Seasonal workers tempted to travel to Herefordshire from Eastern Europe with the promise of reasonable earnings have been in for a big disappointment, it’s been claimed this week.
Concerned about workers wandering around the town with only two to three hours’ work per day, Councillor Peter McCaull, will be speaking at Herefordshire Council’s planning committee this Friday .
Strawberry giants, S&A Produce await a decision on plans for a site at Brierley Court Farm near Leominster for mobile homes and portable buildings to house fruit pickers. The meeting will also decide on plans for fixed Spanish polytunnels grown on table tops and a retrospective application to keep a private sewage treatment plant on the farm.
Arrow Valley Residents’ Association announced proposals to file a complaint against Herefordshire Council, engaging lawyers in preparation for a judicial review.
Said spokesman Aubrey Greene: “The Arrow Valley Residents Association is unhappy as to the way Hereford Council are running this process and intends to file a maladministration complaint and will simultaneously engage lawyers in preparation for a judicial review.”
He added: “Our complaint centres on three committee reports issued by Herefordshire Council on June 26, which contain omissions of key facts and inaccuracies.”
Meanwhile, Councillor McCaull wants to see the strawberry empire remain in the county, but criticises the working conditions for seasonal pickers. He claimed that many were working 20 hours per week,not the 40 to 60 they expected. “Manycame here several weeks before the picking started and that got them into debt,” he said. “I’ve seen their wage slips, and though they earn the minimum wage they’re only getting two to three hours a day and they’re finding themselves out of pocket they’re earning less than £60 a week.
“I don’t want S&A to go out of the county, they’re good for the local economy, but I just want the workers to be treated like human beings and paid a realistic wage.”
He wanted to see a reduction in the number of accommodation pods on site in line with a restriction in numbers, so workers could do a 40-hour week, and claimed that pods, designed for two, were housing four.
He also planned to raise worries about run-off on land earmarked for polytunnels.
A spokesman for S&A Produce said workers were recruited to cover peaks in the season. The company wants to reduce down to 1,000 workers in 500 pods.
