Due to the coronavirus pandemic, many countries have restricted the movement of people and closed their borders. This has affected farmers, who need seasonal workers to harvest crops, especially vegetables and fruit. Farmers in Western Europe have found a partial solution and started importing seasonal workers on charter flights, mostly from Romania and Bulgaria. Farmers in Germany, for example, are doing this, and their example has been followed in Britain. British farmers warn that without Eastern European migrant workers, their crops could simply rot. However, seasonal workers who come to harvest crops put themselves and others at risk.
In the German state of Baden-Württemberg, a seasonal worker from Romania died from Covid-19. The name of the deceased is not mentioned, but according to Spiegel, he was working in the asparagus harvest when symptoms of infection (coughing) appeared. He subsequently died. Apparently he was infected in Germany. Almost all farmers and businesses need extra workers, especially for harvesting fruits, vegetables, and grapes.
Farmers rely on seasonal workers from Eastern European countries. Germany is not the only country importing seasonal workers from Romania and Bulgaria via charter flights. The first such flight – with 150 agricultural workers from Romania – will land at London’s Stansted Airport on Thursday. Workers will be flown in at least until the end of June. G’s Fresh, an agricultural company in Cambridgeshire, imports workers from Romania, among other countries. Derek Wilkinson, the company’s manager, says his company needs up to three thousand temporary workers to harvest green onions in May, and then green peas and legumes. The company cooperates closely with the health authorities – all Romanian migrant workers departing from the airport in the city of Iasi have their temperature checked before departure and upon arrival and, if necessary, those who have arrived are placed in quarantine.
The National Farmers’ Union (NFU) says the country urgently needs up to 70,000 seasonal workers. The British government and charities are trying to recruit students and those who have worked in closed bars, cafes and restaurants to temporary farm work. Internet search engines report a sharp increase in interest in working in the fields. According to the Totaljobs website, interest has increased by more than 300% – in just one week, more than 50 thousand people were interested in information about similar job opportunities. Indeed.co.uk reports that between March 18 and April 1, the number of job inquiries in these fields on their website increased by 6000%. But it’s not that simple. According to the charity Concordia, 36,000 people have expressed an interest in such work in the last 10 days, of which 6,000 have passed the online interview. 900 of them were offered a job, but only 112 agreed to the terms of the contract. Charter flights from Romania and Bulgaria are organized by private companies, not the British government.