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.

Funny to hear these farmers crying to the press when they voted out of the EU en masse

Did they? All farmers voted out if the EU? Could you post your source please, the only farmers I saw on the news etc all wanted to stay in...

Oh this thread is a hot bed of stereotypes! and Obviously Furloughed are now the lazy feckless fuckers, scum of the earth.

The government talking to industries and planning with them? stinks of the Mat Hancock "we're working with the supermarkets" and the supermarkets saying "what? when? you haven't talked us"

We have a government who have no idea about logistics or planning. But think if the say something it will magically come true.

They want something to work and don't understand why their want needs more than a click of their fingers.

It was very common in the 90s for British students to do fruit picking in the summer holidays. Funny how things change.

Yes things have changed drastically, rtft or at least the post above yours

“The British are among the worst idlers in the world.”
Britannia Unchained, a book written by apriti Patel, Dominic Arab, Lisa Truss and Kwasi Karteng.
This is what the Tories think of the British people.
So you may have a point, OP.

i did it too- lasted three days. it was hard.

brexiteers are full of it- they created the problem, they can solve it.

The interesting bit is that furloughed workers will be fruit picking in JUNE.
Therefore lockdown is not expected to end before then.

@pointythings has it in one. There's plenty of labour in England / the UK that could be doing these jobs and this is long before furloughing came in but companies like paying shit wages and there you have it.

British people aren’t too lazy or incompetent- we have worked tireless for years to achieve some of the best working conditions and minimum wage etc etc.

Unfortunately the dismal conditions, e.g having to live on site in rotten caravans, whilst getting your wages docked for the privilege, plus sub standard wages are not attractive to the British people.

Not to mention the people trafficking gangs.

You keep telling yourself British people are incompetent and lazy, whilst supporting modern day slave labour from poor Eastern European countries, at least the cost of strawberries won’t go above £4 a punnet...

My first thought would that this would be ideal for students and teenagers off school.

When I was young it was quite common for us locals, usually 12+, to help on local farms with bring fruit and veg crops in for a bit of pocket money.

So i went online as i thought my 15 and 16 year olds would enjoy it, get them out the house and some money.

But it’s 18+ now?

I'm furloughed just now, living in Scotland (if that makes a difference), and looked into doing some picking while off.

The first obstacle, as pointed out previously, is you have to check your contract with your current employer before taking up other work. Mine states that I can't take up additonal work without first discussing, and getting approval, from my current boss (they were fine as long as I would be able to come back to work for them immediately when lockdown restrictions are relaxed for our industry). That's a big issue, most of the farms I looked at wanted people who could commit for the whole picking season, so I was no good to them.

The one's who didn't offered NMW but where eitheocated miles away from regular public transport, with very early start times,

"British workers are "among the worst idlers in the world", a group of Conservative MPs has claimed.

The UK "rewards laziness", does not encourage risk-taking and must strive to emulate the work ethic and low-tax culture in parts of Asia, the five MPs argue in a book due out next month.

The authors include Elizabeth Truss and Dominic Raab, both tipped to be promoted in a future reshuffle.

"Too many people in Britain prefer a lie-in to hard work," they argue.

The other contributors to Britannia Unchained are Priti Patel, Chris Skidmore and Kwasi Kwarteng, influential members of the "class of 2010"

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-19300051

All farmers voted out if the EU? Could you post your source please, the only farmers I saw on the news etc all wanted to stay in

54/44 in favour of leave.

The interesting bit is that furloughed workers will be fruit picking in JUNE

That's not what it means at all. Some measures are obviously going to be in place and the scheme has been extended to the end of june. Even after june some firms will be laying off staff they know theyll need at a later date because they cant function fully. It remains to be seen if the scheme will be further extended (unlikely I reckon).

It can't be slave labour if you're being paid. I wouldn't mind fruit picking if I was young. I'm not so I'm off the hook.

Where on Earth are these magical fruit picking jobs? I live in a rural part of England which produces a lot of fruit and veg, but the nearest farm I can find with vacancies is over 30 miles away.

But it IS slave labour, we import foreign workers to take advantage of their need to earn money, and to keep the costs down in supermarkets.

Trafficking gangs bring droves of migrant workers to the uk to live and work on farms.

Oops I posted the wrong bit there, but you get the gist.

I had a look out of interest (I'm still working and shielding so cant actually do it) and one of the companies decided pay on how much you picked which I thought was interesting. Presumably they cant drop below NMW though?

All farmers voted out if the EU? Could you post your source please, the only farmers I saw on the news etc all wanted to stay in

54/44 in favour of leave.

So nowhere near "all farmers" then...

What a load of ignorant, uninformed bollocks.
Firstly, I don't see why people that normally work should be the first choice for enforced labour. I'm a net contributor that's now been furloughed, do I fuck need to earn my 'handout'.

Secondly, the uk is a nation of greedy big supermarkets and cheap skate shoppers that won't pay the actual cost of producing food, so farmers have no choice but cheap imported labour. If buyers started paying the real cost, then decent working conditions and pay could be given to both the uk labour force and the immigrants trying to improve their lot. Rather than making the job impossible for most of the former and taking advantage of the latter.

@Tonemeth they can if you are a nine English speaker and live on site with no where else to go

@PTW1234 how is it slave labour if they're asking Brits to do it and they apply and get the job?

@emmcan my 10 year old really really wants to be a plumber and we’re so pleased for him. He struggles with schoolwork but he’s so positive and kind and he’s happy to work and hopes to do an apprenticeship to get where he wants.

He struggles with extended family looking down on him for not being a brain ox and not doing what they did, but I really think he’ll go far. I’ll show him your post he’ll be thrilled. Thank you.

People also shitting on about the "reasonable" wages, never take into account that farmers charge £57 a week for a bunk in an old porta cabin or caravan. Cooking and washing facilities are often inadequate for the number of workers (12+ hours in field then waiting for your turn to shower/cook).

How can farmers be allowed to get away with that? Are they running an accommodation business, and if so, don't they have to have a license/pay taxes? And what about the health and safety implications of cramming people into caravans?

TrainspottingWelsh

The reality is:

Workers arrive from Lithuania (as an example) and within a couple of weeks both of a couple are working 40+ hours a week in food processing/production. Likely in a remote area (ie rural Cambridgshire)

Living in a shared house (where rentals are high as a result). 2 or 3 families in a 3/4 bed house.
Single people are probably living 12+ in a 3 bed house.

But in the Uk the benefit system promotes under deployment (you dont have to work 80 hours a week as a couple before you access benefits). Working 80 hours a week at minimum wage wont make you better off necessarily than working the 24 or 30 hours needed to claim benefits.

Not saying that is wrong- but that is the reality.

If you have worked full time but lose your job the unemployment benefit is £70 odd a week. To get any more it depends on your partner. That is appalling and detrimental to women and those without children.

The benefits system is screwed.
We don't pay the full price for a hamburger or a pint of milk as the system is based in those workers claiming benefits to make up a low wage and so employers can pay low wages and rely on benefits to enable their workers to survive.