Is more worker immigration from the EU the right solution to the UK haulier shortage crisis?
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A thread…
🇬🇧🚚🛒🛍️🚛🇪🇺
A thread…
...In June a minister suggested the industry was “crying wolf” about the consequences of driver shortages (down 100,000 on pre-Covid levels)…thegrocer.co.uk/supermarkets/m…
...With the shortages now hitting supplies to fast food outlets and supermarkets it’s fair to say the wolf is at the door....bbc.co.uk/news/business-…
...The industry is pressing minister to put drivers on the immigration Shortage Occupations List (SOL), which they argue would encourage some of the 10-15,000 or so EU hauliers who left last year to return....gov.uk/government/pub…
...The government has rejected this, specifically citing the Brexit vote when, in their words, people “repeatedly voted to take control of our immigration system”...ft.com/content/514834…
...This has created some cleavages on the liberal left.
On the one hand some feel EU immigration *should* be encouraged and especially to help solve the haulage crisis.
Interesting @politicshome poll here...
politicshome.com/news/article/p…
On the one hand some feel EU immigration *should* be encouraged and especially to help solve the haulage crisis.
Interesting @politicshome poll here...
politicshome.com/news/article/p…
...But others have been pointing out that hauliers have been badly paid and that the industry has been overly reliant on cheap EU workers for too long.
Many of you will have read this powerful thread and FT piece from @sarahoconnor_ ....
Many of you will have read this powerful thread and FT piece from @sarahoconnor_ ....
https://twitter.com/sarahoconnor_/status/1430105153106030621?s=20
...One migration expert I spoke to is also sceptical of the claims of haulage bosses that drivers would return given most will have had a chance to claim settled status, which would mean they could *already* return if they wanted without being added to the SOL list...
...It’s possible that both views are partly right.
I’ve been speaking to many in the haulage industry in recent days and I'm struck how they ALL agree hauliers *were* underpaid and certainly socially undervalued – and that this SHOULD change...
I’ve been speaking to many in the haulage industry in recent days and I'm struck how they ALL agree hauliers *were* underpaid and certainly socially undervalued – and that this SHOULD change...
...They also argue that wages are now rising very fast and that this is something that WILL - in the long term - encourage more UK-born workers into the profession...
...They also accept that the industry did not do enough in the past to make the sector resilient and sustainable from an employment perspective...
...Yet I'm also struck how adamant they are that there is no lever that the government can pull now (e.g increasing the number of HGV tests or instructors etc) that will have a hope of alleviating this problem in the coming months EXCEPT trying to entice back EU workers....
...A final thought: there’s also a growing feeling in the industry that the government will ultimately have to u-turn on this visa demand, with one haulage boss comparing the situation to the 2000 fuel protests.
More on @BBCNewsnight tonight from 22.30
More on @BBCNewsnight tonight from 22.30
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