Originally Posted by dcfcsteve
perhaps youi likewise saw the extended news-piece 2 month ago on Newsnight about the largest private bus operator in South Wales - based at the bottom of the Welsh Valleys. South Wales is one of Britain's most economically deprived areas, with a very high rate of particularly male unemployment. Yet the owner of the company was havin to travel to the Baltic states and Poland to actively recruit bus drivers, as he couldn't get enough staff locally. He mentioned how he often used to recruit local lads who would just stop turnin up oneday without any notice. When he eventually got hold of them, they would tell him they just didn't want to drive buses any more. He had one guy bail out on him in this way whilst the camera crew were there filming. He was increasingly unable Tto meet his timetable commitments, as he didn't have enough reliable staff turning-up every day
The camera crew followed him to Estonia as he interviewed potential recruits, and then did a piece 3mths on to see how they were doing. They were all solid, reliable workers, turned up for work on-time, clean and in uniform every day, and the locals interviewed thought they were great. The guy even mentioned how he was now starting to recruit a couple of people from the Welsh-speaking Patagonian communities in Argentina in order to get reliable and hard working Cymraeg-speakers for his bus services in West Wales !!!
Or maybe you saw the Panorama programme 2 weeks ago on 'Postcode lotteries'. It showed a reformed heroin addict who, whilst admiteddly working long hours when he did get jobs, was saying that he didn't want cleaning jobs as they were basically beneath him. And this from a feckin reformed heroin addict with a criminal record for dealing drugs !!!
For every dodgy cleaning company looking to exploit migrant labour, there are countless on-the-level employers who pay at or above minimum wage. I'm talking about the likes of Sainsbury's, Tescos, London Transport, London Underground, and yes - even the dreaded McDonalds. They offer at or over minimum wage, yet you rarely encounter an English person working in any of those outlets in London. Is that just coincidence, or is there either an unwillingness amongst the indigenous population to work in those places, or simply not enough local people to fill those jobs? Can migrant labour really therefore be accused of taking jobs from local people......?