Hanging in the balance

The future of the Scottish Agricultural Wages Board (SAWB) hangs in the balance as the new Scottish government look at the option of scrapping it yet again in a consultation set to close at the end of July.

Unite has campaigned tirelessly to save the SAWB as protection for agricultural workers wages, terms and conditions and their health and safety.

Scotland’s cabinet secretary for rural affairs Richard Lochhead said the legislation had to be reviewed periodically to make sure it was delivering the right rates of pay and working conditions.

“Scrapping the SAWB and the minimum standards it ensures on wages would be totally incompatible with the Scottish government’s much publicised opposition to austerity,” said Pat Rafferty, Unite regional secretary for Scotland.

The rural and agricultural industry is dangerous, unpredictable, often seasonal work and low paid. Without the SAWB the only protection vulnerable workers would have would be the national minimum wage (NMW).

Workers pay and terms and conditions remaining as they are would depend on the goodwill of their employers – the farmers, who are already being squeezed financially by the supermarkets.

Supermarkets are constantly trying to increase profit margins and without the SAWB we could see a race to the bottom in terms of workers’ pay as farmers fight to supply supermarkets the cheapest.

These are also skilled jobs with many of the workers on much more than the minimum wage at present. The biggest fear is that with the SAWB gone what is low pay would fall to poverty pay.

“Unite will oppose any move to scrap the SAWB. We have been clear in the past about the benefits of the board in protecting workers from the worst kinds of labour exploitation and these views remain,” added Pat Rafferty.

The consultation asks if the board should continue as it does now, be retained as an advisory body, or be removed so that arrangements for agricultural workers are determined under general employment law. The consultation closes on July 31, 2015.