AGRICULTURE


Defra ‘shame’ over AWB future


Unite accused department for environment, food and rural affairs (Defra) ministers of “dragging their feet” in December, in reporting how many organisations and individuals had responded to its rushed consultation on the future of the agricultural wages board (AWB) in England and Wales.


Unite believes this stalling is designed to dilute the opposition to the abolition of the AWB, which protects the incomes of more than 150,000 agricultural workers.


Unite campaigned against the government’s hasty four-week period, which ended in November. The union said the consultation should have been 12 weeks, so interested bodies, particularly small organisations, had enough time to formulate their arguments in favour of the AWB’s retention.


In response to parliamentary questions from Labour’s Defra team, which fully support Unite’s campaign, Defra minister David Heath said he responses to the consultation will be


EQUALITIES Urgent action call


Unite has called for mandatory monitoring by all employers to ensure ethnic minority women workers are not unfairly treated during redun- dancy processes.


Unite national officer Collette Cork- Hurst made the call giving evidence to the all-party parliamentary group on race and community – and the re- port on ethnic minority female unem- ployment published in December was welcomed by Unite.


CIVIL AVIATION BA jobs fight on


Unite expressed bitter disappointment over plans in December by British Airways (BA) to cut 400 senior cabin crew positions, and vowed to fight any compulsory redundancies.


The airline has started a 90-day consultation period with the first of the cuts on both long and short haul


routes expected to take effect next March.


The cuts affect senior cabin crew working exclusively on either BA’s short or long-haul routes. It does not include those who work across both.


Unite national officer, Oliver 11 uniteWORKS July/August 2012


Richardson, said, “This is a bitter disappointment at a time of economic uncertainty and will be a blow for loyal staff. We will be working to ensure that BA keeps its promise of ‘no compulsory’ redundancies. Any attempts to force people wanting to continue working for BA out of a job will be resisted.”


Collette Cork-Hurst said, “Our members are telling us that many black women are losing their jobs in the public sector, as they work on the frontline, particularly in the NHS and local government, where jobs are going first and fast.


“This cannot be allowed to continue and for the already unacceptable levels of unemployment amongst ethnic minority women to get even worse.”


made available ‘in due course’.


Unite national officer Julia Long said, “We believe the government is dragging its feet in the hope this sustained attack on some of the lowest paid workers in the country will simply disappear. Unite will continue to shine a spotlight on the government’s shameful behaviour on this issue.”


Philip Wolmuth/reportdigital.co.uk


Mark Thomas


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