Cable promises to look into migrant worker exploitation following BBC investigation
28 January 2014
Business secretary Vince Cable has promised an investigation after BBC researchers found evidence that Romanian and Bulgarian migrant workers are being paid as little as £10 for almost a full day’s work.
Tue, 28 Jan 2014Business secretary Vince Cable has promised an investigation after BBC researchers found evidence that Romanian and Bulgarian migrant workers are being paid as little as £10 for almost a full day’s work.
During the BBC London investigation, one BBC researcher was paid £40 for a nine-hour day to plaster and tile a Birmingham shop, an hourly rate of £4.70. The national minimum wage is £6.31 an hour. Based on the BBC investigation, Cable was quoted by the BBC as saying there was evidence “of a serious breach of the law”.
According to the BBC: “One potential employer told one of the undercover researchers he preferred employing foreign workers because they would work for less. He said: ‘I don't have money to pay English people’.”
Matthew Pollard, executive director of Migration Watch UK, told the BBC: “It’s unfair to decent employers who pay a proper wage and it's unfair to the migrant workers who are clearly being exploited. But also it’s unfair to Londoners. How can Londoners compete when wages have been driven down this low?”
During the BBC London investigation, one BBC researcher was paid £40 for a nine-hour day to plaster and tile a Birmingham shop, an hourly rate of £4.70. The national minimum wage is £6.31 an hour. Based on the BBC investigation, Cable was quoted by the BBC as saying there was evidence “of a serious breach of the law”.
According to the BBC: “One potential employer told one of the undercover researchers he preferred employing foreign workers because they would work for less. He said: ‘I don't have money to pay English people’.”
Matthew Pollard, executive director of Migration Watch UK, told the BBC: “It’s unfair to decent employers who pay a proper wage and it's unfair to the migrant workers who are clearly being exploited. But also it’s unfair to Londoners. How can Londoners compete when wages have been driven down this low?”
