The Blog entry about the B-word

“I don’t think people realise how important they are. It won’t affect us too much but I know a lot of farmers are worried.”

That was the August 2020 opinion of Steve Collett, the ‘godfather’ of Westlands Farm and the king of all things strawberry on the importance of migrant workers.

His view shouldn’t be ignored. Having spent a lifetime in the fruit growing business – Channel 4 wanted to make a documentary about him, but he declined – Steve knows full well the impact the EU has had on the berry growing business.

“When I drive to Maidstone you see these great big lorry parks being built by the side of the M26 and I just think of all the money being spent on it,” added Steve.

“Brexit won’t affect us too much as most of our pickers are on settled status, but not everyone is going to be so lucky.”

When Steve started making a name for himself in the berry business the seasonal workers at his farm were often local teenagers and the Common Market was new and exciting.

Fast forward a few decades and English is the minority tongue in the polytunnels. The majority of the pickers in 2020 were Bulgarian while Romanians dominated in the years before then. Czechs, Poles and Turks have all joined the ranks at various times, making Westlands a melting pot of Eastern European nationalities and cultures.

It’s not always happy families and sometimes there are feuds and fights. A scuffle broke out a few years ago over a gypsy slur while the bosses are reluctant to let families join, as they don’t want a contingent to become too dominant.

Some like super-picker Constantin return every year while others like Oktay have worked at multiple British farms. Some are getting their first taste of UK farm work while others have become British citizens after a decade in the fields and polytunnels.

The one constant is the desire for more money and betterment, for themselves and their families. Although many would consider farm wages to be at the lower end of the pay scale, the income the pickers receive is well beyond anything they would receive for the same job in the former Eastern Bloc. As their housing is provided by the farm, most of the migrants save their income and reap the benefits in their homeland.

The Prince of Pribesti

Constantin Tataru is a Westlands Farm legend and I reckon Steve gets a warm fuzzy feeling inside whenever he talks about the Romanian.

“I’ve never met anyone like him,” said Steve with a smile on his face. “He’s so focused on work from the day he arrives until the day he leaves. He would work 24 hours a day if he could.”

The legendary Constantin.

Constanin couldn’t speak a word of English when he first landed at Luton several years ago but quickly impressed with his determination, dedication and talent. If there was a team sheet, his would be the first name on it, no doubt about it.

Furthermore, he is the epitome of a family man and his income has supported his wife through teacher training back in Romania. He also holds the farm record for the most strawberries picked in an hour – a whopping 60kg! – and has become the one of the top earners because of his picking speed and accuracy.

He’s a gentle, polite and cheerful man who now speaks good English and is a fine example of how the EU could help people on both sides of the continent: the farm gets a superb worker and lots of income from his picking prowess, while his wife and family get a better life because of it.

“It gives you a warm feeling when you see people like him coming here and working their heart off,” said Steve about the star worker from Pribesti.

“He idolises his wife and kids and does everything for them. They’re from a little village on the edge of Romania, near the Moldovan border, and from what I’ve seen from the pictures it’s a pretty poor place. Yet he’s probably the richest man and he’s given his family so much from his time here.

“He didn’t speak of word of English when he came here and on the journey here from Luton Airport we thought he was a little bit crazy because all he kept saying was ‘hello’. But he just wanted to come here to pick strawberries and boy, can he do that.”

Constantin’s wife would struggle to get through university if he remained in Romania because wages are low and corruption is rife. The subject features in his favourite music, too, as he often listens to an RnB/rap act called Parazitii. One of their most popular songs is called “F**k You Romania” and is a strong critique of the country’s leaders.

Indeed, while Romania’s membership of the EU has been a blessing for people like Constantin, there’s not been a trickle down effect and some yearn for the past.

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss

Corruption comes up often when chatting to the pickers about life in Romania and Bulgaria, with both Constantin and former supervisor Madalina claiming life was better under the iron curtain.

He said: “When Ceausescu was in charge there were always jobs, now there is nothing.”

“I was very young when Ceausescu (pictured below) was overthrown, I think was two, but a lot of Romanians think life was better when he was in charge,” said Madalina, a few months before her move to West Sussex.

“There is so much corruption. If you go a hospital they will ask for money and may only give you a pill. It’s the same everywhere.”

Oktay doubts whether EU membership is also helping “crime city” Bulgaria and its high levels of corruption. Wealth isn’t being shared, with German firms and their counterparts muscling in and exploiting the cheap workforce. That’s capitalism for you, I suppose.

He is another typical example of a worker trying to make a better life for him and his family-to-be (his wife is pregnant) by finding employment abroad. His jobs in Bulgaria included farm work and a stint at his local McDonalds, which he hated, before he decided to hop on the plane from Sofia to Blighty.

One of his first jobs was picking flowers at a Northern Irish farm while his CV includes stints at major fruit farms in Kent and West Sussex. He joined the Westlands crew in spring 2020 and has enjoyed the work, calling Graham the “best manager” has ever had.

The money Oktay has accrued from seasonal work in British has paid for a new apartment in Bulgaria’s third-largest city, Varna. The new-build in the Black Sea resort is a fraction of the price of a British equivalent and will be perfect for his young and expanding family.

He said: “You pay so much for houses and mortgages here – I may not get a lot but it’s enough to get a home we want in Bulgaria.”

While there’s no doubt EU membership has benefited the likes of Oktay, Constantin and thousands of their counterparts, Madalina can understand why Britain has left the EU. She believes the opportunity for Romanians to live and work abroad in Europe has been abused by many of her countrymen and women.

“I know a lot of people didn’t want Brexit to happen but it has now and that’s not going to change,” she said, pragmatically.

“Romania being part of the EU has been good for me as I’ve worked here for ten years but not everyone who comes to Britain from Romania works.

“Sometimes we have large Gypsy families coming here with a hundred people and they do not work. They claim and sometimes steal. That is not right.”

The lure of the welfare state

The generosity of the British welfare system comes up quite often whenever Brexit is discussed on the farm. While many of the migrants are hard-working folk who are determined to improve their finances through grit and determination, some have possibly milked the system.

Some workers in the past have allegedly encouraged by their counterparts to get pregnant because of the maternity handouts they will receive, while plenty have taken advantage of the British child maintenance system.

Child maintenance payments in Britain are among the highest in Europe while those in Bulgaria and Romania are at the other end of the scale. But if you’re a Bulgarian or Romanian picker working in Britain, you can receive the same payout a UK parent would receive, courtesy of Her Majesty’s Government, even if your children have never left Sofia or Bucharest.

Brexit may change this and it will be interesting to see if there is less interest from foreign shores because of its impact.

Steve believes Brexit shouldn’t affect business at Westlands too much as most of the pickers have Settled Status and will be allowed to return. But Westlands is small pickings – it’s not even close to being the biggest strawberry farm in Hampshire – compared to the mega farms in Kent, East Anglia and Herefordshire who employ tens of thousands of migrant workers.

“They do a lot in putting food on our plates and I don’t think people realise what an important part they play,” said Steve while weighing punnets of his luscious strawberries.

“From what I hear the government will allow 30,000 migrants to come over next year (2021) but the industry needs around 100,000. I think there’s going to be big problems.”

There could be some positives from Brexit, though, as it should improve productivity. An early change is that the migrants will receive performance-related pay now there’s no EU employment directives to adhere to.

It means the lazier of the pickers won’t have a minimum wage to fall back on, and will have to raise their game. Make of that what you will, but productivity is major factor in agriculture.

Ryan also hopes that a visa system will be introduced as some migrants have packed up and left in the night in past years, without a word to Graham or their superiors. Having a visa means that workers will have to remain put.

The full impact of Brexit on Westlands will become clearer as the months go on and dust settles. Indeed, Steve is happy the agreement was ratified at the end of 2020, as he hopes that any issues could can ironed out before the picking season truly begins and lorry loads of berries start heading to the regional depot in Maidstone.

If worst comes to worst and there is a complete ban on migrant workers, then Graham and Steve will employ locally. They’ve been put off employing British people because of past experiences – see my early entries on this blog – but maybe I’ve persuaded them that we’re not all useless and lazy. Sorry to come over all narcistic and egotistical there. Two Winchester teens we nicknamed Bill and Ted are also keen to return this summer, so opinions are changing.

But it all comes back to whether British people will actually want to work on farms and it might be tough in persuading people to join, let alone stay.

Ask yourself this: Would you be happy to start picking at 5am on a summer morning for minimum wage or does that sound too tough and unappealing?

The migrants are happy to do it. Would you?