Keelings fruit pickers

[RayDonovan]

Any thoughts ?

https://www.thejournal.ie/keelings-c...76737-Apr2020/

The essential point that is always lost in “they’re coming over here taking our jobs” is big business once again refusing to pay a living wage until it’s absolutely backed into a corner to do so. And government policies everywhere allowing them to get away with it. Massive wealthy corporations using globalization to play different government nations against each other to get the cheapest workforce possible.

Not just Keelings, but Apple, Samsung, Nike, the whole fast fashion industry etc. Throw Amazon in there too. And supermarkets like Tesco, charging producers to put their products on their shelves, while paring down their supplier’s margins to the absolute minimum. Capitalism has all but failed in its current form.

This means fruit and vegetables will be more expensive for consumers, so will your clothes and your phones, but that’s as it should be. Friends of mine who grow vegetables and fruit for themselves say it costs practically the same to grow them as it does to buy them in supermarkets. That’s crazy.

Budget airlines, and dirt cheap holidays too, based on ripping through resources, paying hospitality staff a pittance. It was all so nice for us, but unsustainable. I remember a good few years ago seeing a hotel receptionist in Turkey working practically around the clock for the week I was there. She wanted to make the most of the holiday season.

A gardener in a yoga retreat in Bali telling some friends of mine who were there about his holidays coming up, and being excited. He was back working two days later. That was his summer holidays.

If this pandemic teaches us anything, it should be how terribly undervalued jobs like, cleaners, produce workers, delivery workers, shelf stackers, carers etc. are. In America they are asking the government to deem landscape gardeners essential workers. In this time of crisis, all these previously undervalued jobs are deemed essential.


The ‘new normal’ whatever that is, should look radically different, but it most likely won’t.
Put the environment and working class at the forefront of government policy. That’s the working class who actually work., which I guess is what the middle class have become. And put an actual wealth tax that works on the one percenters and other super wealthy individuals.
Try to create a society where a hardworking cleaner, or a carer actually believes they can work towards owning a home of their own one day, and feels like they have a stake in society.



Wall of text there sorry
TLDR: Romanian/Bulgarian fruit pickers aren’t the problem, big business is.

[Meursault]

The essential point that is always lost in “they’re coming over here taking our jobs” is big business once again refusing to pay a living wage until it’s absolutely backed into a corner to do so. And government policies everywhere allowing them to get away with it. Massive wealthy corporations using globalization to play different government nations against each other to get the cheapest workforce possible.

Not just Keelings, but Apple, Samsung, Nike, the whole fast fashion industry etc. Throw Amazon in there too. And supermarkets like Tesco, charging producers to put their products on their shelves, while paring down their supplier’s margins to the absolute minimum. Capitalism has all but failed in its current form.

This means fruit and vegetables will be more expensive for consumers, so will your clothes and your phones, but that’s as it should be. Friends of mine who grow vegetables and fruit for themselves say it costs practically the same to grow them as it does to buy them in supermarkets. That’s crazy.

Budget airlines, and dirt cheap holidays too, based on ripping through resources, paying hospitality staff a pittance. It was all so nice for us, but unsustainable. I remember a good few years ago seeing a hotel receptionist in Turkey working practically around the clock for the week I was there. She wanted to make the most of the holiday season.

A gardener in a yoga retreat in Bali telling some friends of mine who were there about his holidays coming up, and being excited. He was back working two days later. That was his summer holidays.

If this pandemic teaches us anything, it should be how terribly undervalued jobs like, cleaners, produce workers, delivery workers, shelf stackers, carers etc. are. In America they are asking the government to deem landscape gardeners essential workers. In this time of crisis, all these previously undervalued jobs are deemed essential.


The ‘new normal’ whatever that is, should look radically different, but it most likely won’t.
Put the environment and working class at the forefront of government policy. That’s the working class who actually work., which I guess is what the middle class have become. And put an actual wealth tax that works on the one percenters and other super wealthy individuals.
Try to create a society where a hardworking cleaner, or a carer actually believes they can work towards owning a home of their own one day, and feels like they have a stake in society.



Wall of text there sorry
TLDR: Romanian/Bulgarian fruit pickers aren’t the problem, big business is.

"The capitalists will sell us the rope that we will use to hang them. " V Lenin.

[Wolverine]

The essential point that is always lost in “they’re coming over here taking our jobs” is big business once again refusing to pay a living wage until it’s absolutely backed into a corner to do so. And government policies everywhere allowing them to get away with it. Massive wealthy corporations using globalization to play different government nations against each other to get the cheapest workforce possible.

Not just Keelings, but Apple, Samsung, Nike, the whole fast fashion industry etc. Throw Amazon in there too. And supermarkets like Tesco, charging producers to put their products on their shelves, while paring down their supplier’s margins to the absolute minimum. Capitalism has all but failed in its current form.

This means fruit and vegetables will be more expensive for consumers, so will your clothes and your phones, but that’s as it should be. Friends of mine who grow vegetables and fruit for themselves say it costs practically the same to grow them as it does to buy them in supermarkets. That’s crazy.

Budget airlines, and dirt cheap holidays too, based on ripping through resources, paying hospitality staff a pittance. It was all so nice for us, but unsustainable. I remember a good few years ago seeing a hotel receptionist in Turkey working practically around the clock for the week I was there. She wanted to make the most of the holiday season.

A gardener in a yoga retreat in Bali telling some friends of mine who were there about his holidays coming up, and being excited. He was back working two days later. That was his summer holidays.

If this pandemic teaches us anything, it should be how terribly undervalued jobs like, cleaners, produce workers, delivery workers, shelf stackers, carers etc. are. In America they are asking the government to deem landscape gardeners essential workers. In this time of crisis, all these previously undervalued jobs are deemed essential.


The ‘new normal’ whatever that is, should look radically different, but it most likely won’t.
Put the environment and working class at the forefront of government policy. That’s the working class who actually work., which I guess is what the middle class have become. And put an actual wealth tax that works on the one percenters and other super wealthy individuals.
Try to create a society where a hardworking cleaner, or a carer actually believes they can work towards owning a home of their own one day, and feels like they have a stake in society.



Wall of text there sorry
TLDR: Romanian/Bulgarian fruit pickers aren’t the problem, big business is.

Excellent input there Ray. Amazon are reprehensible employers imo.

Timed toilet breaks ??? I'd be whizzing up against their leg an telling 'em to get their stopwatch out

[RayDonovan]

Excellent input there Ray. Amazon are reprehensible employers imo.

Timed toilet breaks ??? I'd be whizzing up against their leg an telling 'em to get their stopwatch out

They really are vile. Soul destroying employers, and for what? Another billion wouldn't make the slightest difference to Bezos's lifestyle. And to even be able to say that is absurd

[Meursault]

American multinationals are awful with regards taking advantage of people. I worked for one a while back. 12 hour shifts, six days a week and every second week was the nightshift. I mean i was earning good money, but had no time to actually spend the money i had. I left and went on to a job that payed much less, but at least was not killing me.

I have a relative too that had to change careers at forty years old. He was basically working all these short contracts and had no job security. He has basically done a tour of ireland with all the places he has worked.

The Dalai Lama has a great quote where he says people under the capitalists make a lot of money but have to sarcrifice their health and then when they retire they take all the money they have saved and try to prolong their bad health.

Capitalism has its virtues, but also its vices.

[Meursault]

Marx's theory of Alienation is fascinating to read. When i was working in the factor doing the same thing 700 times a day, it was soul destroying, especially doing it for 12 hours.

Good money yes, but not worth doing your whole life.

Edit: if i kept at it, i would have saved enough for an apartment. But i would be dead at sixty. It was basically work and sleep. No exercise. Just work and sleep.

[RayDonovan]

American multinationals are awful with regards taking advantage of people. I worked for one a while back. 12 hour shifts, six days a week and every second week was the nightshift. I mean i was earning good money, but had no time to actually spend the money i had. I left and went on to a job that payed much less, but at least was not killing me.

I have a relative too that had to change careers at forty years old. He was basically working all these short contracts and had no job security. He has basically done a tour of ireland with all the places he has worked.

The Dalai Lama has a great quote where he says people under the capitalists make a lot of money but have to sarcrifice their health and then when they retire they take all the money they have saved and try to prolong their bad health.

Capitalism has its virtues, but also its vices.

They really are awful. You talk to people who work in facebook and google and it's their whole existence. The pay is good enough but they take every hour of their days from them. Team meetings, team outings, bonding nights. They don't allow them any time at all to have a life away from the hive. And Google and Facebook would be two of the better examples. Paypal and other call centres are even worse.

[Meursault]

They really are awful. You talk to people who work in facebook and google and it's their whole existence. The pay is good enough but they take every hour of their days from them. Team meetings, team outings, bonding nights. They don't allow them any time at all to have a life away from the hive. And Google and Facebook would be two of the better examples. Paypal and other call centres are even worse.

Yea i have read on the boards about people complaining about these team nights out.

Edit: there is a terrific documentary on netflix called American Factory which ironically shows the Chinese firing all these american workers. In china some people have to sleep in the factory they work in. They say china is red capitalism. The Chinese market themselves a socialists, but really they are just capitalists.

Another thing in that documentary that was frightening was the Chinese marrying ten couples in the one go. As in ten couples exchanged vows in front of one priest.

[Barney Rubble]

There's a programme on Cannel 4 at 9pm on Tuesday night called The truth about Amazon. Could be interesting.

[My2girls]

In 2010 when i lost my job in construction i went to certain factory in drogheda as i went in to reception i seen all these signs in foreign language was told no work going after seeing it was looking for workers later found out the signs were polish and hadn't a chance of getting job left sour taste in my mouth