Press Release

Unite to demand better pay for agricultural workers- 'Pay the Bill for Skill'

12 June 2009

Unite, the union for rural and agricultural workers, will tomorrow (Saturday) demand that the National Farmers Union (NFU) improve 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 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%. Now is the year for the NFU to close the yawning gap with industrial average pay. All workers above grade one 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'.”