Why aren't people on benefits be asked to pick fruit? Why bring in immigrants?

[quietandcomplex]

Can someone explain to me why, when there are so many unemployed and on benefits, they aren't picking fruit for the farmers? Why bring immigrants into the country to do the job? This is not a political or racist or anything other post, it does not make sense to me, what am I missing?

This exactly!

This thread takes the biscuit.

Well no, TBF it doesn't now which is why I started out using past tense originally, because they're not coming any more in anywhere near the same numbers, hence the labour shortage! But the principle used to hold true, and the reasons why UK citizens would have different challenges still apply.

That's all well good but How do you expect them to look for these phantom jobs while picking this fruit. You can't have both ways so pick one!
People on benefits aren't monsters you know. Stop picking on the poor

Slavery's been abolished here OP, have you not heard? Do try to keep up.

OP

Please consider...

Maybe you could be on benefits someday.

DP and I considered it to raise some quick income.
Housed nearby or on-site.

60 hrs a week-negoitaiate £10 an hr.
That's £1200 per week.
12 weeks
£14400 in 3 months.

These types of ideas are why ex-E-bloc migrants are buying houses for 3/4 million darn sarf. Or disappearing off home and living for 12 months.

I agree with this because I can't remember seeing any 'poor' people under any successive governments until now.

They use a system called 'gangers' (not always but frequently.) The farm contracts out the picking job to one person - a ganger - who is then in charge of brining in sufficient labourers. Gangers have been known to: imprison mentally impaired people, homeless people, illegal immigrants etc and use them as slave labour; keep workers in intolerable conditions - sleeping in filthy huts or caravans on floors with no proper sanitation or bedding - yes, in UK.
And more.

Read this.

This is a joke, right?

I am however laughing at all the posters talking about the jobs being too far away. As though British fruit farms are closer to Romania than anywhere in England.

Then you're missing the point.

Workers from abroad who want to come here to pick fruit are already by definition a mobile workforce. They are evidently able to move to the work. That doesn't tell us anything whatsoever about whether currently unemployed or underemployed people in the UK would be willing and able to do so. There's no rule that says because people exist who can temporarily relocate for work, that means people in a relatively small group in the UK don't have eg caring responsibilities that would prevent it.

Remember too that there's a labour shortage now, so even in a situation where we decided to withdraw all benefits from unemployed people, there's no reason why people would have to relocate for agricultural jobs rather than taking something in eg a call centre that doesn't require them to live in a caravan on site.

It was a joke!

I obviously chose the wrong gurning face.

Because unemployed people are not a mobile slave labour force stripped of family ties.

I’ve never seen a post this thick on MN.

There are not people just sat around on benefits.

to receive benefits, you have to prove that you are applying for jobs. Otherwise you don’t get them,

bore off, Tory

They never will be. They are too superior.

Yeah we should round them all up on trains and take them to the countryside and hold them there in camps and force them to work in farms to justify their existence.

Pick enough fruit, get a little bit of money to survive! Don't pick enough, no money this month. Great idea.

This is just so utterly thick, fuckwitted and hard of thinking that it is impossible to know where to begin.

Dear Jacob,

Are you still looking for Brexit benefits? You won't find them here.

You twat.

Dear Jacob,

Are you still looking for Brexit benefits? You won't find them here.

You twat.

Sorry for the double post, my internet here is flakier than a Danish pastry.

I recently took my bike on holiday with me, I dont know why, some misguided attempt at fitness or something.
I could barely cycle 3 miles. On a flat road that wasnt busy.
You think people on benefits who probably sold their bike long ago should be made to cycle on likely country roads which have a 60 limit.
And assuming they are not hit by a car, do backbreaking labour and cycle back. For £77 a week?

You know that a large percentage of people on UC are in work don't you?

Is there no end to the contempt directed to people? Would you pick litter? Who would pay you to do it?

InChocolateWeTrust
It doesn't pay below nmw. That would be illegal.

Its all in the paperwork.

Pay minimum wage.
Less gang master.
Less accomadation.
Less utilities.
Less travel.

Some farmers can get away with paying very little to their workers.