The man who represents Britain's hotel industry has sparked controversy by labelling British workers "unemployable".

 

Bob Cotton, chief executive of the British Hospitality Association - representing 40,000 hotels, restaurants and caterers - said it was a "no brainer" whether employers in his industry hired a Pole or a Briton.

 

He told a Parliamentary inquiry into tourism: "People have got to want to turn up every day...

 

"The local people, we find, do not have the motivation to turn up each day and once they've worked 15 hours a week their benefits start to be removed - so there's no motivation to want to work more than 15 hours.

 

"If you're an employer and have a keen person from Poland, who is bright, smiling, wants to work, who turns up every day, will work 45 to 50 hours a week against a person who turns up one day, doesn't turn up the next, isn't really interested, it's a no-brainer.

 

"The people who we've had from central Europe are the best source of labour this industry has had for a hundred years.

 

"They've done more to improve standards in our industry than anything from our local schools and colleges."

 

Last night he told The Mail on Sunday that his industry considered British applicants "unemployable".

 

He added: "You don't need enormous skills to be a waiter or a chambermaid, just the motivation to work."

 

But Plaid Cymru MP Adam Price, who has campaigned against using cheap foreign labour, said: "For this man, who is the chief spokesman of Britain's hotels, to write off British workers like this is astonishing.

 

"The problem isn't that British workers can't do the job, it's that this sector pays a pittance not a living wage. It is utterly unsustainable to rely on foreign labour that will one day dry up."

 

About 1.2million out of the 1.8million workers employed by BHA members are now from overseas.

 

In London, 83 per cent of the 350,000 staff working for the organisation's London membership are migrants.

 

Department of Work and Pensions statistics puts the number of foreign-born people working in Britain today at 2.4million.

 

Source: Mail on Sunday

 

The reason they like hiring poles is because Poles are prepared to work for sweatshop wages thus so many are hired, Britons know their rights more and know the minimum wage and aren't as easy to mug off as poles when it comes to employers

The reason they like hiring poles is because Poles are prepared to work for sweatshop wages thus so many are hired, Britons know their rights more and know the minimum wage and aren't as easy to mug off as poles when it comes to employers

 

 

....... and would rather sit on there arses collecting benefits.

 

It is not just about the wages, it is about a willingness to work.

 

In the 50s there was an influx of immigrants to fill the jobs the British workers didn't want to do - but this was at a time when there was a shortage of workers.

Now we have millions sat on their arses, claiming to deserve better yet wont get off aforementioned arses and do something about it.

No one has a God given 'right' to a certain level of living, (by this I mean nice car, holidays etc) they have to get out there and earn it and provide it for themselves.

 

Yes wages in the hotel industry are low - but they are protected by minimum wage - but it is totally wrong that some people are better off on benefits than working.

 

I have a BIG problem with people sying "I am not working for that" - fair enough but don't expect the state to fund you till you find something worthy of you.

 

I have a good job now - but there was a time when, because we needed more income, I worked on the tills at Toys R Us for £3.48 n hour. (temp so min wage didn't count) I had a degree and 10 years retail management experience so could quite rightly say was 'beneath' me - BUT I needed the income so I got off my arse and worked (hated every minute of it but life's a bit like that)

 

We are quick to complain about imigrants coming here and claiming benefit - I have just as big a problem with British people claiming benefits who have never contributed a penny to society themselves!!

The reason they like hiring poles is because Poles are prepared to work for sweatshop wages thus so many are hired, Britons know their rights more and know the minimum wage and aren't as easy to mug off as poles when it comes to employers

 

 

All the more reason for the unions to get in there and actually start protecting the rights of migrant workers then surely... The facts are if this were a Tory govt presiding over this, it would not be tolerated and it would be on the forefront at the TUC conference, but the unions seem to be turning a blind eye and a deaf ear to this because it's a Labour Govt (or rather an excuse for one..)... Foreign workers are getting ripped off and dont have their rights or interests properly represented, which i feel is an utter disgrace...

 

Mind you, I cant really argue with the bloke's general points, most Brits wouldn't "lower" themselves to do this sort of work....

....... and would rather sit on there arses collecting benefits.

 

It is not just about the wages, it is about a willingness to work.

 

In the 50s there was an influx of immigrants to fill the jobs the British workers didn't want to do - but this was at a time when there was a shortage of workers.

Now we have millions sat on their arses, claiming to deserve better yet wont get off aforementioned arses and do something about it.

No one has a God given 'right' to a certain level of living, (by this I mean nice car, holidays etc) they have to get out there and earn it and provide it for themselves.

 

Yes wages in the hotel industry are low - but they are protected by minimum wage - but it is totally wrong that some people are better off on benefits than working.

 

I have a BIG problem with people sying "I am not working for that" - fair enough but don't expect the state to fund you till you find something worthy of you.

 

I have a good job now - but there was a time when, because we needed more income, I worked on the tills at Toys R Us for £3.48 n hour. (temp so min wage didn't count) I had a degree and 10 years retail management experience so could quite rightly say was 'beneath' me - BUT I needed the income so I got off my arse and worked (hated every minute of it but life's a bit like that)

 

We are quick to complain about imigrants coming here and claiming benefit - I have just as big a problem with British people claiming benefits who have never contributed a penny to society themselves!!

 

I don't disagree with you in principle, every able bodied person has an obligation to work and there is no real legitimate excuse for an able bodied person not to be in a job of some sort in this country but the principles of the minimum wage need sticking to and Poles are driving down wages and are an absolute employers dream because of that so while I agree that everyone should be working the fact is that an Englishman can't compete with a pole financially so legislation needs tightening to ensure that poles are earning at the very least the national minimum wage to ensure a level playing field for everyone

 

 

but the principles of the minimum wage need sticking to and Poles are driving down wages and are an absolute employers dream because of that so while I agree that everyone should be working the fact is that an Englishman can't compete with a pole financially so legislation needs tightening to ensure that poles are earning at the very least the national minimum wage to ensure a level playing field for everyone

 

It is a big problem, but it certainly aint the fault of the Poles (and frankly, I view it as very unfair that you're picking up on one particular group when it's happening all across the boards...) and other migrant workers because there is really very little that a worker can do to negotiate their wages.. The blame lies entirely with employers and with dodgy employment agencies who aren't properly checked out or regulated. It's also the fault of the Govt, because it certainly seems to suit them to flood the labour market with cheap workers. The big unions appear to be acting as accomplices (unwitting or otherwise...) to this modern-day variant of the "slave" trade as well.... It's all pretty fukkin' shocking if you ask me, and the workers themselves have little or not control over it, so to blame them is entirely erroneous....

I have a good job now - but there was a time when, because we needed more income, I worked on the tills at Toys R Us for £3.48 n hour. (temp so min wage didn't count) I had a degree and 10 years retail management experience so could quite rightly say was 'beneath' me - BUT I needed the income so I got off my arse and worked (hated every minute of it but life's a bit like that)

 

The minimum wage is guarented by law so I don´t know how you were only earning 3.48 an hour, that is illegal even if you are on a temporary contract, but yet it is a classic example of how business rips employees off. Nobody should have to work for the pathetic wages some industries expect us to, after all we in the UK pay higher prices than consumers in many countries, but earn less wages, somehow the maths there doesn´t add, unless business is creaming off excess profits then complaining UK citizens don´t work hard enough for the pathetic amounts they are paid

The minimum wage is still pretty low. It's ridiculous that people in full-time work can be paid so little that they have to claim benefits to get by. Effectively the rest of us are subsidising employers who are too tight-fisted to pay a decent wage.

It is a big problem, but it certainly aint the fault of the Poles (and frankly, I view it as very unfair that you're picking up on one particular group when it's happening all across the boards...) and other migrant workers because there is really very little that a worker can do to negotiate their wages.. The blame lies entirely with employers and with dodgy employment agencies who aren't properly checked out or regulated. It's also the fault of the Govt, because it certainly seems to suit them to flood the labour market with cheap workers. The big unions appear to be acting as accomplices (unwitting or otherwise...) to this modern-day variant of the "slave" trade as well.... It's all pretty fukkin' shocking if you ask me, and the workers themselves have little or not control over it, so to blame them is entirely erroneous....

 

I totally agree. It is certainly not the thought of the Poles or whichever migrant nationality who have got off their backsides and come to the UK to work.

 

The blame lies with the government firstly, for having a benefit system and culture that discourages a significant number of "native" UK citizens to work, who are otherwise fit and able-bodied. Secondly, for not having an adequate border control system which has caused this cheap labour supply to outweigh demand due to this Govenment's shameful lip service to accurately monitoring how many people are coming to work in this country. And Thirdly, for not enforcing remotely adequate checks and regulations on these dodgy employment agencies, and not doing enough to prosecute these parasites on humanity.

 

 

I totally agree. It is certainly not the thought of the Poles or whichever migrant nationality who have got off their backsides and come to the UK to work.

 

The blame lies with the government firstly, for having a benefit system and culture that discourages a significant number of "native" UK citizens to work, who are otherwise fit and able-bodied.

 

.....and this is the point. if law dictates that a family needs 'x' amount to live on, why tf should they work for less?... instead of cutting benefits they should be better off by working, so an incremental decrease?..

Secondly, for not having an adequate border control system which has caused this cheap labour supply to outweigh demand due to this Govenment's shameful lip service to accurately monitoring how many people are coming to work in this country.

 

Not sure how you could have "border controls" on the folks coming in from the EU mate, seeing as how we enjoy the same freedom to move around the European continent as anyone else does, and personally I would not like to see that change, I like the idea that, as a European, I could freely move or travel to France, Germany, Holland (where I have relatives..), Poland, the Czech Republic or wherever to find work or to make a life. I kinda like that freedom, and it would be entirely hypocritical of us to deny other EU citizens the same freedom, whether they be from France, Germany or Poland. You mentioned Morrissey in another post, and that's pretty much his argument as well, he enjoys the freedom to move to another country and isn't seeking to deny that opportunity to others. Ibelieve in a United States of Europe, and I think together we are a hell of a lot stronger than we are as separate states, and together we could actually challenge the economic power of the US, Japan or China far more effectively than we could apart....

 

I think we should probably do more to curb non-EU citizens coming in however.... But even that might be a bit difficult to justify in relation to Commonwealth countries that we have special relationships with such as Australia, New Zealand or India.....

We have a pretty big percentage of British backpackers who do hospitality work while they are here in our restaurants and they are nothing but professional and friendly. We love them.

 

I think this sounds like "put the locals down by saying they don't want to work" to justify paying less wages.

It's worked in almost all other sectors, why not hospitality too. :rolleyes:

 

You'd think by now that they would know that we are up on that trick.

I'd rather hire a Brit, largely because they can speak fluent English. I wouldn't some Pole who could speak little English serving me in a hotel.

We have a pretty big percentage of British backpackers who do hospitality work while they are here in our restaurants and they are nothing but professional and friendly. We love them.

 

I think this sounds like "put the locals down by saying they don't want to work" to justify paying less wages.

It's worked in almost all other sectors, why not hospitality too. :rolleyes:

 

Pretty much in a nutshell Naomi....

 

As for your Brit backpackers though, the fact that they're travelling the world and broadening their horizons a bit, I think it's safe to say that you pretty much are getting the better examples of young Brits as opposed to the scummy, ignorant Chavs who barely even leave their own estates, never mind actually travel the world to broaden their minds a bit....

Pretty much in a nutshell Naomi....

 

As for your Brit backpackers though, the fact that they're travelling the world and broadening their horizons a bit, I think it's safe to say that you pretty much are getting the better examples of young Brits as opposed to the scummy, ignorant Chavs who barely even leave their own estates, never mind actually travel the world to broaden their minds a bit....

 

I don't agree with that I have spent the last three years travelling Australia and New Zealand and most of the British backpackers there are an embaresment all they do it drink and act like chavs, yes some like myself want to broaden their minds but the majority hang about in British cliques and never get to know any Aussies or Kiwis, and act like yobs in the street.

I don't agree with that I have spent the last three years travelling Australia and New Zealand and most of the British backpackers there are an embaresment all they do it drink and act like chavs, yes some like myself want to broaden their minds but the majority hang about in British cliques and never get to know any Aussies or Kiwis, and act like yobs in the street.

 

 

Oh dear :( , I guess things are a bit different now than when I did my backpacking around back in the early 90s ('91/'92)... Most of the others that I ran into were pretty likeminded, it was all about the experience for us.... I'd always seen backpackers as generally being a bit more, well, evolved than the tw@ts who all flocked to places like Benidorm or Torremolinos on the "Club 18-30" holidays....

I don't agree with that I have spent the last three years travelling Australia and New Zealand and most of the British backpackers there are an embaresment all they do it drink and act like chavs, yes some like myself want to broaden their minds but the majority hang about in British cliques and never get to know any Aussies or Kiwis, and act like yobs in the street.

 

:lol:

 

Sure they weren't just partaking in some good old Aussie culture? lol

 

Seriously though, I wasn't talking about ALL Brits in Oz but those in the hospitality sector that I've seen working restaurants in

Sydney, Melbourne and Brissie. I have never come across an incompetent British hospitality worker yet.

And there are plenty of them around to make the judgement. As hospitality seems to the sector that a lot gravitate to when they are here.

 

:lol:

 

Sure they weren't just partaking in some good old Aussie culture? lol

 

Seriously though, I wasn't talking about ALL Brits in Oz but those in the hospitality sector that I've seen working restaurants in

Sydney, Melbourne and Brissie. I have never come across an incompetent British hospitality worker yet.

And there are plenty of them around to make the judgement. As hospitality seems to the sector that a lot gravitate to when they are here.

 

Unfortunately I have, not to say that there aren't many good British hospo workers, but I've found that in the UK shop staff are terrible, hospo staff seem generally good, but shop staff are rude, lazy and really need to learn how to address customers simple words like please, thank you, hello and goodbye, would do for a start. I'm fed up of them looking at you like a piece of sh*t and not even acknowlodging you when you say hello to them when you approach their counter, and I find its the bigger supermarkets that are the worst.

Edited January 24, 200817 yr by kindagood