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“It is a vicious circle,” says Bev. “Governments should be doing more to prevent people buying houses for second homes or for renting out through Airbnb, and to make it easier for local people to stay in their communities, where they have been brought up and want to work.”
Local authorities in Wales have been given extra powers to increase the amount of council tax that second home owners must pay and can bring in changes to planning rules to make it harder for houses and flats to be bought as holiday homes.
Unite is now relentlessly campaigning on the argument that the UK’s economy isn’t working for anyone but the wealthiest people and biggest corporations.
Workers who kept the country running throughout the pandemic are struggling to get by, while the top 1 per cent reap the rewards, with no Westminster hero riding to the rescue, Unite believes.
Unite’s national campaign for a “workers’ economy” is putting people
over profit and politics to try to change a system the union believes is rigged against workers.
The campaign includes a call for free school meals as a way to start helping people cope with soaring bills.
Unite also continues to highlight the poor state of public transport in many rural areas, where buses sometimes only run a few times a day, or even a week. All this makes it more difficult for Unite to recruit members, especially young people, but Neil has successfully signed up workers in the past year.
As agriculture and forestry are still potentially the most dangerous industries in the UK, Neil stresses the importance of having Unite’s support if there is an accident at work.
Neil is organising a national conference for Unite forestry reps to discuss the issues they all face and how to tackle them, including any differences in pay rates for doing the same job.
He says housing rents for forestry workers in other parts of the country,
19 uniteLANDWORKERSummer 2023
I’ve done a comparison on the salary of an operational Wildlife Ranger/New Forest keeper where we were all paid the same in the Forestry Commission, pre- March 2019. I’m shocked to find out that Forestry and Land Scotland salary now is 10 per cent ahead of Forestry England
Neil Grieve, Unite convenor Forestry and Land Scotland
”
such as the New Forest, have gone up by as much as 20 per cent this year. “I have done a comparison on the salary of an operational Wildlife Ranger/New Forest keeper where we were all paid the same when we were still part of the Forestry Commission, pre-March 2019.
“I’m shocked to find out that Forestry and Land Scotland salary now is 10 per cent ahead of Forestry England.” Work on national forests and land contributes an estimated £1m to the Scottish economy every day, supports 11,000 jobs, soaks up millions of tonnes of CO2 each year and hosts scores of community projects with a focus on inclusive activities.
Yet there are fears that land ownership in Scotland is at risk of becoming more elitist and unequal because wealthy corporations and forestry companies are driving up land prices.
The challenges for Unite activists like Neil have never been greater. But rest assured, Neil is working hard on behalf of his industry, and the union, to make sure he doesn’t become a Lone Ranger!
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