery lessons into schools and ensure people have time to actually cook proper meals from fresh locally sourced ingrediets instead of using an app?
As for UBER and Deliveroo’s role in all this, that’s the globalised techno feudal neo liberal system working exactly as it is supposed to. I’d happily ban those delivery apps actually
8 Comments
Going after the workers but not the companies doesn’t solve the problem. The government will only play a permanent whack-a-mole as these companies continue to hire more migrants to do their bidding. The gig economy is not the only sector it’s happening in either, the social care sector has a lot of bad faith employers exploiting and scamming foreign migrants too.
Given that Labour had their conference sponsored by deliveroo, and the whole P&O debacle, don’t expect anything to happen here, unless it’s to fuck the workers over.
So these are the same people who were interviewed by the Guardian last month and are now shocked that immigration came knocking? Imagine somebody in the Home Office couldn’t believe their luck when they read that article.
The Government do need to crack down on account sharing on these apps.
When a fucking *guardian* article has this:
> There are estimated to be between 800,000 and 1.2 million undocumented migrants in the UK who do not have valid visas or other types of immigration documentation. More than half of them have been in the country for at least five years.
You MUST concede there is a massive problem.
Sometimes the British State is the master of turning a blind eye and feigning ignorance. “A lot of Deliveroo riders are the victims of modern slavery? I’m shocked I tell you! Shocked!”
Whereas it’s been pretty bloody obvious to the general public for years!
They need to clamp the loop on “barely can drive” riders as well as taxi drivers
My wife is an immigrant, and as a result I have a broad network of family and friends who are also immigrants. I also speak a second language, and have a fair amount of visibility to their community in the UK. I do not have an issue with people coming to the UK and trying to make something of their lives, but my wife and friends all did it legally, and got jobs that were above board, paid their taxes, and have built successful careers.
However there is a serious problem with people coming to the UK on “holidays” and staying for years. Yes, I somewhat sympathise with those who are being “taken advantage of” by businesses, but on the other hand they are here illegally. It’s not just Deliveroo drivers and the likes, but it extends to small time drug dealing, and a bunch of other illegal activities that have an impact on the country as a whole.
There are entire areas, with caravans, houses, flats, with illegal immigrants working under cover. Often they will rent a house with 4 rooms, with multiple people in a singe room. There are beds which are rented, with two people taking shifts on a bed. For example, a nightshift worker coming back home in the morning and swapping with somebody who has a day job.
But to say this is “victims of labour exploitation” is pretty weird mental gymnastics. I’ve seen other cases where it is presented as the UK introducing some kind of modern slavery, when the network is almost entirely driven by the illegal immigrants themselves. Of course, people lap it up because it adds to their idea that Britain are historically racist colonisers looking take advantage of “slaves”.
These people know what they are doing. They are here illegally, not paying taxes, and doing jobs in the undercurrent. They take advantage of weak points in our culture, claiming they are being exploited, when they are doing the exploiting.
I see other comments saying that this is the fault of the companies involved. However it doesn’t need to be one or the other. It can simultaneously be an issue with both companies and illegal immigration.
“Campos echoed calls by the deputy leader of [Bristol](https://www.theguardian.com/uk/bristol) council, Heather Mack, to give undocumented workers a route to citizenship to protect them from exploitation. Mack said: “Why not create a way to help immigrants work here legally? That way, they would be helping us and at the same time gaining more labour to help the country grow.”
Why not send them back to Brazil and create a way to help our own young people work here for proper secure jobs with guaranteed hours and wages and salaries that are actually not only enough to live on but enough to raise and support a family on?
Why not bring back cookery lessons into schools and ensure people have time to actually cook proper meals from fresh locally sourced ingrediets instead of using an app?
As for UBER and Deliveroo’s role in all this, that’s the globalised techno feudal neo liberal system working exactly as it is supposed to. I’d happily ban those delivery apps actually