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Better information and support needed for Polish workers
A LEADING academic has warned that new Polish migrants to the north of England often have little accessible official information and support.
Ian Fitzgerald, academic from the School of the Built Environment at Northumbria University, was speaking at a seminar hosted by law firm Irwin Mitchell in Newcastle last week.
He warned that better information and support is needed for Polish workers to integrate properly into the communities and workplaces where they are based.
"Polish people are arriving in the UK and helping to improve our economy," he said. "They often fill jobs that are below their current qualifications and are sometimes hard-to-fill – there is a real potential to harness these latent skills to improve the north east economy.
"The north east is becoming more cosmopolitan with the introduction of other nationalities into our region. However, some of these are arriving into sometimes terrible living, social and working conditions as they are simply not armed with the information they need to do anything about it.
"Polish people are starting to settle here now – they're not just staying for short periods, but are instead looking to make a long-term contribution to the UK economy, yet we as a nation appear to have given very little thought to how best to make sure they are integrated.
"The Government must step in and take measures to ensure the flow of information and resources is for the right people and at the right times."
Roger Maddocks, partner and industrial injury specialist at Irwin Mitchell, added that there were huge health and safety issues facing Polish people working for north east employers.
He said: "We have seen and dealt with cases where Polish people have been horribly injured but not known where to turn. They may find themselves without an income, feeling confused and intimidated by the legal system.
"It is imperative that community groups, local authorities, business groups and the professional services pull together to ensure the right advice is being given."
Source: Berwick Advertiser
05/03/2008
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