Unite Demo Rattles NFU

The National Farmers Union certainly seems rattled by aUnite demo at their fringe meeting at the Labour Party Conference over the future of the Agricultural Wages Board (AWB). The NFU was accused of having ‘no answers’ to the concerns of farm workers.

Members of the Unite union turned up in numbers at the NFU fringe meeting at the Labour Party Conference in Manchester to protest at the NFU’s support for coalition Government’s plans to scrap the AWB.

They joined former Defra Secretary Hilary Benn, who is fighting the plan, in urging NFU president Peter Kendall to justify the policy.

Afterwards Unite issued a statement saying the NFU had ‘no answers’ to fundamental questions about relations between farmers and their employees once AWB goes.

Ian Waddell, national officer of Unite, which negotiates on behalf of 154,000 agricultural workers, said:

“The Agricultural Wages Board provides a floor of protection for workers and has guaranteed settled industrial relations in farming for the last 76 years. We wanted to know how the NFU saw wages and conditions being maintained and improved if their campaign for abolition was successful. Unfortunately, they could give no answers. “

According to Farmers Guardian NFU leaders seemed shocked at how angry farm workers are over abolition of the Agricultural Wages Board. Their approach seems to be ‘Trust us - we’re nice people’.”

The NFU have accepted Ian Waddell’s invitation for a meeting to discuss these issues. “I do hope that Unite will seek a constructive professional dialogue and not give in to veiled threats of industrial action that have been made by some trade union representatives,” he said.