n By Hajera Blagg
Migrant workers are vital to food and agriculture – Unite says let's value them
The timing couldn’t be more telling. Just days after Labour suffered in local elections against Reform UK – Nigel Farage’s party that campaigned heavily on an anti-immigration platform – the plan was announced.
Billed as proposal to “restore control”, the immigration white paper unveiled by prime minister Keir Starmer in May promised to end “the one-nation experiment in open borders”, whose “damage” to the country had been “incalculable”.
The plan seeks to put significant restrictions on legal immigration – for one, to end routes for migrants in most jobs which don’t require skills at degree level. Jobs below this skills threshold will only qualify if they’re on a shortage list – and that too, only on a temporary basis. These ‘low-skilled’ workers won’t be able to bring their families with them either, which makes the UK a much less attractive prospect for these migrant workers.
Although it is yet to be determined which of these jobs considered ‘lower skilled’ will be on the shortage list, the message from this Labour government is clear: if you come from abroad, and you work in a job that is generally low-paid – no matter how valuable it is to society, such as care, agriculture or food manufacturing – you are not welcome.
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[Migrant] workers are among those holding this economy together and yet we are not giving them the certainty and the stability they deserve. Why are we alienating people who have contributed so much to this country?
Iulian Firea, Unite convenor, 2Sisters
Landworker caught up with two of our Unite members working in food manufacturing – Iulian Firea, convenor at poultry processing firm 2Sisters, and Monique Mosley, a senior rep at Greencore, which produces sauces, sandwiches and ready meals for supermarket chains.
Iulian, who has lived in the UK for more than a decade, and Monique, for over 20 years, both migrated to this country under freedom of movement rules when the UK was part of the EU. They both worked through the pandemic, employed in jobs which were applauded on Thursday evenings during successive Covid lockdowns.
They’ve helped countless workers – both migrant and British-born – in their roles as reps. And they’ve contributed in innumerable ways to their adopted country – to their communities, and to the exchequer in tax. But under the government’s new proposals, Iulian and Monique would likely not have qualified to live and settle here permanently.
Iulian doesn’t take it personally. In fact, he believes every country should aim to be, what he calls “self-sufficient and self-sustaining with its domestic workforce”.
“But this is not a realistic aim for the UK in this particular moment, so to restrict immigration in the way Labour plans, just isn’t practical,” Iulian told Landworker.
He points to the harsh demographic realities facing the UK right now.
“We are a rapidly ageing population,” he explained. “The average age in the UK right now is over 40 and is set to increase every 10 years. One in four people are over 60. If you consider one in every four is not in work, and one in four is nearing retirement age, we’re approaching the point of a labour force that is exhausted. To remove the tax income and productivity gains from a large and reliable segment of the labour force – migrant workers – is not a good idea.”
21 uniteLANDWORKER Summer 2025
Iulian Firea
Iulian went on to highlight the hypocrisy of a government that on the one hand, says it wants to train British workers to fill roles previously reliant on migrant labour, but on the other hand just agreed a trade deal with India that critics believe may in some cases incentivise hiring Indian workers.
Iulian argued that a sensible immigration policy should focus above all on incentives to improve productivity throughout the economy and ensure that work pays.
“If we want to have a vibrant and fair economy, we have to make sure that all jobs have decent wages and good conditions so that work really pays,” he said. “We’ve got to make sure we incentivise the outcomes we want.”
Iulian went on to criticise the government’s plan to yet again move the goal posts on immigrants already here. Under Labour’s proposals, immigrants must live in the UK – and pay the associated visa and other fees like the NHS surcharge fee – for 10 years, instead of the current five. It is understood that the rules will be retrospectively changed for people already on a five-year pathway to settlement.
“That these rules will apply to people who are already here is unfair – they have already proved themselves.
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All photos; Alamy
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