No social distancing, no facemasks, Keelings fails to police Covid rules
Local fury as fruit company fails to protect its migrant workforce
FRUIT company Keelings is failing to enforce its Covid-19 protocols for migrant workers, an Irish Mail on Sunday investigation reveals.
Dozens of workers were seen on shift this week not social distancing, failing to wear masks and travelling to and from their workplace on crowded buses.
The workers, who come mainly from Bulgaria, are also housed in crowded apartment blocks where many sleep in bunk beds.
The fruit pickers travel up to 40km to the company’s farm on buses. Neither the workers
‘Workers are packed into crowded apartments’
nor bus drivers witnessed by the MoS this week were wearing masks, in clear contravention of Covid rules.
This newspaper also visited the workers’ accommodation and witnessed conditions at apartment blocks used by Keelings in Garristown, north Co. Dublin and Termonfeckin in Co. Louth.
Keelings was mired in controversy last year when it emerged the company flew in fruitpicking staff with no testing or quarantine at the start of the pandemic.
This year the company has once again flown about 900 Eastern European workers into Ireland for seasonal fruit picking.
This week we observed some of the workers on site at Keelings picking strawberries in covered polytunnels.
The workers arrived to their shift without practising social distancing as they mixed with other employees who were finishing their shift.
Dozens of pickers lined up outside the polytunnels waiting for their supervisors’ instructions.
A driver in a Keelings van observed proceedings. The supervisors, who spoke Bulgarian, wore hivis vests emblazoned with the message, ‘Covid 19 stay two metres apart’, but no-one appeared to heed the instruction. There was also no hand sanitiser visible on site.
Each worker was allotted a line of strawberry plants in beds at chest height to pick.
After their shift, the workers were transported to their places of residence. More than 40 workers trudged off an old school bus to apartment accommodation owned by Keelings at Garristown. There appeared to be no empty seats on the bus. Ten minutes later, another bus carrying 22 workers offloaded its passengers.
Before entering the apartment blocks, the workers lined up to take off their boots in a room running between the apartments.
The age profile of the workers ranged between 30 and 60.
One young woman, who appeared to be with her father, said she was from Bulgaria and worked for Keelings. When a young man was asked what it was like working on the farm, he raised his eyes to heaven, shrugged and shook his head.
Looking into the shared kitchen, there was no sign of the fresh produce which the workers had been picking since dawn.
Teagasc, the agricultural and food authority, has published a list of guidelines for market garden farms which all employers are obliged to follow. These include: n All staff should have a distance of at least two metres between each other at all times. n All staff should maintain a close contact log during working hours. A close contact is classed as anyone within two metres distance for more than 15 minutes or anyone you have spent more than two hours with in an enclosed area. n All staff should wear a face covering at all times when on-site.
Keelings declined to comment on specific Covid-19 breaches involving workers such as failure to social distance and wear facemasks when contacted by the MoS.
The company said in a statement: ‘Keelings does not know the circumstances of the situation claimed to have been observed and photographed and so feels unable to make any observations. However, we can assure the public that all people employed by Keelings are thoroughly trained in the appropriate Covid-19 mitigation measures.’
The company refused to comment on questions put to them about whether the workers were charged rent for their accommodation owned by the company. They also declined to say whether the workers had to pay their own air fares to Ireland.
It added: ‘Keelings additionally assists seasonal workers with regards to their accommodation requirements. This assistance consists of the identification of a range of suitable accommodation across
‘Employees mixed with those finishing shifts’
several locations within commuting distance of Keelings farms, ensuring that the accommodation is appropriate, is affordable, and complies with all necessary regulations – including the Irish Health Protection Surveillance Centre in regard to Covid-19.’
Keelings said it was required to recruit experienced workers from other EU countries due to the ongoing challenges of recruiting significant numbers locally.
It added that all workers are required to undergo PCR testing within 72 hours of travelling to Ireland, and must have another negative test result after five days of quarantine.
The company said seasonal workers ‘are provided with bus transportation to Keelings farms every day’. It added: ‘These services have been increased to allow them to operate at reduced capacity required for social distancing and mandatory wearing of face coverings are required.’
In a separate statement, the company said workers were screened by a doctor prior to leaving Bulgaria and that their movements were restricted for 14 days in accordance with Health Service Executive guidelines.
However, residents of Garristown dispute this last point.
‘The people were out here shopping in the town after they arrived,’ one local man told the MoS.
‘We’ve nothing against these people. I feel sorry for them because they work very hard and I can see the conditions they’re living in.
‘But it’s not on for Keelings to impose this on us in a pandemic.
‘If one person had Covid in those blocks, everyone would have it. They’re cheek by jowl.’
A spokesman for the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment told the MoS every employer is expected to follow Covid-19 guidelines.
‘The Health and Safety Authority (HSA) is the regulator for workplace safety and for the implementation of the Work Safely Protocol. The HSA follows up with every complaint received. Any worker or individual is free to make a complaint.
‘Issues of adherence to general Covid regulations are a matter for An Garda Síochána.’
Keelings is one of the largest landowners in north Co. Dublin.
Over the past century it has transformed from being a prosperous family farm to a fruit and vegetable wholesaler and exporter.
It is now a vast enterprise with branches in 42 countries. Keelings’ main business in Ireland remains fruit and vegetables but it is also a significant land holder.
According to its website, Keelings has invested over €40m in horticultural activity in Fingal since 1990, involving over 370 acres of intensive farming to world-class standards, growing €26m per annum of Irish produce.
On the employment website Indeed.com, several ex-employees have left negative reviews about Keelings.
‘They only care about output and target, not the people or the condition of work,’ said one reviewer.
‘Not fair to impose this on local residents’