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Did you see the part where they asked the eastern European guy on the street about it? He said people are unkind to him because of his nationality and a lot of his friends have left because of this kind of thing and because they no longer feel welcome. I'm sure a lot of people made them feel unwelcome before Brexit but that just put fuel on the fire. It's not just about the legal decisions that are to come but can you imagine living and working hard somewhere where you felt you were not wanted or worse were threatened or abused for being the wrong race? A black friend of mine was shouted at and told to go home recently. He's bloody Scottish for f@@ sake. Born there, Scottish mum and Guyanese father and this is nor something he experienced before Brexit. <br/>
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I lived in Bognor for a few years about 15 years ago and one of my first jobs was picking tomatoes for minimum wage 6 days a week starting at 5 in the morning and there was me and one other brit with the rest eastern European. They worked 3 times the speed we did for the bonus. There were plenty of unemployed young brits hanging about the streets who could have the work if they wanted. Yes it's poorly paid but for a young person starting out with low overheads it was fine.<br/>
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I then moved onto my first gardening job working on all the local parks, cemeteries etc and the people I worked with were sometimes quite racist about the eastern European workers but I think the final push for these people will be feeling as though the whole country is against them now. Sad as they are just people like you and me trying their best to survive and look after their families.
Yes I did see that bit and you are right its sad that someone trying to make a living is treated that way. I also feel that we have taken advantage in the UK and allowed these people to come and work here and taken little notice/care of the conditions they must live in. I was in London last week and all nearly all the shops/foodoutlets employee these poeple, I suspect they are paid very little and I just wonder where they all live! I couldn't live in London on £8/9 ph so how can they?
I Suppose the veg and soft fruit industry was a cottage industry with the farmer and family doing most of the work. Then as the cheap foreign labour came in it was a chance to expand these businesses. I guess the next step is more automation but I don't know if this sort of equipment exists yet or if it does how sophisticated it is.
Locally I am seeing mainly Portuguese workers in the flats where I call to do work and the East Europeans do seem to be moving on. This week I knocked the door of a flat to find that the Bulgarian cousins who were renting it and working at the central heating boiler manufacturing company have gone, to where I do not know, but I guess I will never see them again despite having been casual acquaintances for several years. The flat has been let to a young NHS worker, who I presume is local.
Whether this will "improve" the country we have yet to see. We are in this situation of being in a state of phoney Brexit, where nothing has actually happened apart from talking and arguing. When the real Brexit is underway things could go pear shaped overnight with the economy crashing or nothing may happen, but I can't foresee a sudden improvement in the state of the country and its economy due to Brexit having started work in the seventies before we joined the EU and remembering the state of the country before membership going back appears a big mistake.
Andy
To be honest I don't know, we are in a state of limbo with a load of @@@@ balanced above a fan waiting to see if it hits it.
Andy
a lot of the eastern European workers come here to work (and graft) for 6 months then go back home then they will get all the tax back
I can remember in my younger days going spud and pea picking and it was back braking work now they have machines that do it also the work ethic is not instilled into half of the youngsters today as it was in the past. too easy to get benefits. I better stop as I am stepping onto my soap box
Andy
depends where you paid your tax, its like if you loose your job and do not find another for a few months you will get a tax rebate
I do not know how they go on in Spain as I have never worked there but it seems a lot of the eu countries ignore the rules to benefit themselves