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LV It is necessary to attract migrant workers in agriculture
Given the shortage of workers in several agricultural sectors, there are justified concerns about the harvest of fruits, berries and vegetables. Latvian non-governmental farmers' organizations call on responsible institutions to be more actively involved in resolving border crossing issues so that guest workers from third countries can be brought into agriculture.
This week, the association "Farmers' Parliament", the Cooperation Council of Agricultural Organizations and the Latvian Association of Agricultural Cooperatives sent a letter to Prime Minister K. Kariņš, Chairman of the Saeima Committee on National Economy, Agrarian, Environmental and Regional Policy R. Nemiro, Minister of Economics J. Vitenbergs, Minister of the Interior S. Ģirģens and Minister of Agriculture K. Gerhards, expressing concern about the shortage of workers in agriculture, especially in the harvesting of fruits, berries and vegetables.
Latvia grows a diverse range of fruits, berries and vegetables, the harvesting of which, like in all EU countries, requires intensive manual labour. The harvest season is approaching, but interest in the job advertisements posted is minimal, despite the stated gross monthly salary of 900 euros. Farmers are disappointed by the pessimistic prospect that the harvest grown in Latvia could remain in the field, and at the same time our consumers would buy berries, fruits and vegetables grown in Poland and other countries.
Last year, a 65-hectare blueberry farm in Jelgava region wanted to hire 120 local people, providing good living conditions, but managed to recruit only 50 employees. Last year, 40% of crops perished due to a lack of labor, resulting in lost revenue of approximately 200,000 euros.
The program “Seasonal Agricultural Workers” coordinated by the Rural Support Service functions qualitatively and should be implemented as a permanent one. However, taking into account the trend observed in previous years in the Latvian labor market, it is highly doubtful that the current emergency situation in the country will encourage people to do physical work, refusing benefits. No local job seeker is refused work, but guest workers are a guarantee that there will be the required number of workers.
The harvest season in Latvia runs from June to the end of October, and the fruit and vegetable growing sector requires approximately 1,000 seasonal workers. The total number of migrant workers employed in the country in 2019 reached almost 10,000, of which approximately 5,000 work permits were issued to Ukrainian nationals.
Therefore, when assessing compliance with the restrictions adopted due to the pandemic, farmers' organizations ask responsible institutions to:
- the possibility of bringing guest workers to Latvia and employing them in agricultural sectors;
- to be more actively involved in resolving border crossing issues;
- allow migrant workers to start work immediately if no signs of respiratory infection are observed and there is confirmation that they are not infected with Covid-19.
Juris Lazdiņš, Chairman of the Board of the Association “Farmers' Council”: "Direct payments to Latvian farmers are the lowest in the European Union. This means that it is most difficult for us to compete with farmers from other countries. Over the past 15 years, our workforce has flowed to EU countries, and we are currently seeing that Latvians who returned from other countries are choosing to leave anyway. Pupils, students and temporary workers cannot fully replace the shortage of workers in seasonal agricultural work. However, there are sectors in agriculture where manual labor is unavoidable, because it is not possible to replace it with equipment everywhere. That is why the shortage of workers in the country must be compensated with guest workers from third countries. Guest workers should not be perceived as a threat to the country, language or culture. None of the developed European countries has managed without guest workers so far and will not manage."
Edgars Treibergs, Chairman of the Board of the Agricultural Organization Cooperation Council: "The harvest in the countryside cannot be postponed until the number of people left without work in the country has reached a critical point. Despite the efforts of agricultural organizations to promote the interest of local residents in job opportunities in the countryside, the interest in seasonal work is not sufficient for our fruit and vegetable growers to wait for the upcoming season without worries. Farmers are actively looking for opportunities to hire local labor, but so far with relatively little success. Experience shows that solving the problem with the help of local labor by quickly replacing guest workers with local residents is not realistic. The agricultural and food processing industry needs urgent decisions to alleviate the foreign labor crisis, and our farmers would be able to provide the local market with home-grown fruits and vegetables this year."
Indulis Jansons, Chairman of the Board of the Latvian Agricultural Cooperatives Association: "Although it is difficult to predict the future development of the conditions caused by COVID-19, the situation in agriculture related to the harvest, where the main factor is human resources, is worrying. Therefore, we believe that within the limits of possibilities and the situation, the state must create favorable conditions so that migrant workers can freely, but at the same time with certain conditions, travel to work in the fields of Latvian farmers!"