Advertisement
Help Keep Boards Alive. Support us by going ad free today. See here: https://subscriptions.boards.ie/.
https://www.boards.ie/group/1878-subscribers-forum

Private Group for paid up members of Boards.ie. Join the club.
Hi all, please see this major site announcement: https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058427594/boards-ie-2026

Bulgarian workers/Keelings - read OP (threadbans listed)

1…2627293132…144

Comments

  • #842
    growleaves
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,093 ✭✭✭growleaves


    Apples and oranges mate, there is no comparison between the 2 sectors.

    No, strawberries


  • #843
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 12,694 ✭✭✭✭ [Deleted User]


    blinding wrote: »
    You’d get plenty of Irish to pick Fruit if you paid the equivalent of £700 to them.

    That would put the price of fruit and vegetables up by a huge amount how much extra are you prepared to pay?.

    The cost of the labor the greater the incentive to mechanism the work. Investing in a machine that costs a 500k might be 50/50 at minimum wage but each increase in the cost of labor changes the ration in favor of the machine.


  • #844
    Graham
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 17,642 Mod ✭✭✭✭Graham


    greenspurs wrote: »
    A company well known for paying low wages, and driving the price of produce down by under cutting competitors.

    Hopefully the public follow through on their outrage by not buying their produce in the stores that stock them.

    The often complete absence of stock in the 5 for 49c ranges in our supermarkets is probably a good indicator of public opinion.


  • #845
    gmisk
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 35,525 ✭✭✭✭gmisk


    redunited wrote: »
    But its from the same article that is being quoted that says they needed 80,000 workers!

    So you are happy to accept some of the infromation but not anything that does not suit your agenda?
    Hmm it might take some time to go through and interview 80k people you know....
    6k is pretty decent going in a short period of time


  • #846
    blinding
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 7,462 ✭✭✭blinding


    mariaalice wrote: »
    That would put the price of fruit and vegetables up by a huge amount how much extra are you prepared to pay?.

    The costly the labor the greater the incentive to mechanism the work. Investing in a machine that costs a 500k might be 50/50 at minimum wage but each increase in the cost of labor chages the ration in favour of the machine.
    Didn’t some one say in a post that this sort of money was offered in Britain !

    In fairness anyone with a spark of sense knew it was bull$h!t.


  • Advertisement
  • #847
    Alun
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2, Paid Member Posts: 21,541 ✭✭✭✭Alun


    redunited wrote: »
    Didnt stop Keelings going to Bulgaria and finding these workers though, how did they manage to do that during a lockdown?
    The didn't need to go anywhere, they would have done it through an agency in Bulgaria, just like they did in previous years probably.

    By the way, certainly in mainland Europe, migrant farm workers have been a thing for centuries, it's nothing new. The seasonal nature of farm work, especially picking fruit and vegetables means that there's something that needs picking in some country all year round.


  • #848
    seamus
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 68,173 ✭✭✭✭seamus


    mgn wrote: »
    A lot of Dubs on here were outraged that the couldn't travel to their holiday homes
    Sure there were :rolleyes:

    Another outrage over something that didn't actually happen.
    yet the have no problem with people being brought in to the country to pick strawberry's
    There's a difference between "no problem", and accepting there's no alternative.

    Using Irish workers isn't a goer, for many reasons.

    So we can either bring in skilled experienced workers to do this work, or we can let millions of tonnes of crops rot and spend the next two years rationing food for everyone while we try to rebuild our food supply.

    Which do you want?

    Which do you think poses a greater risk to public health?
    Not making much sense to me.
    No, me neither. This obsession with closing down everything, no matter how damaging it may be in the long-term, just refuses to see sense.


  • #849
    growleaves
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,093 ✭✭✭growleaves


    That would put the price of fruit and vegetables up by a huge amount how much extra are you prepared to pay.

    £700 (sterling) a week is equivalent to €21.50 an hour, so yeah that would raise food prices a lot.

    A more modest increase might be manageable though.


  • #850
    growleaves
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,093 ✭✭✭growleaves


    So we can either bring in skilled experienced workers to do this work

    Fruit-picking is skilled work? How many years is the apprenticeship?


  • #851
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    gmisk wrote: »
    Hmm it might take some time to go through and interview 80k people you know....
    6k is pretty decent going on a short period of time

    The article says they only interviewed 4000.

    If they are desperate for workers why not employ the 4000 who want to work?


    THis is where we are

    End of 2019, Farmers association said they needed 10,000 extra workers because of Brexit.

    March 2020, same farmers association say they now need 80,000 workers because of Covid 19.


    Farmers association scream they cant get British workers, yet 30,000 applied for the jobs. More than their original need for 10,000 workers just 4 months ago.


    Only 4,000 workers are interviewed for the Jobs.

    You claimed only 120 odd people got jobs.


    Farmers associaiton fly in immigrants because they can get local/British/non nationals living in the UK to do these jobs.


    Can you not smell the BS?


  • Advertisement
  • #852
    jay0109
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,675 ✭✭✭jay0109


    seamus wrote: »
    Using Irish workers isn't a goer, for many reasons.
    Isn't it a sad situation that that is the case


  • #853
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    Alun wrote: »
    The didn't need to go anywhere, they would have done it through an agency in Bulgaria, just like they did in previous years probably.

    By the way, certainly in mainland Europe, migrant farm workers have been a thing for centuries, it's nothing new. The seasonal nature of farm work, especially picking fruit and vegetables means that there's something that needs picking in some country all year round.

    Shame they didnt go to the same trouble to find people in Ireland.

    But of course, the Irish and Non Nationals living here who have done the job for years woke up yesterday and discovered they are too good for these jobs now.

    :rolleyes:


  • #854
    Tacitus Kilgore
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,128 ✭✭✭Tacitus Kilgore


    growleaves wrote: »
    No, strawberries

    Strawberries and bags of sand so :pac:


  • #855
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 12,694 ✭✭✭✭ [Deleted User]


    growleaves wrote: »
    £700 (sterling) a week is equivalent to €21.50 an hour, so yeah that would raise food prices a lot.

    A more modest increase might be manageable though.

    Yes, what about the issue of greater mechanisation which higher labor costs incentives?


  • #856
    Scotty #
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,782 ✭✭✭Scotty #


    jay0109 wrote: »
    seamus wrote: »
    Using Irish workers isn't a goer, for many reasons.
    Isn't a sad situation that that is the case
    On the contrary. It's a sign our economy is flourishing. Our workforce have progressed beyond manual labour in the fields.


  • #857
    FVP3
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,187 ✭✭✭FVP3


    mariaalice wrote: »
    That would put the price of fruit and vegetables up by a huge amount how much extra are you prepared to pay?.

    The cost of the labor the greater the incentive to mechanism the work. Investing in a machine that costs a 500k might be 50/50 at minimum wage but each increase in the cost of labor changes the ration in favor of the machine.

    Need to show your workings out there on the costs. As for mechanising work while paying higher wages to those you employ, thats basically how capitalism makes people richer.


  • #858
    blinding
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 7,462 ✭✭✭blinding


    growleaves wrote: »
    Fruit-picking is skilled work? How many years is the apprenticeship?
    You have to spend a few years as a Surgeon first ; To get good with a Knife.;);)


  • #859
    Donald Trump
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 21,325 ✭✭✭✭Donald Trump


    growleaves wrote: »
    Fruit-picking is skilled work? How many years is the apprenticeship?




    Do you think you'd pick as fast on day 1 as an experienced pickers?


  • #860
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    Oh look,


    Britons Are Hunting Fruit Picker Jobs Usually Held by Immigrants
    By Lucy Meakin


    Britons are seeking out the kind of agriculture jobs usually performed by immigrants as the coronavirus pandemic turns the U.K. economy on its head.

    As the country went into lockdown, businesses shed workers, gig work dried up and reports circulated that travel restrictions and illness could leave crops that are usually harvested by seasonal workers from abroad to rot in the fields. That’s propelled searches for fruit picking positions among U.K.-based users of the jobs site Indeed, which are up almost 8,000% between March 18 and April 1.

    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-04-08/britons-are-hunting-fruit-picker-jobs-usually-held-by-immigrants


  • #861
    FVP3
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,187 ✭✭✭FVP3


    Scotty # wrote: »
    On the contrary. It's a sign our economy is flourishing. Our workforce have progressed beyond manual labour in the fields.

    At that wage level.

    Are these guys even paid minimum wage


  • Advertisement
  • #862
    blinding
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 7,462 ✭✭✭blinding


    redunited wrote: »
    Shame they didnt go to the same trouble to find people in Ireland.

    But of course, the Irish and Non Nationals living here who have done the job for years woke up yesterday and discovered they are too good for these jobs now.

    :rolleyes:
    Nathing at all to do with the wages and working conditions;););)


  • #863
    blinding
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 7,462 ✭✭✭blinding


    Scotty # wrote: »
    On the contrary. It's a sign our economy is flourishing. Our workforce have progressed beyond manual labour in the fields.
    But its ok to exploit foreigners with low pay and bad working conditions; Bigotry / racism at play here:eek::eek:


  • #864
    completedit
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,639 ✭✭✭completedit


    Very interesting. A lot of these people were given opportunities in Bulgaria to own their own means of production and work the land in Bulgaria but decided it be best to come to Ireland and work for short term gain.

    Ireland benefits from low prices while Bulgarian consumer/economy suffers as they have a shortage of such workers.


  • #865
    LeBash
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,772 ✭✭✭LeBash


    FVP3 wrote: »
    At that wage level.

    Are these guys even paid minimum wage

    My guess is they are contracted from someone in Bulgaria/Romania. So probably on the lines of, well send lads over for x per week but they need accommodation and food. I doubt its min Irish wage. Could be wrong though.

    I suppose it's all about how much consumers are willing to pay for strawberries. At least while they are grown here, some tax and money remains here.


  • #866
    whisky_galore
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 17,231 ✭✭✭✭whisky_galore


    jay0109 wrote: »
    Isn't a sad situation that that is the case

    Irish people by and large won't do the ****ty work, it's beneath them. They won't clean offices, clean toilets, kill and butcher cows, pigs or chickens, work on fishing boats, you'd hardly see any Irish making beds in hotels, behind the reception...you can add fruit picking to the list.

    Some ppl are under the impression that freckle-faced sturdy Irish youths on their holidays are picking fruit, having corned beef sarnies and lashings of ginger beer on their break times, they're living in the last century.


  • #867
    masculinist
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,616 ✭✭✭masculinist


    The government could easily make it so the long term unemployed or those on a covid payment could take up seasonal work without it affecting their payments. Since the imported workers are not tax resident here it wouldn't cost the state anything.
    Such a measure would be overwhelmed with applicants willing to make extra cash and get out of house arrest.
    Locally produced food where the labour is flown around and back is not local and is not good for the planet under any circumstances.

    Farmers love to import exploited labour doing 18 hour days and charge them hefty rents out of their meagre wages. How else would gombeenmen get high rents for bunk beds ten to a room in ballygobackwards ? I know an eastern European charged higher rent than Dublin out of his minimum wage to live in the middle of absolute nowhere sharing with many others
    Its not anecdotal.


  • #868
    seamus
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 68,173 ✭✭✭✭seamus


    growleaves wrote: »
    Fruit-picking is skilled work? How many years is the apprenticeship?
    It's longer than 3 weeks sitting on the couch scratching your hole.

    Do you honestly think that if we shipped out thousands of barmen, waiters and office admins to go picking crops with no training, that they'd have it all figured out in a day or two and there'd be no supply problems at the end of the season?


  • #869
    granturismo
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,997 ✭✭✭granturismo


    redunited wrote: »
    Shame they didnt go to the same trouble to find people in Ireland.

    But of course, the Irish and Non Nationals living here who have done the job for years woke up yesterday and discovered they are too good for these jobs now.

    :rolleyes:

    Fruit farms put up signs on main roads to look for staff over the past few weeks. If they cant get staff locally, they have to look elsewhere in the EU.


  • #870
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 12,694 ✭✭✭✭ [Deleted User]


    FVP3 wrote: »
    Need to show your workings out there on the costs. As for mechanising work while paying higher wages to those you employ, thats basically how capitalism makes people richer.

    One person might operate a machine that has replaced 20/30/50 people though.

    We can't have it both way i.e cheap food and strawberry pickers paid 700 euro a week.

    It's fine if people what to make that choice but it is a choice.


  • Advertisement
  • #871
    blinding
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 7,462 ✭✭✭blinding


    FVP3 wrote: »
    At that wage level.

    Are these guys even paid minimum wage
    Do these workers have any rights ? ? Are they not entitled to the same pay and Conditions as any other people in the Country ? ?

    Are they some sort of Second Class Citizens in Ireland ?

    With regard to low pay keeping the price of stuff cheaper in the shops ! Should we just go back to Slavery to keep the Prices Down ? ?:eek::eek:


This discussion has been closed.
Advertisement
Advertisement