Unite to demand better pay for agricultural workers - 'Pay the bill
for skill'
12th June 2009
Unite, the union for rural and agricultural workers, will
tomorrow (Saturday) demand that the National Farmers Union (NFU)
improves the pay rates for farm and horticultural workers.
Ahead of the Unite conference held for Norfolk and Suffolk rural
workers in Ipswich, Chris Kaufman, Unite national officer for the
rural and agricultural sectors, said: “NFU penny pinching is a
primary cause of rural poverty. It has been responsible for holding
down farm workers pay over decades, meaning they can’t afford
decent housing, or often to buy the very food they grow. The rural
economy will suffer especially as the Agricultural Wages Board
(AWB) pay rates feed through to many more rural jobs.
“The agricultural industry has avoided the recession with farm
incomes up 42 Per cent. Now is the year for the NFU to close the
yawning gap with industrial average pay. All workers above Grade 1
have huge skills and are in charge of livestock and machinery worth
hundreds of thousands of pounds. Farmers must now ‘Pay the bill for
skill’.”
ENDS
More information contact Chris Kaufman on 07976 842 307 or Mark
Di-Toro on 07918 640 579
NOTES
Entry rates are £5.74 an hour (on which most migrant workers are
paid), standard rate £6.26, lead workers £6.89 and craft rate
£7.39.
Agricultural Wages Board pay negotiations start from 15th-17th
June in Creaton, Northamptonshire
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