Is an EU Citizen entitled to claim benefits?

[rubydazzler]

Many of the large/medium sized developments in the UK that brought East Europeans to the UK were made possible by developers being able to present a business plan to their funders that was viable, labour costs being a significant element of expenditure is scrutinised obsessively. Being able to secure a large workforce of unskilled and semi skilled labour at a competitive, fixed price was the comfort lenders needed to support many projects here.

And that means exactly what? When you're having your livelihood pulled from under your feet, by people being imported to work for slave wages. I'm not exactly a Socialist, but that is disgusting. Calmly accepting that people should be made to toe the line by importing cheap labour from abroad to make money for property speculators, without even being offered the option of negotiating a fair wage.

 

And yet when it's other types of business, they're the lowest of the low.

[HeadingNorth]

i see that you would like all british workers not earning enough money to toe the line .

 

 

Quite the opposite. I'd like all British workers not earning enough money to go out and earn more.

 

The key word being earn. You seem to think they should just be given it for no reason.

[ricgem2002]

Quite the opposite. I'd like all British workers not earning enough money to go out and earn more.

 

The key word being earn. You seem to think they should just be given it for no reason.

how doing a job what someone else will do for less your losing this arguement hands down and you know it .and before you say get a better job that pays more do tell me where these jobs are

[rubydazzler]

Quite the opposite. I'd like all British workers not earning enough money to go out and earn more.

 

The key word being earn. You seem to think they should just be given it for no reason.

Given it? Have you actually ever done any proper physical work? I wouldn't work on a building site if you paid me £50 an hour. And how are they supposed to earn if itinerant workers are constantly arriving willing to undercut them because they don't actually need to run a household. You're not living in any world that I recognise. You're deluded, or a part of the last Government. maybe.

 

No wonder this country is in the state it's in with people like you around.

[wotsits]

It's the same with every industry. They take the work out of this country and take it over seas because it is cheaper. Cars , white goods / electronics even call centres. It leaves very little employment here, and what little there is there is so much competition for. It would be reasonable to assume that employers should pay a wage level to the cost of living. Although I agree survival of the fittest value for money etc etc. It is not the fault of the british workers or the ones coming in and taking the work. You do what you have to to survive.

[boyfriday]

And that means exactly what? When you're having your livelihood pulled from under your feet, by people willing to work for slave wages. I'm not exactly a Socialist, but that is disgusting. Calmly accepting that people should be made to toe the line by importing cheap labour from abroad to make money for property speculators.

 

It means exactly what it says-many of the projects that brought East Europeans over would not have happened at all in the UK due to the costs of labour.

 

Developers take on considerable risks and aren't generally sentimental or philanthropic in their outlook, so seek to maximise the outcome from their investments, as do the banks that support them.

 

If UK labour costs made projects marginal from a profit point of view they'd simply invest in countries where the labour was cheaper and they'd construct properties that there existed demand for in those locations.

 

From a personal point of view I found it very difficult to even obtain estimates for a refurbishment I was involved in 5 years ago, because British builders were stacked out with work-there weren't many unemployed building trade workers then as most were supporting the large projects that were being constructed at the time.

[ricgem2002]

And that means exactly what? When you're having your livelihood pulled from under your feet, by people being imported to work for slave wages. I'm not exactly a Socialist, but that is disgusting. Calmly accepting that people should be made to toe the line by importing cheap labour from abroad to make money for property speculators, without even being offered the option of negotiating a fair wage.

 

And yet when it's other types of business, they're the lowest of the low.

ruby i thought that by now you would have worked bf out he s all for this type of work being done by the immigrants regardless of what cost to the rest . i wonder how many brits he employs? or what he pays his employees ?

[boyfriday]

ruby i thought that by now you would have worked bf out he s all for this type of work being done by the immigrants regardless of what cost to the rest . i wonder how many brits he employs? or what he pays his employees ?

 

If you take the time to read my posts, I haven't expressed an opinion one way or another about the rights or wrongs of East Europeans being here, just explained why they were.

 

As an employer over 25 years,(which I am now longer), I'd guess 99% of the workforce have been white, British and paid commensurate with their abilities.

[ricgem2002]

If you take the time to read my posts, I haven't expressed an opinion one way or another about the rights or wrongs of East Europeans being here, just explained why they were.

 

As an employer over 25 years,(which I am now longer), I'd guess 99% of the workforce have been white, British and paid commensurate with their abilities.

my apologies bf but we all know why they are here they work for less and british employers know this putting brits out of work .

[boyfriday]

my apologies bf but we all know why they are here they work for less and british employers know this putting brits out of work .

 

No problem, but as I said much of the work that brought them here wouldn't have been available to British workers because the developments wouldn't have taken place.

 

The marginal nature of these large capital projects is beautifully illustrated by a couple that were undertaken in Sheffield-St Paul's Tower and the proposed city centre redevelopment-when the business plans and funding were being put together these were projected to be very profitable investments.

 

St Paul's has had numerous problems to the point where they couldnt even afford to clad it as per the original specification and there's still no news on when the city centre will be started.

 

You can imagine if a developer could organise their finances and business plan to make it viable, we'd be shopping in a finished city centre and St Paul's would be done and sold on by now.

 

What I will say is that the new developments created an artificial demand for building trades labour, so there were few skilled out of work and this filtered down to the residential markets. I had to pay top prices for plasterers because they were all employed elsewhere and those who came were having to work evenings and weekends to do my little jobs.