Pick of the workforce

I mentioned in my previous entry how much I was in awe of the migrants.

Seeing them in action for the first time was an eye-opener. They pick fast in hot temperatures – the mercury can nudge 40c in the greenhouses in summer – and they’re always running around.

Most of this year’s pickers come from Bulgaria but there’s a few Turks and Romanians to swell the ethnic mix.

It all starts with a trolley and a grey plastic tray filled with empty punnets (see the photo below). Strawberry punnets come in two sizes, 400g and 227g, with 10 and 14 respectively fitting into a tray, and raspberries come in a 150g punnet, of which 10 fit into a tray.

Pickers don’t have to crouch as all the strawberry plants rest in growbags or pots on elevated racks and are connected to an intricate irrigation system by tubes and drips. The rush of water to the plants often sounds like screaming and takes getting used to.

Time is money as the pickers receive more dosh for every tray they fill.

When pickers fill their punnets they run with the completed tray to a checking station, usually manned by Christi before running back to their trolley with an empty tray of 10 or 14 empty punnets to complete the cycle all over again.

Top of the class is a Romanian called Constantine whose hands are often a blur. He also worked out he could earn an extra £40 a day (I think that’s the right figure) by running and reducing the time spent travelling between his trolley and the checking station. Now everyone does it and heaven help the person who gets in the way of the pickers on their way.

The pickers live in caravans dotted around two of the three sites and have found themselves at Westlands through an agency. I’m told Brexit shouldn’t affect working arrangements at the farm but I do wonder how proposed visa changes and a point system will affect things.

I’m told that while housing is relatively cheap and plentiful in Bulgaria and Romania there’s a growing imbalance between the average wage and the cost of living. But they’re not afraid of hard, manual work so many help their families by getting farm jobs in Britain and putting money aside for themselves and loved ones in the old Eastern bloc countries.

They think nothing of being in the fields at 7am on a Sunday and working until 5 or later for several days in a row. It’s a tough life, and it’s one I think most British people would struggle with.

Some have tried and failed miserably. I learn from Ryan that Westlands took on a student a few weeks before my arrival and he lasted all of 40 minutes. Another woman, possibly thinking the job was going to be a cushy PYO experience, got bored with packhouse work after a couple of hours, went to the toilet and never returned.

Clearly I am made of stronger stuff.

Brexit and Covid might change things and there’s definitely been more enquiries about farm work from the British public because of the latter and the shortfall of migrant workers. But regardless of what happens after the dust settles and I’m not sure the British will be rushing to take the places of these migrant workhorses. It will need a major change in mentality and attitude, and forgive me if I hold my breath about that happening.