Fruit picking Jobs

[billysboy]

With so many Fruit Picking Jobs available aibu to think that a few of the people already in this country would want to take them up

It feels as if we are paying 1m to stay at home rather than take up this work
Its hard work no doubt but also pays £10-15 an hour is it beneath too many people?

I doubt physical distancing will genuinely be possible, picking fruit and veg and living on site. I doubt workers will get PPE, either. That might be putting people off. That along with many people being too unfit to cope with the work!

A friend’s son has been furloughed. I suggested he applied to one of our major supermarkets as they were crying out for people.
She said his employer told the workforce if any of them took up other jobs they would be sacked.
Regarding the fruit pickers. I have read loads of posts from local people who have applied and they received a reply saying all the posts had been filled.

honestly you don’t need previous experience to pick fruit! Utter tosh.

You do if you want to earn decent money.

By definition, there isn't a lot of people living where the farms are. We are talking very long commute or staying over. It is seasonal work. So yes, quite difficult to train and keep people that have been trained.They have to move along to the next job, which might beon the other sideof the country. OP are you willing to do so?

and yes, brexit will be marvellous! LOL! We don't need foreigners! Our NHS is definetely going to do fine, and our farms, buses, cleaners,etc.....all these jobs will be taken by brits.LOL!

and even with this practice run, people will still say we will be fine.....

When I was a 6th former, this was seen as a summer job opportunity, an adventure away from home for a couple of months in another part of the UK. Students would be perfect for this work, if it was marketed to them as a lifestyle opportunity maybe?

Regarding the fruit pickers. I have read loads of posts from local people who have applied and they received a reply saying all the posts had been filled.

Not surprised at all. It makes me cross that these farmers think they are above anyone else. I’m not a brexiter I just think this reveals some really bad practices, shipping people over to do crap jobs and pay them rubbish and not protect them is one of them.

Recruit from the UK, protect them, come on uk farmers!

Btw, I am certainly not adverse to 12 hour shifts plus travel. Done those shifts most of my career - supermarket and nursery - leaving the house at 6am and returning 7pm. Old hand at that. Also multiple job juggling. Took on cleaning for a year to help me save money whilst already working shifts.
People who complain about those working patterns drive me nuts. That’s normal hours for so many.
I don’t do 12 hour days (everyday) any more, and the pay cheque reflects that. Just a measly 10 hours door to door. That’s my choice.
I know there’s plenty of work shy brits and people who just can’t handle tougher conditions (and the use of the word tough differs considerably - some would call “tough” have to work 4 hours without a tea break and some would call tough having to face minus temperatures and work in the dark or work without adequate PPE).

I'm glad other people are making the obvious points:

(i) they don't want british people doing the picking
(ii) the way they ensure this is to make living on site in a caravan a condition of the role. Fine if you're coming over from Eastern Europe for a few months, not fine if you live down the road.
(iii) charging over the odds for the (shit) on-site accommodation is their way of (in effect) paying below the national minimum wage

Anyone found guilty of breaking the rules should be sentenced to picking a certain amount of fruit.

honestly you don’t need previous experience to pick fruit! Utter tosh.

Well if whoever is doing the recruitment wants previous experience then you do. You can't force someone to give you a job.

@lua plenty of local people seem to be interested in these farms. And the training? That is rubbish really. It doesn’t take long to get up to speed - I know I’ve done it a lot. It’s just a faff for farmers. They don’t want the faff of having workers who actually want not to live there and be dictated to in a ‘work gang’ and might even want some more rights.

All the ppl moaning about our ppl not wanting the jobs- then ignore the fact that plenty of posters have said they or their children have applied and heard nothing back.

OP, you're not unreasonable at all. However, the reality is most British people are not interested, unlike what the Brexiteers were preaching. It appears beneath them, yes, even in the pandemic.

Recruit from the UK, protect them, come on uk farmers!

This is fine as long as you're willing to accept the consequence of increased food costs.

@isabellerossignol you can call BS though and I do! It’s just an unnecessary barrier without substance, and I know because I’ve done this job a lot. They are hiding that they want fast workers poorly paid probably and that is not something we should encourage in any business in the Uk. In fact I do think there are many many bad explorations or particularly immigrants and poor people in the UK that COVID 19 is exposing. This is our opportunity to call it out.

I’d also stop zero contract hours... but that is another rant for another day!

dd was told it was until October when she applied, She is due to hear back on Monday.

Exploitations of immigrants that should read!

The fact is farmers only want eastern Europeans because they know they will not object to shit living/working conditions.

@PubsClubsMinistryOfSound I would gladly pay more for my fruit. I would gladly pay more for my clothes (no more zero contracts, no slave or child labour).

I think most of us would rather pay more wouldn’t we?

Anyway, I like many picked fruit when I was young, I got paid by the amount I picked, and fruit wasn’t extortionately priced.

@happyandsingle exactly. I worry about those ‘work gangs’ for many reasons. Bad conditions. Possibly other not great stuff going on too.

@MrsMGE Have you actually read what people have been saying on this thread? "Lazy brits, work beneath them" is often touted out to cover the fact that farmers want imported eastern european workers for various reasons AND that most people in the UK care more for cheap food than worry about explotive labour on farms.

I’m in my 40s, active, fit and hard working.

I looked at fruit picking jobs. Times were fine and happy to do long back breaking hours & travel there and back but can’t leave my family to live on site & definitely not happy to pay for accommodation when I have a house to live in.

I have friends who work on an organic farm, I used to volunteer with them. They've had a lot of applications - unfortunately most mention being furloughed so go straight through the shredder. They haven't go the time/resources to investigate every applicant to see what their contracts allow and don't allow. Not to mention that they don't really want to train up a lot of people who would just vanish in a flurry of self backpats in a months time.

I would and do pay more for my fresh fruit and veg yes, as it mostly comes from the grocer not the supermarket. But I can afford to. It's a fact that there are lots of people who even before covid lacked the ability to make that choice and who wouldn't be able to pay more. If you want to do something that will increase the cost of fresh produce, that isn't an intrinsically bad thing in itself, but it requires a plan for tackling the problem of people being priced out of buying it.

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