(C) OpenDemocracy
This story was originally published by OpenDemocracy and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .



Why I quit being a migrant farm worker in the UK [1]

[]

Date: 2025-01

If you’re not the customer, you are the product. This is the sentence that best sums up my three seasons working in the UK on the seasonal workers visa scheme. This year was undoubtably my last. I'm here to explain why and offer advice on how to improve the scheme.

It all happened very quickly the first time I applied to work in the UK. I got a WhatsApp message from a friend, sent an email, and within the hour I was filling out forms and signing documents. I never sent a CV to the South African agency that recruited me, and they never interviewed me. It's easy to see the red flags in retrospect. But at the time, the opportunity looked good on paper and I didn’t ask questions.

I paid extra to rush my visa appointment, and within a month of that first email I was off to the UK. My total outlay was about R40,000 (£1750), including the money I took to cover expenses until I got paid.

That’s a fair bit of money to pay back if you borrow it, like I did. It makes you feel a lot of pressure to succeed before you even step foot on British soil. Once you reach the farm and realise for the first time what you signed up for, it hits you like a brick to the head.

The penny drops

The living conditions are bad. On the bigger farms, six strangers might be made to share a one bathroom, three-bedroom static caravan. Be prepared for the absolute worst: mouldy curtains, clogged drains, mattresses that hurt your back more than the work, always waiting in line to cook or go to the toilet.

You’ll fight with your caravan-mates over space for your clothes in the shared cupboard. Once a week a bus will take you to Tesco, and you’ll fight again over space in the tiny bar fridge when you return. You get all this luxury for just under £70 a week, and in most cases gas and electricity are not included. £420 a week made per caravan, 600 caravans on some farms. Sounds like a lucrative accommodation business if you ask me.

[END]
---
[1] Url: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/beyond-trafficking-and-slavery/why-i-quit-being-a-migrant-farm-worker-in-the-uk/

Published and (C) by OpenDemocracy
Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons CC BY-ND 4.0.

via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/opendemocracy/