Posted on 06/28/2004 2:51:27 PM PDT by Grzegorz 246
Some employers in Wales who have traditionally taken on local people have said that they are being forced to look further afield for employees. According to the TUC, thousands of workers from Europe are filling the shortages in sectors like hospitality, catering and agriculture.
Employers are claiming they are having difficulties in recruiting for manual workers and are turning to migrant workers.
Abattoir and meat processors Oriel Jones & Son in Llanybydder, Carmarthenshire, employs 350 workers, many of whom come from outside the UK - from EU countries including Poland, the Czech Republic and Portugal, as well as Moldova, the Philippines and Pakistan.
"In general, I feel that the work ethic of our employees from abroad is exceptional, and many of them have worked their way through the ranks," said company spokesman Tony Sawyer.
"The reason that we turn to foreign workers was that it is very difficult to recruit people locally.
Some people might say that this is because we are a slaughter house and that killing animals isn't a job that many people can cope with, in fact only two of our workers actually carry out this task, and we offer all sort of employment from packing to office jobs. "
Deiniol ap Dafydd, who runs restaurant Amser Da and owns a delicatessen Blas ar Fwyd in Llanrwst, Conwy has recently employed a couple from Poland and said he pays above the minimum wage.
He had failed to attract local interest and advertised the catering posts throughout the country in job centres and in papers and magazines.
Arkadiusz Machala, 26, and 25-year-old Ewa Stalega have both graduated from universities in Poland and have degrees in environmental studies and computer studies.
They have worked for Mr ap Dafydd for two months.
"In Poland, even though I graduated from university I had no work so I moved to Wales to work - to practice my English and learn Welsh," said Ms Stalega.
Mr Machala - who is learning to speak Welsh as part of his contract - believes life in Wales has more to offer him and he now has better prospects.
"Compared to life in my old home town, life in Llanrwst is better and more comfortable, people here don't worry about taxes," he explained.
Mr ap Dafydd employs 35 people and claims it is difficult to get people to apply for catering jobs and applied for his current Polish employees through a trans-national job agency.
"They have been given a contract for a year and I would be very happy if they stayed here for years to come. They are paid above the minimal wage and as the standard of their work gets better their terms will get better."
He has also bought a house for the couple to stay in and insists: "This is not a cheap option for me."
Speaking to Radio Cymru, AM Brynle Williams said he doubted whether many wanted to do manual work.
"Lots of people don't want to do menial jobs like work in an abattoir and to be totally honest as a farmer, I don't have the stomach to go into an abattoir when they're slaughtering - but somebody has got to do the job," said Mr Williams.
"Young people go to school and then on to university and have so many credentials that they don't want to do manual work," he added.
Europe expanded from 15 to 25 states on 1 May with eight of the new members being ex-Communist states such as Hungary, Poland and Lithuania.
According to the government's statistics - 14,000 people migrated into Wales from abroad during 2001.
But a lack of legal protection for the thousands of migrant workers who arrive in Wales each year is of concern to the Wales TUC, who are worried some agencies and employers could exploit foreign workers.
TUC Wales spokesman Darron Dupre said that migrant workers are key to the economy and the union is concerned that workers are given false promises by job agencies.
"Many workers are not told that accommodation costs are taken out of their wage and I've seen a case where a migrant worker is living in a tiny bed-sit built in a garage," said Mr Dupre.
The union is also concerned that the trans-national job agencies take advantage of migrant workers and says that some workers have been paid less than £3 per hour.
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