In the third and final installment of this ground-breaking insight into a food factory worker’s life throughout the pandemic, the plight of migrant workers in the industry is discussed.
“Working in a factory during Covid has shown me first-hand how little prepared the government and the food Industry was for a viral pandemic and how cheap working class and migrant lives are to the Capitalist system.”
Before I sum up, I would like to dedicate a paragraph to a specific group of my co-workers, namely migrant workers, who have a different experience at the factory and in Welsh/British society as a whole than me. The workforce is incredibly diverse and apart from Welsh/English workers (of course, English workers could also be considered migrants however I would argue they are far less likely to see themselves as such) there are workers from: Ireland; Portugal; Brazil; East Timor; Philippines; Bulgaria; Romania and Poland. Fundamentally, to be crystal clear: without the hard work, dedication and reliability of the migrant workers, the factory and plausibly the food industry across the UK would not function.
Despite this, I have witnessed, very sadly, racism at the factory and in greater society generally during the pandemic (see Nigel Farage’s usual disgusting behaviour and recently Craig Whittaker’s complete lack of understanding of society or the poverty of sections of the BAME community). As noted previously, the factories’ subtle attempt to place blame on the workers for the localised outbreak can also be argued to be rooted in Xenophobia.
This narrative particularly places blame on migrant workers whom often live in large households; cannot afford to miss work due to financial pressure here and often in their home country; a general fear of losing their jobs; and live far away from factory so cannot use public transport to get to the factory for an early morning start. (and arguably due to their vulnerable position especially at this time during the rise in Xenophobic nationalism and the hardening of the Coservagtive Right) However, these workers should not be blamed or punished for their unavoidable situation.
In addition, I already felt close to migrants, despite being Welsh due to our shared social class, but I feel even closer to their plight since experiencing agency work. For example, I vividly recall during the 2016 EU referendum the argument used by the populist right and the right of the Conservative Party that migrant workers undercut the Welsh/British working class. Actually, this is factually incorrect and clearly is used to divert attention away from lack of regulation, irresponsible companies and ruthless exploitative measures that exist within British Capitalism.
For example, as an agency worker along with other migrants, we are on significantly less wages than workers employed directly by the factory. However, the factory is not hiring and the only available work is through the agency. Therefore, clearly the agency is actively undercutting and migrants have no other choice but to go through them for work.
This infuriates me. British Capitalism is an extremely exploitative society for both the Welsh/British working class and migrants yet it is the migrants whom are blamed for it. In my opinion, the Left in Wales and the UK must strongly counter this narrative and there is no better time than now when migrant labour has been so indispensable. For a start, the Trade Unions should become more radical and combative.
For example, I appropriate some to USDAW the designated union at our factory. Conceivably, USDAW allows such conditions to exist unchallenged, attempts none whatsoever to challenge this narrative at the factory and makes zero attempts to recruit migrants to the union. Because despite intense challenges and concerns for their own safety during the pandemic, migrants have continued to work hard and tirelessly and along with the Welsh/British working class deserve recognition, support and inclusion.
Overall, I am shocked and angry about the British government’s abysmal response to the protection of its citizens and I am equally angry about it and the factories’ lack of planning and care for the protection of working class and migrant workers.
From the reasoning in my article, I hope you can see why my anger is equitably justified. I wish from the bottom of my heart there will be no second wave of this monstrous virus and it will simply fizzle away after being suppressed. But, sadly, as I speak outbreaks are being reported again across Europe and a catastrophe is currently ongoing in the USA, Brazil, India and other countries.
Additionally, the food factory environment shows the coronavirus thrives indoors; in a cold, moist and crowded environment which suggests the winter period could be even more deadly. Johnson says he does not want to lockdown again but if there is no active learning from fundamental past mistakes then we will have no choice.
On that note, I urge you to join me to demand that health and economic measures are immediately taken to protect food factory workers, their families and the surrounding communities from such a deadly and ruthless enemy. These workers keep us fed; we must keep them safe.
