Bulgarian workers/Keelings - read OP (threadbans listed)

blinding wrote: »

The reality is that the Gang Bosses ain't going to tell you that because it would upset the delicate sensitivities of the Irish to know how much these workers are being exploited.

So you don’t really know what you’re talking about?

Who are these gang bosses?

Wow almost 950 posts all repeating the same arguments and going around in circles..

Never saw such concern for low paid farm workers ever!

redunited wrote: »

What are you even talking about now?

It's a seasonal job genius. Every year they'd hire enough workers for the few months that they need. The jobs aren't already taken in Jan each year. All are vacant before the start of the season.



You can apply and compete the same as any other job application. What is surprising to me is that you seem surprised that such "opportunities" actually existed and you seem a little put out that nobody "told you about them.

redunited wrote: »

Hence my orional point, its a shame keelings put the effort into advertising these jobs as well as they did in Bulgaria.

I and everyone I know were unaware of these jobs, especiually during a lockdown and yet Bulgairans were found and interviewed for them.

Think you will find they take on the same crew of people every year and have done for years , so no recruiting or interviewing required

redunited wrote: »

You mean this whole thread is Fake News?

Bulgarians were not flown in by Ryan Air to take up jobs on strawberry farms owned by Keelings?

They were,you said they were flown in to displace Irish workers, your statement is not true.

blinding wrote: »

You have never heard of Gang Bosses for Seasonal Workers.

https://www.fwi.co.uk/news/shocking-extent-of-modern-slavery-in-agriculture-revealed

Have a look at that ya comedian !

So you are saying Keelings are using these??

Yakult wrote: »

Wait, so governments world wide have travel restrictions, we can't stray further than two kilometre radius, but Keelings can import Bulgarians in to our country while its on lock down, for profit? Nevermind the labour part, but how are they allowed to do such a thing when governments are saying otherwise? Makes this effort of our little country a joke.
Who approved Keelings to make this decision? This country is a joke. Sure I'll import a few Bulgarians to paint my house.

965 posts on this news, and probably 500 of them answer your statement.

seamus wrote: »

The logistics of forced volunteering are not so simple that they can be spun up on demand.
Ireland got its first case 7 weeks ago. We've been subject to some level of travel restrictions for only five weeks. The vast, vast majority of unemployment has occured in the last four weeks.
It's fantasy land to think that we could have mounted an emergency response to mobilise a seasonal picking workforce out of the suddenly unemployed inside that timeframe. Even if the laws were in place to do so, the frameworks are not.

OK, I agree with your points.
- But my "frustration" was actually directed at the lifers who can work but make no effort at al, since decided long time ago social welfare suits them, (as long as getting long term housing/bills/food on the table from welfare, imo community hours should be mandated to anyone fit for work - no volunteering; I would definitely vote for such system to be put in place) ; probably better subject of a different thread.

So while I was not having in mind the recent pandemic un-employed staff, noticed elsewhere there is acknowledgement how their availability may present some opportunities, e.g. from link "France’s agriculture minister this week trumpeted what sounded like a surreal call for hairdressers, waiters, florists and others temporarily unable to work at their mothballed businesses to head to the nation’s fields and start picking."

Also, from same article there is another point ... "European governments have declared food supplies a matter of national security" - this explains how come east european workers are temporary "imported" from countries that are in military lock down themselves, after governments escalation.

JP Liz V1 wrote: »

Might be just me but I'd consider strawberries as a luxury non essential expensive fruit

Maybe they are. But bog roll is a luxury non-essential too and people were literally fighting each other for it in the supermarket aisles at even the mere notion that supply of it would be disrupted. You saw the panic-buying worldwide that only calmed when our government assured us that they would do everything to maintain the supply chain. Which is what they are doing now by allowing migrant workers in to harvest our crops. If we see gaps in our supermarket shelves, we'll start to panic again and hoard like a few weeks back so the vulnerable will go without basics because greedy vultures got in there before them.

So the optics of having your usual groceries in the shops to quell any rising panic buying is important right now too.

Most of us are too young to remember rationing during the emergency, but many of those cocooning will have stark memories of queues and ration books and eating very frugally. Ireland was lucky, most households would have someone who was able to skin a rabbit and a lot of them grew their own veg reared chickens, could swap eggs or veg with a neighbour for milk or cream or that sort of thing. But some, including my mother, endured rationing to the point of malnourishment and even now in her late seventies, will get anxiety if her cupboard isn't well stocked or hasn't all her next few meals planned out. My father wasn't too bad, his family were able to live off their home grown /home slaughtered food. But it was far from easy and they had the skills for self sufficiency and frugality built in. It's worth asking any older family member who has memories from the Forties here in Ireland what their thoughts are on Keelings decision to bring in workers to harvest or whether they think it should rot in the ground.

My facebook feed last night was full of outrage at "foreigners taking our job" and the funniest part of it all for me was that the crowd shrieking the most were the very ones shrieking for their 'pay rise' to €350 because it 'wasn't fair' that the covid unemployed got more than their own unemployment benefit and trying to start petitions for Netflix and Sky to be free because the schools were shut. The Full Time Mad Bastards/ Full Time Yummy Mummy have ample qualifications from their University of Hard Knocks to become fruit and veg harvesters if they want but prefer to hide behind their keyboard.