Fruit picking? Are they f***ing serious?

[emmcan]

So whichever hapless muppet got dragged out today to do the daily lying to the gullible has suggested that furloughed workers could br picking fruit.

Fuck me, how fucking badly run is this shitshow?

The reason that we have had a two decades of migrant workers doing these jobs is because British people are too lazy and incompetent to do them.

And now they expect furloughed workers to head out into the fields and get their hands dirty?

It will happen, in a fashion, as they will just stop paying money to people who refuse to work, but it will be an appalling form of slave labour.

Peppermint, you're throwing your toys out of the pram and derailing a discussion instead of presenting any reasonable arguments.

I'm not telling you what to do. I know what I'm going to do if I'm furloughed, I've made that clear. I am allowed an opinion about attitudes like yours, which I do not understand or support. You haven't said anything that would reasonably justify it, so you cannot be surprised.

leckford Mon 27-Apr-20 08:15:15
It would help with the obesity epidemic, people outside doing exercise whilst picking

Oh how lovely. You are willing to sacrifice the ambulance that would come out to you if you catch Covid to the obese person who has a heart attack in the fruit field Thats so kind. Has to be the nicest post on this thread.

I'm doing nothing of the sort, MrsM, I'm too busy laughing. This isn't a debate forum, it's fucking MN. Sheep are far cuter than people masquerading as them.

It is a forum. The level of discussion is determined by the participants, peppermint.

The Dementors are out in full force on this thread, Helena . It's even got a mention on another thread. Don't forget, the ambulance might also have to miss out on the kids who have an accident after being left in the hedge. Ooops! Another one bites the dust! All in the name of Der Vaterland!

Yes, I'm a participant, Mrs. 😂😂😂

This is the thread that keeps on giving!

peppermint as a pedant and also speaker of German, it's das Vaterland. Or if you want to go full bore, die Heimat.

And I don't blame you for having that concept spring to mind, I feel much the same.

Dementors.

Thanks, pointy . I need to practice so I can properly hail the Almighty Government. 😂

@Waxonwaxoff0 obviously, you timed your ds badly. If you were pregnant then all your excuses would become quite reasonable practical considerations like they are for @MrsMGE. Indeed, if your ds is old enough for school then he's old enough to pick fruit himself, instead of shirking at home and expecting to be kept from handouts.

Actually mrs you should be willing to earn your maternity pay handout, so you should be willing to fruit pick too.

Peppermint, I'm not British, but of mixed origin, so apologies if I sometimes make almighty mistakes, such as spelling "Government" with a capital "G". Feel free to continue to take the piss if that's your main concern, though.

@TrainspottingWelsh Well as it happens, I am earning my maternity handout... I am also saving as much as I can because I'm realistic about the state of the economy and I know full well returning after mat leave in times like these when a lot of people will lose their jobs might well be very difficult. What is your point? Also, forgive me that I've accidentally got pregnant in the pandemic after multiple losses before, indeed I've timed it so well on purpose, haven't I.

@TrainspottingWelsh hey, why stop there? We may as well hark back to the good old days when you got sent to the poorhouse. Maybe that will make some posters happy.

It wont be long till we will have some employment occupancy centres (workhouses) and the disabled, unemployed and now according to some the furloughed

Those of you who think youre safe from the 'volunteering' of others, this government have already stripped away the support from the social care budget and raised the retirement age, dont think youre safe, but of course you wont mind, after all there are some very rich people relying on you for their profit

@Waxonwaxoff0 I'm sorry if I've upset you (or anyone else) with anything I said, I genuinely didn't intend to. I think some of my post came across more blunt or black&white than intended. I'm certainly far from thinking you or anyone else on here should be forced to do anything regardless of their circumstances. The attitude I was talking about is very much mine and my colleagues and friends on furlough, who are very keen to work, wherever. But I can now see that maybe this isn't common, for various reasons.

Whereas the reality is that if the Govt makes reasonable provisions and request furloughed workers to work, there are no excuses.

So why not address that companies have written into their furlough contract that people can't work elsewhere?
And why not create a system where furlough workers can work as a volunteer in care/retail/agriculture?

I have tried the second because I'm affected by the first, it's paid job or nothing.

But easier and far more satisfying to ignore that and just keep banging on about how furloughed workers are lazy and should be doing their bit. Crack on if it makes you feel good.

Right @MrsMGE. You're earning the maternity leave and pay because you've worked prior to it and will again after. But furloughed workers in exactly the same position, except the leave is likely to be shorter, owe something back.

Yy @Waxonwaxoff0 why not, and then the work house can hire them out as forced labour. Fuck it, might as well have chain gangs, we'd deserve it because we all specifically picked our jobs and careers so we could get handouts to sit at home in the event of a global pandemic. Dp won't be furloughed so does that mean we can keep one dc and workhouse the other or can they do shifts? Or as teens should they be volunteering down a mine?

@MrsMGE it's fine. I'm just fed up of the insinuation that I'm lazy and have a bad attitude because I've been furloughed through no fault of my own and I'm not automatically jumping to do another job instead. I have a job, I'm not on Jobseeker's Allowance, I just can't do that job at the moment. I'm keen to return to it as soon as I can, I'm not enjoying being on furlough. Meanwhile there are people out there who have lost their jobs and they do need permanent work. It just seems silly for me to take one of those jobs that someone else is desperate for, when I have a job that I will be going back to.

TrainspottingWelsh EXACTLY

@Waxonwaxoff0 I completely get that. I had the same conversation with a very good friend of mine (who is also one of my furloughed colleagues). I think that's a valid point, she agreed. We then said that a sensible thing to do is to wait a bit and see how the situation pans out - in hope that the first wave of those who can't get any support or lost their jobs will fill the vacancies first, so they can make money to live. I think you're completely right. I'm sorry if what I said made you feel as if you personally were lazy and not keen to work. That's not what I meant at all. My comments were aimed at the attitude of willing/not willing to do something to change things for better now. I genuinely meant that well, as I see it as a positive thing. My colleagues also said that actually having the opportunity to help out in any other job right now, paid or volunteering, would be a good thing. To me it brings out the sense of community, support, fulfillment etc. A sense of pride. And that's why I've struggled to understand why some see it as a threat, as something awful or unnecessary. That's all. I gather that some of you will laugh at that, and maybe I'm being completely naive, but that is my belief.

I disagree, whilst the furloughed have some income, plenty of people have lost their jobs and lots of university students are on holidays - it's not unreasonable for those who are fit enough and either in the right location or able to temporarily relocate to onsite accommodation to take picking jobs especially if they otherwise would be claiming benefits. My students dc's have applied to pick vegetables and transport is provided by the farmer each day from a couple of miles from where they live

@MrsMGE - out of interest are you leaving home and knocking on every farm gate you can find, offering to harvest veg for less than minimum wage for the good of the community or are you just suggesting lesser mortals do it?

@ellanwood I'm working full time, still in my job, look after two elderly households of family members and I'm a registered volunteer for the NHS. If I'm furloughed, I will apply for any job, paid on unpaid, that will take me when pregnant, yes, most likely deliveries. Failing that I'll volunteer to speak to elderly people, do free training sessions or webinars for others, do everything I can do in my position, yes. In answer to your question, in my region there is one farm that is currently recruiting, and if they can safely take me on, I don't see why not.

There have been plenty of British people applying for the fruit picker jobs, my husband looked at applying but they are only accepting applicants that are willing to live in their on site caravans. The farmers already own the caravans and they get to deduct “rent” from workers wages to have them live there which works out cheaper for the farmers. Funnily enough most people in Britain don’t want to up and leave their homes to live in a caravan and take less than minimum wage.

You could volunteer for fencing duty mrs. Anywhere with livestock always has ongoing maintenance and repairs. Like fruit picking, it's heavy work for the average sedentary person, and the method needs to be learnt. Speed wouldn't be too important as an unpaid volunteer. But I did a fair bit throughout pregnancy, and I've done my neighbours usual share during lockdown so if we're all going to suggest activities for others based on what we'd do ourselves, then no reason you can't do the same.