I've been seeing an increasing number of reports of fruit rotting on the vine due to a lack of seasonal workers and I'm scratching my head at what can be done. It's hard work, pays very little and isn't a viable long term option so British people don't really want to do it, but equally I don't believe an employer who can't afford to adequately pay their employees and who relies on exploiting migrants should be in business, plus they're struggling to hire migrants anyway in the wake of the Brexit vote.
I've seen people saying things like "well, we'll just have to pay more for our fruit so that farmers can pay proper wages and attract British workers" but that doesn't address the seasonal and physical nature of the work or the fact that plenty of people are too poor to have the luxury of choice when it comes to this stuff. If imports are cheaper then people will buy imports and the British producers will likely go out of business unless they can find a way to exploit British workers to a similar degree or the world suddenly decides to collectively stop exploiting migrant labour.
Automation seems the obvious answer, but that's still a way off yet so what can be done in the meantime? Are the DWP gonna start forcing benefit claimants into the fields? Prisoners? Are students going to be forced to pay off their debt by doing this stuff? Will the government start bringing in migrants from outside the EU to fill the vacancies? If so, how are they gonna spin that for the Brexit voters obsessed with immigration?
I've seen people saying things like "well, we'll just have to pay more for our fruit so that farmers can pay proper wages and attract British workers" but that doesn't address the seasonal and physical nature of the work or the fact that plenty of people are too poor to have the luxury of choice when it comes to this stuff. If imports are cheaper then people will buy imports and the British producers will likely go out of business unless they can find a way to exploit British workers to a similar degree or the world suddenly decides to collectively stop exploiting migrant labour.
Automation seems the obvious answer, but that's still a way off yet so what can be done in the meantime? Are the DWP gonna start forcing benefit claimants into the fields? Prisoners? Are students going to be forced to pay off their debt by doing this stuff? Will the government start bringing in migrants from outside the EU to fill the vacancies? If so, how are they gonna spin that for the Brexit voters obsessed with immigration?