-
Fruit picking is definitely casual labour, but nobody wants to do it/can do it due to where they live etc.
Is casual labour any better though for local people? Cash in hand jobs tend to come with very little protection.
I am not sure you can "fix it" with restricting immigration" either. The only real problem areas I know about are plumbers/builders etc. that now complain other immigrants do it for less. Lets say immigration is restricted, will building companies all of a sudden play nice?
JWestland-
Fruit picking is an extreme example as it's seasonal.
Also is the term casual labour correct? A carpenter for eg is not casual, but while at the bottom of the building hierarchy is still a skilled worker. As an example they will likely earn the same now in 2018 as in 2005.
It's not so much that "building companies" (most will be self employed) will suddenly be a nice place, but that you'd have seen a normal wage increase without the competition brought by free movement.
hugo7
The leave team definitely exploited all of this. It's just a pisser that some political parties, maybe someone like the labour party, didn't recognise this issue and do something about it in the past 20 years or so.
A lot of these are casual labour, in for a few years and then home again. It's not really a situation conducive to unionising and forming a common front.