LONDON (AP) — Ismigyul Ismetova wraps her muddy fingers around a plump raspberry, plucks it from the stalk and drops the fruit into a tray in a field in Suffolk, deftly completing a task that is too delicate for a machine. British fruit and vegetable growers rely on seasonal workers from other EU countries to harvest their crops because local workers no longer want the poorly paid, physically demanding jobs that offer little security. EU citizens have the automatic right to work in any member state, and low-skilled east European laborers have helped fuel Britain's economy since their countries joined the bloc in 2004. Other industries also depend on European workers, with more than 1.9 million EU citizens accounting for 6.1 percent of Britain's workforce last year, according to the Office for National Statistics. Manufacturing was the biggest employer of EU labor, with 292,000 workers, followed by wholesale and retail sales at 230,000, lodging and food service at 213,000 and health and social work at 176,000. Britons want 9-to-5 jobs that don't involve laboring in the sun, said Robert Rendall, 38, managing director of Peake Fruit and director of Boxford Farms, who employs 220 foreign seasonal workers and supplies big grocery chains likes Sainsbury and Tesco. Laborers, who work on a piece rate, can bend down 4,000 times a day to cut celery or pick 20 kilograms (44 pounds) of strawberries an hour, according to a 2013 report from the Home Office's Migration Advisory Committee. Losing the migrants will have knock-on effects throughout the soft fruit industry, which generates about 1.2 billion pounds ($1.6 billion) of retail sales.
Slim Pickings: Without Eu Laborers, Who'll Harvest Uk Fruit?
By DANICA KIRKA and LEONORA BECK, Associated Press, San Antonio Express-News: World
Wed, 08/31/2016 - 12:07am
Topics: london ap ismigyul ismetova suffolk british national statistics manufacturing britons robert rendall peake fruit boxford farms sainsbury tesco laborers home office's migration advisory committee losing eu european britain office harvest workers work retail sales billion pounds citizens director countries jobs seasonal
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