NEWS Top Stories
England agri workers lose out on pay –
Unite remains committed to restoring the Agricultural Wages Board (AWB) in England where it was scrapped by the Tory-Lib Dem Coalition government in 2013.
The move left thousands of workers in England without union representation over wages and conditions and with no way of knowing when they might next receive a pay increase.
The result has been that as the only part of the UK where agricultural workers are not covered by a collective bargaining structure English workers, especially younger ones, have lost out badly.
Unite is represented on the AWB in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and the reps have done a good job this year in negotiating greater rewards for agricultural workers.
In Scotland the new rates are £10.42 for workers of all ages except for where employees who have agreed, as part of the terms of their contract
of employment, to study an SCQF Level 4 and/or SCQF Level 5 or equivalent in Agriculture/ Horticulture, shall be paid £6.53 per hour for 18 months. This rate applies to apprentices under 19 years of age and those of 19 years or over in the first year of their apprenticeship. Following this period, the minimum hourly rate will be £10.42 until 31 March 2024.
In Wales an agricultural worker aged 16-17 years earns a minimum of £5.28 an hour, 18-20 years £7.49 an hour, 21-22 years £10.23 and 23 years plus earns £10.74.
In Northern Ireland, where six Unite members sit on the board of 15, it has proved possible to negotiate an 8.5 per cent increase for all grades from April 1. The lowest pay rate per hour is £7.54 for the first 40 weeks and £8.13 after the qualifying period expires. At 23, the minimum pay rate of £10.92 exceeds the national minimum wage rate of £10.42 by 50 pence.
No laughing matter – England’s workers lose out
In England the rates of pay per hour are £5.28 for those 16-17, £7.49 for 18-20-year-olds and £10.18 for those aged 21 to 22 and £10.42 an hour on reaching 23 years of age.
What this translates into is that in Scotland an agricultural worker aged 16 to 23 will earn £416.80 for a 40- hour week and £21,673.60 annually.
In England a 20-year-old will get £299.60 a week and £15,579.20 annually. Good on the Scots. In Northern Ireland a worker aged 23+ will earn £436.80 a week for 40 hours while in England he/she will be paid £416.80 and in Wales it will be £429.60.
The existence of AWBs outside of England help secure incomes for workers well above the national minimum wage. Other additional benefits include guaranteeing overtime pay at 1.5 times the standard rate of pay and providing enhanced levels of sick and holiday pay and entitlements.
6 uniteLANDWORKER Summer 2023
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