Union resisting calls to raise minimum wage
Union resisting calls to raise minimum wage
CALLS to raise the minimum hourly wage to £5 for farm workers in England and Wales will be resisted by the NFU on the basis that it would be completely unsustainable for the industry.
Siôn Roberts, NFU chief economist who will sit in the negotiations as an employers representative, said the Agricultural Wages Board could not set minimum rates that would force people out of business.
"There is no way the industry is going to be able to afford a 9.5% increase for full and part-time workers and a 34% increase for casual workers," he told farmers weekly.
The Transport and General Workers Union (T&G) has also warned that it is seeking a contributory pension scheme for all workers covered by the board, improved paternity pay arrangements and a reduction in the working week to 35 hours.
The T&G has indicated it will argue at talks on Mar 20-21 that big farms are still making a sizeable profit so can afford to pay more.
Barry Leathwood, national secretary of the Rural Agricultural and Allied Workers Union, told the Landworker newspaper: "Headline figures on farms never give a true picture of whats happening on biggest and most profitable farms, which employ most of the workers.
"Large-scale farms can fall back on economies of scale, assets, technological advances and their ability to play the system with the help of accountants." *