oldypigeonpopper Posted March 31, 2020 Report Share Posted March 31, 2020 (edited) hello, as above might be of interest to PW members or family members home from college or Uni or laid off, or anyone you know, Agriculture workers are classified for essential work, i presume you would have paperwork and safety gear eg masks and ?? one farmer growing lettuce needed 100 plus picking when ready or crop would be wasted, i am sure this is the same for other Veg and when fruit in season, if you have this type of farm near growing/picking/packing i am sure your help would be appreciated, or maybe you shoot on this type of farm??? my friends farm is only cattle and this year barley and wheat, like many will need to wait, i do not think this type of working will be like we have seen on TV with gang masters!!! the lettuce farmer was most sincere PLEASE COME AND HELP ME!!!, you can find some info on www.countryliving.co.uk or may be contact your local farm office if you know they grow our wonderful vegetables, not for an oldy like me now or i would sign up Edited March 31, 2020 by oldypigeonpopper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dougy Posted March 31, 2020 Report Share Posted March 31, 2020 Brilliant Post PP, I will spread the word. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wb123 Posted March 31, 2020 Report Share Posted March 31, 2020 I spoke to a chap near us with orchards and was surprised how well paid the work was. His best pickers would be getting £15 an hour and free bed/board. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldypigeonpopper Posted March 31, 2020 Author Report Share Posted March 31, 2020 Just now, Wb123 said: I spoke to a chap near us with orchards and was surprised how well paid the work was. His best pickers would be getting £15 an hour and free bed/board. hello, many many years ago i worked on a very large fruit, crop/ cattle farm 2000s plus acres on the maintenance side, every year about 40 EU nationals came over picking about march time, worked 6 months and went home, earned enough to go around till following march, most of these were University graduates, but could not find work Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lloyd90 Posted March 31, 2020 Report Share Posted March 31, 2020 13 minutes ago, oldypigeonpopper said: hello, many many years ago i worked on a very large fruit, crop/ cattle farm 2000s plus acres on the maintenance side, every year about 40 EU nationals came over picking about march time, worked 6 months and went home, earned enough to go around till following march, most of these were University graduates, but could not find work Not a bad number. When I worked abroad you all live and work together, you get into a nice little community. Bet they spend 6 months working hard, but also drinking and having a good laugh with each other, then go back home and live care free for 6 months. That sounds lovely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
islandgun Posted March 31, 2020 Report Share Posted March 31, 2020 Hope they find workers, because right now we need British food Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldypigeonpopper Posted March 31, 2020 Author Report Share Posted March 31, 2020 (edited) 15 minutes ago, Lloyd90 said: Not a bad number. When I worked abroad you all live and work together, you get into a nice little community. Bet they spend 6 months working hard, but also drinking and having a good laugh with each other, then go back home and live care free for 6 months. That sounds lovely. hello, they all lived in caravans with mains water etc, they were from Czechoslovakia and under 30, they did complain about the cost of food prices compared to back home, if i remember they worked 7 till 7 plus there were another 40 working based on farm and local workers, with the 2 big packing sheds, cold storage, our workshop, all the farm machinery was an enjoyable job, Edited March 31, 2020 by oldypigeonpopper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVB Posted March 31, 2020 Report Share Posted March 31, 2020 Surely if they can’t get the people at £10/hour then increase the wages until people want to do it. It’s called market forces. Ok prices will go up but if the market can’t sustain asparagus being picked at above £10/hour then so be it. We might all be forced to work for peanuts when things get really rough but at the moment people don’t. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonker Posted March 31, 2020 Report Share Posted March 31, 2020 (edited) Make all the benefit claimers that are fit enough to work do it, let them earn it for a change instead of us funding their lives. They may be slow and moan, but anything picked is better than nowt!! rant over and breeeeath. Edited March 31, 2020 by tonker Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PLAGUE Posted March 31, 2020 Report Share Posted March 31, 2020 8 minutes ago, tonker said: Make the long term benefit claimers that are fit enough to work do it, let them earn it for a change instead of us funding their lives. They may be slow and moan, but anything picked is better than nowt!! rant over and breeeeath. Fixed that for you. The firm I've worked for for the past 6 years went bump on the 6th of march with no warning - I am now claiming UC because I have to but working 16 hours a WEEK in a local shop because that's all I can get in this current situation. PS: £15.10 ph down to £8.35ph - yes that does sting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonker Posted March 31, 2020 Report Share Posted March 31, 2020 (edited) 16 minutes ago, PLAGUE said: Fixed that for you. The firm I've worked for for the past 6 years went bump on the 6th of march with no warning - I am now claiming UC because I have to but working 16 hours a WEEK in a local shop because that's all I can get in this current situation. PS: £15.10 ph down to £8.35ph - yes that does sting. Then you're not in the group I'm talking about are you, you're making an effort. Some make a living by sitting on their butts and doing nothing and haven't done a days work in their lives. Don't tell me I'm wrong because I've been with some and tried to help them with offers of work, they don't want to know. Edited March 31, 2020 by tonker Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bavarianbrit Posted March 31, 2020 Report Share Posted March 31, 2020 Unemployables are just that, any excuse to avoid. So divert or severely reduce their benefit into the main govt pot and their choice hungry or work. Might bring some out of the cycle (not counting Liverpool of course) ha. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PLAGUE Posted March 31, 2020 Report Share Posted March 31, 2020 1 hour ago, bavarianbrit said: (not counting Liverpool of course) ha. **** ed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vince Green Posted April 1, 2020 Report Share Posted April 1, 2020 (edited) There needs to be a proper website where people can see what work is being offered and sign up I for one wouldn't know where to start looking if I needed to. Edited April 1, 2020 by Vince Green Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldypigeonpopper Posted April 1, 2020 Author Report Share Posted April 1, 2020 (edited) On 31/03/2020 at 11:03, oldypigeonpopper said: hello, as above might be of interest to PW members or family members home from college or Uni or laid off, or anyone you know, Agriculture workers are classified for essential work, i presume you would have paperwork and safety gear eg masks and ?? one farmer growing lettuce needed 100 plus picking when ready or crop would be wasted, i am sure this is the same for other Veg and when fruit in season, if you have this type of farm near growing/picking/packing i am sure your help would be appreciated, or maybe you shoot on this type of farm??? my friends farm is only cattle and this year barley and wheat, like many will need to wait, i do not think this type of working will be like we have seen on TV with gang masters!!! the lettuce farmer was most sincere PLEASE COME AND HELP ME!!!, you can find some info on www.countryliving.co.uk or may be contact your local farm office if you know they grow our wonderful vegetables, not for an oldy like me now or i would sign up hello, PLEASE NOTE, i have just contacted the N F U office which most know is the UK farmers Organization in regards to the above, they are working on putting up a list of farms around the UK that require people to contact if they can help, the NFU team hope this will be ready by early next week, look on www.nfuonline.com, they said a few web sites now advertising for HOP pickers ?? or we wont have any BEER this year😄 Edited April 1, 2020 by oldypigeonpopper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retsdon Posted April 1, 2020 Report Share Posted April 1, 2020 On 31/03/2020 at 16:30, tonker said: Make all the benefit claimers that are fit enough to work do it, let them earn it for a change instead of us funding their lives. Well, many years ago now I had a bloke come round from some government employment department asking if I'd take on an unemployed youngster for work experience. I would pay pay half his wage and the government the rest. So I did. Let me tell you, he was worse than useless. You never knew if he'd turn up or not, and even when he came to work he skived; he was so dopey he was a danger both to himself and any living creature around him. and the final straw was that if he didn't like a job he'd actually do his best to break the tool so he didn't have to carry on. He was a big strapping lad too to look at, but he'd run out of steam if anything like hard graft was called for. I got rid of him after about a month, it was like coming up for air. A lot of people are unemployed for a reason. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retsdon Posted April 1, 2020 Report Share Posted April 1, 2020 On 31/03/2020 at 13:12, Wb123 said: His best pickers would be getting £15 an hour and free bed/board. Yes, but these will be the guys who are young, fit, full-on, and experienced. The thing is, most of these kind of seasonal piece work jobs are actually not totally unskilled- and it takes time to build technique and physical aptitude. Someone walking into the job who'd never done it before, even with the best will in the world, would probably battle to earn 2/3 of that. So 10 quid an hour for muscle-aching work? It's not that great really. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
39TDS Posted April 1, 2020 Report Share Posted April 1, 2020 On 31/03/2020 at 11:12, Wb123 said: I spoke to a chap near us with orchards and was surprised how well paid the work was. His best pickers would be getting £15 an hour and free bed/board. That sounds about right and everyone says it is cheap labour. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
islandgun Posted April 2, 2020 Report Share Posted April 2, 2020 Just saw this https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-52109833 made me smile to think of all those apples being tossed about..😄 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldypigeonpopper Posted April 2, 2020 Author Report Share Posted April 2, 2020 9 minutes ago, islandgun said: Just saw this https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-52109833 made me smile to think of all those apples being tossed about..😄 hello, interesting post, hopefully the NFU with have the information where farms need help on their web site soon, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVB Posted April 2, 2020 Report Share Posted April 2, 2020 They are very dependent on Eastern European’s. So what was their strategy post Brexit when low paid migrants wouldn’t be allowed? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vince Green Posted April 2, 2020 Report Share Posted April 2, 2020 2 minutes ago, AVB said: They are very dependent on Eastern European’s. So what was their strategy post Brexit when low paid migrants wouldn’t be allowed? Its my understanding that migrant agricultural workers would still be allowed after Brexit. As would workers in all the service sector, the only difference would be the documentation required. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retsdon Posted April 2, 2020 Report Share Posted April 2, 2020 9 hours ago, AVB said: So what was their strategy post Brexit when low paid migrants wouldn’t be allowed? I don't think it was ever the case that migrant workers wouldn't be allowed. The argument (and I can't say I disagree with it quite honestly) is that migrant workers should be just that - migrants who migrate to work and then go home again. Easily enough done with a short work specific visa And nobody with an ounce of sense could object to the arrangement. Farmers need reliable labour to harvest their crops and quite honestly eastern Europeans are the answer. People who rabbit on about ho the work could be done by the local unemployed a) don't know the local unemployed and b) have almost certainly never gathered crops themselves. It's really hard work, and most habitually unemployed wouldn't last a day, never mind weeks of it. And then what's the farmer supposed to do. And there's another thing. If you're a farmer you need to have a specific number of people on site at a specific time. The job wont' wait. Far better to contract with an eastern European gang master /agency who will guarantee a) the quality of the labour and b) the number of bodies. It hands down beats hiring local odds and **** piecemeal. It might cost more, but at least you know your crop will be lifted and not left rotting in the field. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVB Posted April 15, 2020 Report Share Posted April 15, 2020 I see that a that the first chartered flight containing Romanian farm workers is due to arrive at Stansted tomorrow https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/coronavirus-farmers-charter-flights-fruit-pickers-foreign-workers-romania-bucharest-stansted-a9466361.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShootingEgg Posted April 15, 2020 Report Share Posted April 15, 2020 (edited) 3 hours ago, AVB said: I see that a that the first chartered flight containing Romanian farm workers is due to arrive at Stansted tomorrow https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/coronavirus-farmers-charter-flights-fruit-pickers-foreign-workers-romania-bucharest-stansted-a9466361.html There should be enough people here being furloughed to be able to do this, why bring in plane load of foreign workers Seems people can run 5k or down a pint for a follow on social media yet can't go pick fruit and veg!?! Edited April 15, 2020 by ShootingEgg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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