Bulgarian workers/Keelings - read OP (threadbans listed)

HamSarris · 16-04-2020 10:26PM

Bulgarians coming to a virus invested country to aid food production for a **** wage. These are the true heroes and should be given a round of applause on their arrival.

I’ve no problems with Keelings. The alternative is to let the fruit rot or pay an Irish person five times the wage for 20% of the productivity. Half the Irish workers would be on sick leave after the first day.

bikeman1 · 16-04-2020 10:26PM

Some of the comments I have seen online this evening have been disgusting about this subject. However, I'm not surprised at all because the lack of fresh air and being locked inside their four walls or 2km is sending people to a nasty place.

We are Irish, we went in times of famine looking for jobs in need all over the world. We went in the last recession and we may have to do it again.

Keelings have a supply chain to keep filling which I'm sure is under massive strain at the moment. Our government is paying us â‚¬350 to sit at home and chill out. These guys are probably on the minimum wage of just over â‚¬10 per hour. If they do 5 days at 9 hours per day less 1 hour unpaid break. They'd be on â‚¬400 gross, less some tax, USC and 4% PRSI.

This is for back breaking work to pick fruit and veg. Coming out with a few quid more than the "lucky" Irish getting â‚¬350 to chill at home. Don't forget coming into this we were nearly at full employment and low skilled workers are entitled to the full â‚¬350, so I would very much say Keelings had difficulty in getting people to fill the roles.

Then we would have the same person after commenting online about how disgraceful it is, wondering when they're in Tesco or Aldi why there's no raspberries or strawberries for their smoothy??

Bulgarians are our Euopean neighbours and friends. Also one of the poorest in the EU, so the Euro when converted to the LEV will go a long way back home for these hard workers.

Well done to Keelings, Ryanair and these people for keeping food on our tables in these hard times.

declanflynn · 16-04-2020 10:26PM

mgn wrote: »

This was the point i was trying to make, no one should be brought in except the the likes of doctors,nurses and health care workers.

Having food to eat is more important

JP Liz V1 · 16-04-2020 10:26PM

s1ippy wrote: »

My understanding, as told to me by a lad who had tried to get work with them, is that they get food and board on the site and by providing this the company then skirts paying minimum wage, as they're just helpers and not officially employees, only paying them expenses incurred and pocket money.

Is that not illegal

Notdeco · 16-04-2020 10:27PM

declanflynn wrote: »

stay off the drugs mate

I'll leave that to you, sunshine.

josip · 16-04-2020 10:28PM

Ah my first job picking strawberries.
Back of a Hiace van with 18 others when I was 9 years old to a farm 10 miles away in Wexford.
Earned the princely sum of £2.15 for picking 43lb of jam over 7 hours.
It's hard work and people who were shy of it didn't stick at it for long.
Nearly all under 18 when I started, but a few adults appeared in the late 80s.
They all disappeared for a bit on Tuesdays to go sign.

Keelings can stick their horticultural expert marketing crap, but I suspect it's very hard to get Irish people to do this job for a season nowadays.

normanoffside · 16-04-2020 10:28PM

BanditLuke wrote: »

Cheerio Keelings. This will be a disaster for them. All over social media now also.

We'll import all our fruit from abroad now instead.
That'll learn us.

Tenzor07 · 16-04-2020 10:28PM

Thelonious Monk wrote: »

Most of our food is baby powder and beef. It would be great if we could diversify. For e.g. North County Dublin grows 55% of the fresh produce in Ireland, surely more of Ireland can grow same?

The rest of Ireland is for dairy farming and meat production etc. We're a net exporter of livestock and meat products. The lands are less suitable for fruit production in the West and more rain etc. etc.

Tenzor07 · 16-04-2020 10:29PM

bikeman1 wrote: »

Bulgarians are our Euopean neighbours and friends. Also one of the poorest in the EU, so the Euro when converted to the LEV will go a long way back home for these hard workers.

Well done to Keelings, Ryanair and these people for keeping food on our tables in these hard times.

For some perspective, The average salary in Bulgaria is around 400 euros per month.

Alrigghtythen · 16-04-2020 10:30PM

colm_mcm wrote: »

Go for the strawberries that pick themselves?

No back to Israeli ones, picked by irish people we've flown out there to pick them

Notdeco · 16-04-2020 10:30PM

Tenzor07 wrote: »

Rubbish, Ireland rates highly for food security.

The more food we can produce here the better it is for the environment

True, except......

Thelonious Monk · 16-04-2020 10:30PM

Tenzor07 wrote: »

The rest of Ireland is for dairy farming and meat production etc. We're a net exporter of livestock and meat products. The lands are less suitable for fruit production in the West and more rain etc. etc.

I know all that, but a lot more of the land in the east could be growing veg instead of cattle farming

Still waters · 16-04-2020 10:30PM

Unemployment for April 2019 was 193000 approximately, i didn't see any outrage last year about the Bulgarians coming over picking fruit even though there was more than enough leeches suckling the states welfare titties to pick enough fruit to last us a lifetime.

The fact of the matter is if we had to pay irish people to do these jobs the price of fruit would rocket, also in any normal year the Margaret cash's of this world and her equals would rather do time in mountjoy than spend their time in gainful employment.
Keelings are dead right to carry on as they were, why fix what isn't broken

Graham · 16-04-2020 10:30PM

mulbot wrote: »

This, from a moderator. Shameful

Frontline staff have my absolute respect, appreciation and admiration for the job they are doing.

Likewise, I appreciate the thousands of people that are keeping food on the shelves and all of us fed.

statesaver · 16-04-2020 10:31PM

In the middle of a pandemic to fly in Bulgarians is gonna be bad PR for the company. Have the workers been tested for the virus ? What social distancing measures were conducted on the journey from the airport to the site ? Did they travel by bus ? Will the bus driver be tested ? Who will do their shopping ?

JP Liz V1 · 16-04-2020 10:31PM

Antares35 wrote: »

Most Irish people would be too up their own holes to work picking fruit. The usual "coming in here takin our jobs and wimmin" by those who wouldnt get off their bums to save themselves from a house fire.

The times are changing, so many out of work and bored, getting away from home for more than 2km might look very appealing now

ted1 · 16-04-2020 10:32PM

Scotty # wrote: »

You do realise Keelings is no longer just a little farm at the back of the airport right?? It's a massive international organisation. Almost ALL fruit and veg sold in this country, both imported and home grown, passes through Keelings.

Another who hasn't a clue what their talking about. There's pickers in Keelings so fast and efficient they make several hundred PER DAY. As I said already, these are numpty's flown in because they're cheap. They're flown in because they're really really productive.

They are not making hundreds PER DAY. The green houses are like production lines. It’s very straight forward. The pay is no where near what you think it is

Top earners on 16 euro an hour. https://www.thinkbusiness.ie/articles/greenhill-fruit-farm-wexford-ireland/

Graham · 16-04-2020 10:32PM

statesaver wrote: »

In the middle of a pandemic to fly in Bulgarians is gonna be bad PR for the company.

Better to leave food rot in the fields than risk chatter on Facebook?

declanflynn · 16-04-2020 10:32PM

Notdeco wrote: »

I'll leave that to you, sunshine.

I bet if you ring Keelings in the morning they would give you a job, maybe get RTE do follow you and do a show - I'm a fruit picker get me out of here

16-04-2020 10:32PM

ricero wrote: »

Absolutely vile stuff. Will be boycotting keelings from now on.

They're long standing members of my boycott list.

bikeman1 · 16-04-2020 10:34PM

Healio wrote:

So no outrage at Ryanair then for flying them in?

Well there's no ban on flying at the moment and there will be flights and Covid 19 into the future.

Staff in supermarkets see more people and would have more interaction with with the great unwashed / unmasked in Dublin than the Bulgarians coming in on Ryanair.

The crew only are their for flight safety at the moment, no in flight service.

whodafunk · 16-04-2020 10:34PM

Keelings referred to them as horticulturalists. Seriously? I would imagine they will be going straight to work. Keelings said 14 day isolation. Very much doubt that.

mgn · 16-04-2020 10:34PM

Donald Trump wrote: »

Of course it would. Sure anything must be simple and easy when ya don't ever have to do it yourself :pac:

Go ahead and try it. I'm sure they'd have weekend work available too if ya want a holiday to get you out of the house. You'd get a quick land and learn fairly quickly that it might not be the holiday you think it is.

I'd give ya an hour before you'd be slinking off trying to make a speedy getaway.

Brought up on a farm so know all about picking spuds and thinning carrots and turnips so picking fruit wouldn't be a problem
I bet you if a lot of these superstar fruit pickers spend a day in bog the would be very happy to get back to their strawberry's the next day.

whisky_galore · 16-04-2020 10:34PM

Strawberry Milkshake wrote: »

I’m just wondering if they are also bought off keelings.

A heap of food plants take in raw materials and own brand / branded packaged in same plant, different lines only difference is the packaging.
Most if not all SuperValu products simply have "packed for SV" on them. They could well be Keelings product in a different pack!

Tenzor07 · 16-04-2020 10:35PM

Thelonious Monk wrote: »

I know all that, but a lot more of the land in the east could be growing veg instead of cattle farming

I agree, however;

Almost no money to be made in vegetable production, labour costs are high in Ireland. Large Supermarket chains like Tesco, Lidl/Aldi have the margins cut to the bone so suppliers get very little per Kg.
We just can't compete on cost with growers in Spain or Netherlands.
Also we'd have a shortage of a large number of veg when out of season so have to import also.

billie1b · 16-04-2020 10:35PM

ted1 wrote: »

They wont be paying more than €350 a week. So those 800,000 would be worse off it they took the job.
Staff stay on mobile homes on site. They don’t leave the farm.

Not supporting them just providing clear details

Thats not true, they’re actually staying in Termonfeckin in the holiday houses, getting bused to Keelings and back everyday

Richard Hillman · 16-04-2020 10:35PM

We are one of the worst effected countries in the world. Bulgaria hasnt had it that badly, I would be more worried for them than I would be for us.

The job itself was advertised for a few weeks. The job is in the middle of nowhere. They will work and go back to their accommodation, go to bed and repeat. It's not like they will be roaming around Dublin's pubs.

I'm more concerned about the conditions they are in. What sort of accommodation are keelings putting them up in and are they charging them?

I would apply if Keelings put me up somewhere close to the site. I'm not working at the moment and would fancy the cash.

16-04-2020 10:35PM

statesaver wrote: »

In the middle of a pandemic to fly in Bulgarians is gonna be bad PR for the company. Have the workers been tested for the virus ? What social distancing measures were conducted on the journey from the airport to the site ? Did they travel by bus ? Will the bus driver be tested ? Who will do their shopping ?

Didnt you see the video of them arriving at Dublin airport?

Beasty · 16-04-2020 10:35PM

mulbot wrote: »

This, from a moderator. Shameful

They are not a moderator of this forum

Regardless if you have a problem with a post or poster report it and leave the modding to the mods

Quantum Erasure · 16-04-2020 10:36PM

Alrigghtythen wrote: »

No back to Israeli ones, picked by irish people we've flown out there to pick them

hopefully they're not from farms in the West Bank

Bulgarian workers/Keelings - read OP (threadbans listed)

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