Re:From Spain to Germany, farmers warn of fresh food shortages
by touristtam on Sunday March 29, 2020 @04:09AM
(#22717237)
> After all, the GDP per capita difference between the UK and Poland is close to 3x.
That's a shame it is still the case, as the promise of entering the EU was for wages to normalise across the Union. I guess it will take further integration for that to happen.
Re:From Spain to Germany, farmers warn of fresh food shortages
by Tade0 on Sunday March 29, 2020 @07:11AM
(#22718020)
It was 6x back when Poland joined the EU in 2004, so a lot of progress has been made already.
It's a lengthy process, but it's happening.
Re:From Spain to Germany, farmers warn of fresh food shortages
by disgruntledphd2 on Sunday March 29, 2020 @07:07AM
(#22717995)
Even if that approach was to work, it takes a long time.
Ireland joined in 1973, but didn't really become "rich" like the rest of Western Europe till the turn of the millenium.
Those workers aren't necessarily unskilled. Those who come from my country(Poland) at least are often college graduates.
How do they end up there? Well, the pay is obviously better - especially for a seasonal worker. After all, the GDP per capita difference between the UK and Poland is close to 3x.
The unemployment rate here is(or was before the virus) considerably lower than the EU average, so had they not gone there those people would've found jobs and contributed to the local economy.
Instead we have this weird brain-drain in which the brains aren't utilized to their full potential.
Ironically I'm currently a "seasonal worker" myself, only I work as a software engineer, not fruit picker, or any low-skilled labourer.
Aside from that the coronavirus showed that this approach you present is unsustainable. Like I said before, currently there is so much demand for workers from eastern Europe (Poland, Ukraine, Belarus) that there's simply not enough people to fill all the positions.
Also we have our own fields with fruit to pick - all that is going to go to waste. That's definitely "less food produced" - just somewhere you don't see it.