Media reports May 08

30 May 08

‘Clueless’ gangmaster broke migrant laws A “clueless” Scottish gangmaster yesterday became the first person sentenced for breaking new laws designed to protect vulnerable migrant workers. Fiona Clark, 34, of Perth, was ordered to carry out 140 hours of community service and placed on probation for 18 months for providing labour to farms in Tayside without a licence. – The Scotsman.

Rural worker shortage: politicians lobby Immigration Minister The UK Immigration Minister is under increasing pressure over restrictions on access to the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Scheme. In previous years, up to 25,000 workers travelled from eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, but new laws allow only 16,250 Bulgarians and Romanians. The change has alarmed farmers, many of whom are already facing problems finding sufficient staff to harvest their crops.

26 May 08

Employers struggle with migrant labour law The Financial Times reports a survey indicating that the UK Border Agency “is likely to be swamped” by last-minute applications from employers seeking to register under the new immigration points system being introduced this autumn.

25 May 08

Weak pound has Poles eyeing homeland, but exodus reports are exaggerated The Financial Times reports that the number of Poles registering to work during the first three months of this year was the lowest quarterly total for three years. But claims of a sudden mass exodus have been exaggerated by the British media, say organisations representing Polish emigrants.

23 May 08

Trade unions hail new deal on temporary and agency workers From Tribune: At the end of a six-year battle by unions to give the largely migrant workforce equal rights with full-timers, the Government broke the logjam over the starting date for entitlement with a compromise.

20 May 08

Call to abolish the Worker Registration Scheme As the latest figures for the Worker Registration Scheme are published, an alliance of employers, unions, migrant groups and MPs have called for the Scheme to be scrapped.

21 May 08

Record numbers take UK citizens’ pledge while Britons head abroad The Independent reports on new statistics on migrants settling in Britain as new citizens, and UK nationals exercising their right to live abroad.

17 May 08

Road from Morecambe Bay The FT’s world trade editor, Alan Beattie, examines the Gangmasters Licensing Authority – at the centre of a debate about whether attempts to stamp out exploitation in a transient, badly paid workforce is ever going to do much good – or indeed whether exploitative gangmasters, rather than the nature of the industry, are mainly to blame.

12 May 08

Fruit unpicked: A rotten policy demands a rethink Leading article in The Independent: It was a big mistake on the part of the Government when it caved into the Tories’ anti-immigration clamour and slapped a partial ban on labour coming in from the EU’s two newest members, Bulgaria and Romania. Now we are likely to see one of the effects of this foolish, knee-jerk concession: about £5m worth of fruit left to rot in Scotland because there are not enough people to pick it.

Tightening of immigration laws means farmers face losing 50,000 tonnes of fruit

‘Fruit growers ‘are facing a disaster’

8 May 08

Two million vulnerable workers The TUC’s Commission on Vulnerable Employment finds more than 2 million workers in Britain as vulnerable, with migrants particularly at risk. Immigration regulations are forcing migrant workers into vulnerable employment, leading to a higher risk of exploitation. The report calls for a review of the immigration system regulations relating to low-paid migrant workers who have less rights and protections than British workers.

Gangmaster stripped of licence, accused of using forced labour The Gangmasters Licensing Authority (GLA) has “uncovered a disgraceful story of forced labour in the 21st-century Britain”. Timberland Homes Recruitment, one of the industry’s largest labour suppliers which has harvested an estimated 13m bunches of daffodils across the UK this season, was paying workers as little as £24 a day, and made “sinister threats” against employees’ families in their home countries.

6 May 08

Tighter new rules for skilled foreign workers The Home Office published proposals for much tighter skilled and temporary worker tiers of its new Points Based System (PBS). From this autumn British employers will have to prove that no British workers are able to fill a vacancy before offering a job to an immigrant worker from outside Europe.

5 May 08

“A new regime” – “shameful and unjust” The BBC assisted the government in demonstrating the “new regime” of UK immigration policy in action with a dramatic televised raid on a factory, while, at Westminster Cathedral, a Mass in Support of Migrants Workers heard a senior Bishop describe the policy as “shameful and unjust”

4 May 08

Ireland’s immigrants return home as slump sharpens fear of racism With growing concerns over job losses and the credit crunch starting to bite, Ireland’s migrant workers are feeling the strain – not just in their pockets, but in their relationship with the adopted homeland.

News archives:

June 2008

May 2008

April 2008

March 2008

February 2008