Re your editorial (The Guardian view on construction workers: the country needs more of them, fast, 13 August), as a bricklayer with decades of experience, I see the skills shortage in the construction industry as the result of years of neglect. The problem is not only attracting new people, but keeping them in the trade once they see the reality of working conditions.
Most site bricklayers are self-employed subcontractors. We don’t get pensions, holiday pay, or sick pay. If you’re ill or injured, you simply don’t earn. That insecurity pushes many skilled people out of construction entirely.
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