Poles scapegoated and exploited - left, right and centre!

As I was browsing Polish news tonight on that time consuming masterful source of information, the interet, I came across a number of things connected to Polish migrants abroad. Beatroot's blog links to a Guardian article debunking common myths and scapegoating of Poles and their neighbours for Britain's woes.

So I guess it would be a little too surprising to find any tabloid articles on immigrant Poles increasing the likelihood of dramatic soccer skills development through racial inter-breeding within their local communities (and Ireland will also hopefully benefit too). The fact that Poland qualified for Euro 2008 and England didn't must really boil the right wing tabloid sports departments' barrels of piss.

Lets take 55 year old Paul Walker for example. According to the Daily Mailhe noticed the sign in the photo above on the A49 in the Cheshire village of Ridley.

"I'm not a racist or against Polish people in any way," he said.

"But it struck me as the most ludicrous example of political correctness I've ever come across.

"How can anyone justify spending taxpayers' money on this?"

Well Paul, the hundreds of thousands of Poles and other immigrants in your country who are the backbone of continued economic growth pay huge amounts of taxes. No, your not racist, your just an ignorant bigot.

The fact that the Daily Mail carried a mournful title 'Signs of the times - how Polish drivers are kept on track in Cheshire' is testimony to their role in festering animosity towards immigrant minorities. Shame on them!

Tomos Livingstone of the Welsh newspaper the Western Mail carried a report yesterday on how Polish migrants in Wales are treated like sub-humans through exploitative employers. It's such a breath of fresh air to see journalists using their skills to hr

Although two thirds of the 16,000 registered immigrants from the 2004 E.U. accession states ARE believed to be Poles thousands have officially been registered as having moved to Wales. the real numbers are thought to be much higher. A substantial amount of these, despite the fact that they may be well qualified, are forced to work at poorly-paid agency jobs. They get stuck in 'zero hours' contracts where they are either unaware of their workplace rights or are threatened with being fired if they rock the boat. Tenancy rights, language skills and social isolation affect many, stifling their chances from the breaking the cycle of exploitation

Jeff Hopkins, chairman of the Polish-Welsh Mutual Association, hits the nail on the head with these comments:

“It gives powers to employers that they haven’t had since the last century....The way they operate is vicious and callous, and they have no consideration for the people who work for them. It’s a bad deal, it’s a really bad deal.....There are no foreign people involved. It’s Welsh people who are exploiting them.”