With fresh decisions being made last week over pay for agricultural workers, the debate over the Agricultural Wages Board which the current government plans to scrap has come to a head once again.

Shadow Farming Minister Huw Irranca-Davies has urged the government to reconsider its decision to dismantle the AWB, which negotiates pay for agricultural workers, including young workers and precarious casual workers. Labour says the board’s negotiations are worth £9 million a year to the rural economy, but farming groups have continued to push for its abolition.

Following the latest round of negotiations last Wednesday, the NFU again called for the board to be retired, as the government had promised following its ‘bonfire of the quangos’ nearly two years ago. The NFU, backed by the government, believes the board affects the ‘market driven’ nature of salaries, though supporters of the AWB insist it is a lifeline.

Following this year’s negotiations NFU spokesperson Phil Bicknell said, “The timeframe regarding the abolition of the AWB remains unclear. However, it is local market conditions and competition that increasingly determine actual pay rates rather than the minimums set by the AWB.”

Whilst the AWB managed to secure a price marginally above minimum wage for many farm workers this year, effective from October, the increase remains below inflation and numerous studies conducted by countryside groups have revealed the cost of living in rural Britain is higher than elsewhere, with rural residents paying higher taxes and more for transport, though they benefit less from public spending.

The Shadow farming minister said “In the 18 months or so since the Government announced their intention to abolish the AWB, a lot has changed. The economy has gone into a double dip recession. The cost of living has risen dramatically. Food and fuel prices have risen well above inflation, overall unemployment is up, and youth unemployment is chillingly high at more than a million.”

Mr Irranca-Davies said the economic situation should give the government pause for thought about the impact its decision to dismantle the board will have on agricultural workers. He said Labour’s claim that losing the board would cost people living in rural regions £9 million annually comes from Defra’s own statistics.

Although the promise to scrap the AWB came about as part of a package of measures to ‘reduce the regulatory burden’ on farmers, opposition politicians and farming charities have said the change could drive down wages across the countryside, jeopardising the income of some of the most vulnerable people in rural Britain.

Last year, Labour and union Unite joined together to launch the ‘Back the Apple’ campaign to protect rates of pay in the countryside.

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