714,000 on the dole and we wasnt to import workers to pick fruit & veg?

Pa ElGrande

Farm sector planning to fly in 1,500 seasonal workers to save fruit and veg harvest

Romanian and Bulgarian workers may be transported here on chartered flights

Chartered flights could be used to transport up to 1,500 seasonal workers into Ireland to pick fruit and vegetables through the summer and early autumn.

With travel restrictions in place across the EU due to the Covid-19 pandemic, fruit and vegetable growers have been in touch with Government to secure clearance for the workers to enter the country.

The vast majority of the pickers who work on Irish farms each year come from Romania and Bulgaria. However, with only a restricted schedule of commercial flights now available to these countries, the possibility of chartering airplanes to bring in workers is being considered.

source

Have we really turned into a nation of snowflakes. There are 45,000 students doing transition year, there are bugger all Summer jobs going this year at the current rate. This is a group that is at low risk of infection and with that many involuntarily people thrown on dole I'm sure families could do with an extra source of income and the students can get the work experience. As far as I know most of these have got their Safe Pass so there should be very little barriers to entry other than lack of experience.

Dodge

Interesting use of snowflakes when you seem to be getting annoyed at a fruit growers press release

lawrencesummers

What will you be picking yourself this summer?

Pa ElGrande

lawrencesummers wrote: »

What will you be picking yourself this summer?

I grow 12% of the food I consume every year. There will be plenty for me to harvest over the Summer. (assuming we are not due for biblical plagues this year as the locusts are already out in parts of the world :P )

Pa ElGrande

Pa ElGrande wrote: »

I grow 12% of the food I consume every year. There will be plenty for me to harvest over the Summer. (assuming we are not due for biblical plagues this year as the locusts are already out in parts of the world :P )

If them bloody things come then I hope the virus gets me first.

HalloweenJack

I don't see anything to suggest that the farmers are pursuing local options over migrant workers. 'Engaged' with the DEASP is quite vague and not a direct quote, unlike other stuff in the article.

The 'experience' line seems like a cop-out. There are plenty of people with nothing to do so they would have time to be trained. Also, migrant workers will be in limbo for two weeks because of quarantine. Give new hires two weeks to train starting now.

It must be far cheaper to get lads in from abroad at that rate. This can be spun two ways: farmers being stingey and taking advantage of the fact that migrant workers will do the job at a lower peice or 'entitled' Irish workers thinking they are above these jobs/deserve to be paid more. The truth is somewhere in between I imagine.

However, the article does mention rising costs and a plea from the IFA president to 'dig deep' so I can see it being tilted in one direction. If they want locals to help them out in this crisis, I think they need to give something back as well. Brand loyalty should be a two-way street.

Pa ElGrande

Dodge wrote: »

Interesting use of snowflakes when you seem to be getting annoyed at a fruit growers press release

It is a poor reflection on us personally that the farmers would first consider importing workers and lobby the government to that effect. There is a limited window to pick fruit and vegetables and we are sitting around twiddling our thumbs going insane with cabin fever. There is an opportunity for students to earn money and gain work experience, both they and their parents need to jump at the opportunity.

Fr Tod Umptious

Pa ElGrande wrote: »

It is a poor reflection on us personally that the farmers would first consider importing workers and lobby the government to that effect. There is a limited window to pick fruit and vegetables and we are sitting around twiddling our thumbs going insane with cabin fever. There is an opportunity for students to earn money and gain work experience, both they and their parents need to jump at the opportunity.

Many of the people now unemployed would be hoping to get back to their job in a few months, none of us really know how feasible that is but it's something we all hope for.

So why would anyone start a different career fruit picking when their regular job may be available in a few weeks/months ?

Secondly why would a farmer hire someone who would possibly leave mid season when their regular job becomes available again ?

Plus, the €350 a week is not unattractive, regardless of how long it will continue to be paid.

Fr Tod Umptious

Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »

Many of the people now unemployed would be hoping to get back to their job in a few months, none of us really know how feasible that is but it's something we all hope for.

So why would anyone start a different career fruit picking when their regular job may be available in a few weeks/months ?

Secondly why would a farmer hire someone who would possibly leave mid season when their regular job becomes available again ?

Plus, the €350 a week is not unattractive, regardless of how long it will continue to be paid.

Get out of this thread with your common sense! :mad:


This is a thread for self-deprecating Irish people and farmer bashing.








:P

Pa ElGrande

Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »

Many of the people now unemployed would be hoping to get back to their job in a few months, none of us really know how feasible that is but it's something we all hope for.

So why would anyone start a different career fruit picking when their regular job may be available in a few weeks/months ?

Secondly why would a farmer hire someone who would possibly leave mid season when their regular job becomes available again ?

Plus, the €350 a week is not unattractive, regardless of how long it will continue to be paid.

That's why I said target transition year students, low risk of infection, get them out of the house and stop driving their parents demented and earn some cash at the same time. This group will be looking to strike out on their own soon enough and here is an opportunity.

sydthebeat

"Fruit picking" is not a career.

Thephantomsmask

I believe these people that come in aren't paid minimum wage, it is like an Au pair type arrangement where they get bed and board so end up working for a few euro an hour? That is probably why locals don't do the work as they would have to be paid minimum wage.

Wanderer78

Pa ElGrande wrote:

That's why I said target transition year students, low risk of infection, get them out of the house and stop driving their parents demented and earn some cash at the same time. This group will be looking to strike out on their own soon enough and here is an opportunity.

Where is a teenager gonna be getting the money to be striking out on their own, well qualified and work experienced adults are struggling to leave the family home, and do you really think issues such as housing are gonna be solved soon?

Shefwedfan

sydthebeat wrote: »

"Fruit picking" is not a career.

Tell that to the man from Del Monte

Pa ElGrande

sydthebeat wrote: »

"Fruit picking" is not a career.

Most people don't have careeers they work to live and in an economic depression cash is king. The massive economic dislocation caused by payment failures happening across the chain will ripple across the world for the next few years with a very real possibility that if the lockdown does not end soon that more companies will run out of cash and permanently close.

silverharp

sydthebeat wrote: »

"Fruit picking" is not a career.

neither is barista :pac:

Wanderer78

Pa ElGrande wrote:

Most people don't have careeers they work to live and in an economic depression cash is king. The massive economic dislocation caused by payment failures happening across the chain will ripple across the world for the next few years with a very real possibility that if the lockdown does not end soon that more companies will run out of cash and permanently close.

We re not in a depression, money creation is relatively easy, unfortunately many businesses are gonna fail

Shefwedfan

Thephantomsmask wrote: »

I believe these people that come in aren't paid minimum wage, it is like an Au pair type arrangement where they get bed and board so end up working for a few euro an hour? That is probably why locals don't do the work as they would have to be paid minimum wage.

Incorrect, those days are long gone, Very few if any Au Pair are over here living on a pittance like years ago

If they pay enough,they have no issue getting pickers

Shefwedfan

Wanderer78 wrote: »

Where is a teenager gonna be getting the money to be striking out on their own, well qualified and work experienced adults are struggling to leave the family home, and do you really think issues such as housing are gonna be solved soon?

This is a good view of the Irish attitude of 2020, lots of excuses and loads of reason why they can’t do anything which is passed onto the youth of today

osarusan

Wah wah wah wah wah wah immigrants

gozunda

Looks like our overlords in Europe have beaten us on choosing to do their own thing as per usual. Germany relaxing its closed borders to bring in 1000s of migrant workers so they can have their harvests of 'white asparagus....

https://newseu.cgtn.com/news/2020-04-12/Thousands-of-Romanian-farm-workers-head-to-Germany-despite-COVID-19-PBNWgayF4k/index.html

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/europe/germany-lifts-ban-on-foreign-workers-to-salvage-harvest-1.4226277

As a kid and teenager- I picked strawberries, stones from potato fields and apples. Back breaking and underpaid at best

I somehow doubt that many of our current generation of teenagers would appreciate similar type work.

A bigger problem is that going forward Europe and much of the rest of the world faces the very real potential of food shortages with vegetable and fruit crops going unharvested without workers

https://www.euronews.com/2020/04/13/france-has-avoided-a-covid-19-food-shortage-but-for-how-long

Shefwedfan

osarusan wrote: »

Wah wah wah wah wah wah immigrants

In reality we need more and more immigrants because the Irish are unwilling to work anymore

StefanFal

I would argue it is you that's the snowflake.

paw patrol

Thephantomsmask wrote: »

I believe these people that come in aren't paid minimum wage, it is like an Au pair type arrangement where they get bed and board so end up working for a few euro an hour? That is probably why locals don't do the work as they would have to be paid minimum wage.

This.
I cant vouch for EVERY fruit grower but the ones I know near me do not pay min wage
they get around it by providing accommodation on site and I know they used to hire the people in the local country on local contracts not irish ones i.e. local labour laws not irish ones apply. Not sure if they still do this.

So it doesn't suit to hire irish people. Nothing to do with lazy people or snowflakes.

Wanderer78

Shefwedfan wrote:

This is a good view of the Irish attitude of 2020, lots of excuses and loads of reason why they can’t do anything which is passed onto the youth of today

Best of luck with trying to convince a teenager to do this work, you d be told to go fcuk yourself, we ve moved on from hard physical labour, very few want to do this, including myself, if you treatened a teenager with throwing them out of the house, you really would be told, go fcuk yourself, as they're too busy farting around on their phones, just like us adults. Get over it lads, we ve really moved on, life's too short

Shefwedfan

Shefwedfan wrote: »

In reality we need more and more immigrants because the Irish are unwilling to work anymore

Great idea,flood country with seasonal workers to undermine lowest paid sectors...

Then you can spend other 9 months of year complaining about dole being paid out to em,as they've the stamps built up and nothing here for em to do

If farmers are willing to pay enough,they will get the workers......as for irish people unwilling to do it,tell that to the hundreds of thousands of irish,who passed through the fruit farms in oz this last decade

Bass Reeves

First on the use of transition year students most are below 18 years of age. Unless numbers could be found locally it unlikely any employer would take the risk associated with them living on site.

Like everything to do with the fresh food going into supermarkets margins are quite tight. There fore it is minimum wage work. By using migrant workers it is possible to defray part of the wages as accomodation costs. Accommodation may be quite basic. With these workers as well they would be willing to work longer hours when crops are producing at there max. A lot may be paid piece rate dependents on picking ability.

When shoppers are willing to pay another euro/punnet of strawberries or other berries it may change.......or retailers will source product elsewhere

No-one's mentioned the 2K travel ban?


Ok, so...

You have a choice of staff

80 4th year (and above) students, that have to be mtrained up. you have to accommodate them, feed them, but also adhere to min wage and the working time directive, and not to mention you'd better have a full child protection policy along with trained point of contacts for the under 18's.

Or

80 lads from Bulgaria that know what they're doing, that you pay and provide accommodation and food for.


Hmmmmm... I wonder

quokula

So people who lost their jobs due to infection risk should start an entirely different job with the same infection risk instead, only this time it doesn’t take advantage of their skills / training / experience, and pays less?

silverharp

With all the gyms closed are there not people that want to be paid to move stuff from A to B instead of paying people to shout at them to move stuff from A to B? The farmers should say they are Agricultural CrossFit Gyms. Dem gainz!!!!