{"id":13237,"date":"2017-09-07T17:42:35","date_gmt":"2017-09-07T16:42:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=13237"},"modified":"2017-09-08T11:56:57","modified_gmt":"2017-09-08T10:56:57","slug":"dont-pit-workers-workers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=13237","title":{"rendered":"Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t \u00e2\u20ac\u0098pit workers against workers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

Leaked government proposals to radically curb EU migration after Brexit \u00e2\u20ac\u0098pits workers against workers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 and risks the country\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s food security, Unite has said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A home office document leaked to the Guardian<\/em><\/a> proposes an immediate end to free movement after Brexit and the introduction of migration restrictions to put off all but the most highly skilled EU workers.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The document \u00e2\u20ac\u201c dated August 2017 and marked extremely sensitive \u00e2\u20ac\u201c sets out plans to reduce the number of new low-skilled EU workers by restricting their residency to two years. Workers in \u00e2\u20ac\u015bhigh-skilled occupations\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 would receive visas valid for between three and five years.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The secret plans<\/a>, which have not yet been cleared by ministers and would be \u00e2\u20ac\u015bsubject to negotiations with the EU\u00e2\u20ac\u0165, include measures to end the right to settle in the UK for most EU migrants as well as restricting their rights to bring family members to the country.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unite says the approach will not protect communities, jobs and workers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 rights, or end the exploitation of migrant workers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Rate for the job<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Unite general secretary Len McCluskey said, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe need a system that is fair and reasonable and changes the UK from a \u00e2\u20ac\u0098race-to-the-bottom\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 to a \u00e2\u20ac\u0098rate-for-the-job\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 economy, with employers stopped from paying workers from abroad less than others.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWorkers must not be pitted against workers. Only a rate-for-the-job economy will restore dignity and security to working life in this country.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bYet neither this leaked document or the government\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s approach to the Brexit negotiations do anything to assure our members that ensuring decent jobs and decent pay for all is even remotely in the minds of ministers.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As well as being labelled a \u00e2\u20ac\u015bdisgrace\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 and \u00e2\u20ac\u015bcatastrophic\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 from shocked industry groups and politicians<\/a>, the proposals prompted particular alarm in Northern Ireland<\/a>, where they pose a direct threat to jobs in the agri-food sector.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unite regional officer Sean McKeever said post-Brexit migration controls must reflect the particular challenges facing the food industry in Northern Ireland.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

He said, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThis leaked draft paper is highly concerning. Employers like Moy Park and Dunbia employ thousands of EU migrant workers across Northern Ireland, many in sites located in border areas.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bAt the very least, ending EU migration here would result in a loss of future investment; at worst it might result in the relocation of production to the Republic of Ireland or accelerated job-losses through increased mechanisation.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

McKeever said the proposals could also push EU agriculture workers into the hands of criminal gangs looking to undercut labour costs.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

He added, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bVery many of those EU migrant workers in our agri-food industry are members of Unite. They have come here to make a future for themselves and contribute very substantially to the local economy. Moves by the Conservative government to criminalise them are completely unacceptable.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

UK agriculture impact <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The plans would also affect agriculture across the rest of the UK, explained Unite member and food security expert Dr Charlie Clutterbuck.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Dr Clutterbuck, who has written a book on the future of Britain\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s food after Brexit<\/a>, said, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe east of England with all the vegetable pickers will be badly hit because again they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re classed as low skilled \u00e2\u20ac\u201c you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re talking in the region of 70 or 80,000 seasonal workers.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe plans would also affect the abattoirs, because just about all of those are staffed by EU migrant workers. The food sector as well; there are lots of low-skilled EU workers in coffee shops, cafes and restaurants.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe basic thrust as it stands is it will just devastate a lot of the farm and food sectors. I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t see how we will produce food. The NFU is saying the stuff will rot in the fields<\/a>, but if you ask me it won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even get planted. That means we will import more from abroad, whereas we should be producing more, not less, of our own food.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Ultimately, Dr Clutterbuck said the UK needed to begin paying a proper \u00e2\u20ac\u015brate for the job\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 to attract domestic agriculture<\/a> staff, rather than trying to punish migrant workers for fulfilling vital but low paid roles.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

He said, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe can get round all this stuff by paying workers better wages. One of the ways to do this to pass on (farming subsidies) to land workers, rather than land owners \u00e2\u20ac\u201c that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the long term solution.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Leaked government proposals to radically curb EU migration after Brexit \u00e2\u20ac\u0098pits workers against workers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 and risks the country\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s food security, Unite has said.   A home office document leaked to the Guardian proposes an immediate end to free movement after Brexit and the introduction of migration restrictions to put off all but the most highly […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1810,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[42,486,758],"wps_subtitle":"Leaked EU migrant plans could risk UK food","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13237"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13237"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13237\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13239,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13237\/revisions\/13239"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1810"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13237"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13237"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13237"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}