Don’t boycott Byron

Ok, so I felt like I had to write something about ‘this Byron thing’. I’ve heard people say Byron was exploiting those individuals — let me just get rid of this statement now. I definitely need to have someone explain to me how giving someone 4–5 years of gainful employment (above minimum wage) so they can feed themselves and their family amounts to exploitation. I think people who argue this are conflating other issues of illegal working in general with this one. I’m fairly sure Byron pays a fair wage, gives training and does not ask its workers to do anything illegal.

The common trend is Boycott Byron, with protests and probably their own hashtag.

Byron hasn’t paid me to write this, it’s just my opinion. I read the same guardian article as everyone else (https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/jul/27/immigration-raid-on-byron-hamburgers-rounds-up-30-workers) but I got something different from it: Let me explain….

1. What was the alternative?

2. The problem is the law.

So, what was the alternative?

Scenario 1

Byron gets a call from the UK Boarder Agency to ask them to cooperate with an arrest of illegal workers they have hired.

Byron says no.

Consequences…

UKBA fine / take legal action against Byron for breaking the law and not cooperating with UKBA.

UKBA mount their own raid of the individuals, likely in their private addresses.

Individuals leave the country, much like what is happening now.

Result

Byron has legal problems.

Individuals have been captured at their home addresses, probably just as unpleasant as at work. And, it took more time and money to do so. More time, is a good thing for those individuals BUT on the money side? UKBA is a government agency, and who pays for their time and money? We do.

Scenario 2

Byron secretly warns the workers that the UKBA are after them.

Consequences and Results

Pretty much the same as the above. But a longer, more drawn out chase… The UKBA had already made their cases about the individuals and likely had a lot of information about them.

Scenario 3

Byron doesn’t hire any Illegal immigrants.

Consequences…

Byron pays a background checking firm or trains an employee to screen its workers and check if they have right to work in the UK.

None of these workers get a job, or money to live on in this country. They leave immediately or sleep on the streets as they cannot afford food or rent. They add to the number of Britain’s homeless and those individuals’ prospects in life greatly reduce.

I hope these options clearly portray the problem isn’t Byron. When you get a call from the government asking you to help because you have broken the law, you answer & you help (or you face prosecution or charges, and they find another way to get what they want). Which brings us to this…

The problem is the law.

“You are breaking the law if you employ a person who does not have the right to work in the UK. You can be fined up to £10,000 for each illegal worker or face criminal prosecution.”

This is the law the Byron were breaking and what they were facing. The illegal workers were also breaking the law — Illegal working was an offence as of 12th July this year. Anyone who is subject to immigration control, or is not allowed to work through their immigration status could have their wages ceased and be imprisoned.

The only way for Byron to avoid criminal prosecution was to actively cooperate. This is a statutory excuse to avoid punishment / reduce punishment under this section. A further excuse is doing the mandatory checks for right to work. Active cooperation includes providing access to the premises, employment records, answering questions and disclosing evidence. In this case it included facilitating the raid. Realistically their hands were tied.

This is the first incident we have heard of this kind. Likely because in the past businesses had no excuse and were punished when they employed illegal workers. It lead to businesses quietly firing the workers, and the workers finding alternate employment. This new structure of laws eradicates this to the government’s advantage and gives businesses limited options but to cooperate fully.

The framework of the law isn’t made for these people. Its intent is to limit and create difficulty for illegal immigrants in entering the working environment. It’s the responsibility of the employer to do checks, and assure itself they are not breaking the law. For those who are against what Byron did: this is where the problem lies, this is the root cause, this is what your protest should be about.

IMHO Byron did the right thing throughout the whole process. Byron did the only thing it could.

#dontboycottByron

#Fighttherightcause

#Correctlydirectedleftaction

#Socialmediajusticeoffpointagain