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UKWA frustrated at post-Brexit migrant plans
[ October 3, 2018 // Chris ]United Kingdom Warehousing Association (UKWA) chief executive Peter Ward says he is disappointed and frustrated that the Government seems not to have recognised the critical labour shortage facing the warehousing and logistics industry, a sector that depends on immigrant labour – particularly at peak times.
He described the announcement at the Conservative Party Conference on 3 October that future immigration policy would favour higher skilled workers earning salaries of over £30,000 as “disappointing in the extreme”. UKWA has repeatedly highlighted the impact of the so-called ‘Brexodus’ of Eastern European migrants leaving the UK since the Brexit vote and has voiced the deep concerns of members that the proposed government cap on immigration post-Brexit will severely exacerbate the labour crisis.
Ward added: “While hospitality, healthcare and construction sectors are mentioned, again logistics is overlooked; yet ours is the industry that facilitates global trade and feeds and clothes the nation.”
Earlier, the Freight Transport Association reacted angrily to the government’s Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) report, published on 18 September, saying that it had ignored the industry’s repeated warnings about the importance of lower-skilled workers.