Stand chat – meeting the public
long time to get to people.” Sammy-Jo highlighted other issues facing her community.
“All the banks in our little town have now closed, which is especially hard on the
elderly. My mum can’t do online banking, and the closest bank is 20 miles away from us.”
Sammy-Jo said she was delighted to see Unite at the Royal Welsh Show, and she’d made it a point to visit the union’s marquee to express her gratitude.
“In the last two years, Unite has played a big part in improving our pay and conditions after we went on strike.”
University student Fionn was among the many young people who dropped into Unite’s marquee. She was excited to learn that a union exists for workers in agriculture and horticulture.
“Many of my friends study and work in horticulture, and I always wondered if there was a union for them,” she said. “It wasn’t on my radar, so it was fantastic seeing Unite here – I’m going to spread the word to all my friends.” Landworker later had a chat with Huw Irranca-Davies, who was thrilled to be part of Unite’s presence at the Show.
Deputy first minister Huw had been in post as cabinet secretary for climate change and rural affairs since March, and he said he was eager to shake things up by taking a radically collaborative approach.
“I came into this with my eyes wide open – it’s a role I really wanted to do, bringing together those big-ticket issues: climate change, biodiversity, the future of farming, support for rural economies and land workers – all in one space.”
Huw said the Welsh Labour government had been hard at work “rebuilding trust with farming and rural communities because we know we’ve been through a tumultuous period”, highlighting Welsh farmers’ protests, which Landworker covered in the summer edition.
More than anything, he said the government is working towards ensuring the controversial Sustainable Farming Scheme (SFS), which has been delayed until 2026, is one that works for everyone.
“We’ve had a lot of productive conversations. We’ve set up a ministerial roundtable; we’re crunching numbers to determine funding and we’re gathering evidence. We’re confident now that by 2026 we’ll have a scheme in place that isn’t a ‘government says’ scheme. It’s an ‘everybody together’ scheme – including landowners, land workers, environmentalists and all other partners together.”
23 uniteLANDWORKER Autumn 2024 Fionn
Pasty welcomed yet another successful Royal Welsh Show, noting that next year would be even bigger, with Welsh ministers attending the Unite marquee every day for a question-and-answer session with the public.
He emphasised the importance of Unite’s presence at the show.
“We are the union that helped preserve the agricultural wages board in Wales. We sit on the panel and we lead on it. It’s important that we maintain a presence here to push that agenda –that we are the voice of land workers in Wales.
“We also need to grow the FDA sector, where membership is declining,” Pasty added. “Most people don’t understand what Unite covers – we have members throughout the supply chain in FDA, and the supply chain in that sector is huge. People here are surprised to learn that we’re the union for all workers in the sector, whether they’re farm workers, warehouse workers, or factory workers and beyond.”
Nicoletta
All photos: Mark Thomas
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