Why would anyone want to pick our crops? Securing decent pay and conditions for agriculture workers in England
8pp - 2018 | 305Kb
Why would anyone want to pick our crops? Securing decent pay and conditions for agriculture workers in England
In a new briefing the Sustain alliance makes the case for bringing in a new body in England to negotiate wages and better conditions for agriculture workers.
More than 40 per cent of the UK's agricultural workforce ar employees, rather than farmers or family labour. Yet English agriculture workers (unlike those in Wales and Scotland) have no statutory protection for their pay and conditions since the abolition of the Agricultural Wages Board (AWB) in 2013.
This leaves English agriculture workers more vulnerable to unfavourable wages and conditions in a system where markets do not value agricultural workers as vital contributors to our food chain. This needs to change and should be part of the new UK Agriculture Bill due in summer 2018.
The briefing gives an update on workers conditions, why and how the original wages board worked and outlines the details for a new body and other policies needed to secure and fairer and better farming in the UK.
Sustainable Farming Campaign: Pushing for the integration of sustainable farming into local, regional and national government policies.
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