MARY Creagh, the shadow environment minister, says Labour will force a debate on the abolition of the Agricultural Wages Board in the House of Commons next week.
She tweeted this morning: “Labour will force a debate on the abolition of the Agricultural Wages Board (AWB) next Wednesday – after Govt stopped a debate this week.”
The MP for Wakefield protested when amendments to the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill were put before the House of Commons on Tuesday, because MPs have not been given a change to discuss the issue.
And writing on Labour List this week, she said “Scrapping the AWB will take money out of workers’ pockets and transfer it to their employers. That will take money out of village shops and high streets, hurting small businesses in remote areas.
Without the AWB, each farmer will have to negotiate terms and conditions annually with their staff. They will make mistakes, as employers often do. And they may end up in Employment Tribunals as a result. Many small farmers want to keep the AWB so they don’t have to become employment law specialists. They want to get on with running their business. Paradoxically, scrapping the AWB will add to small rural businesses’ regulatory burden.”
The Unite union has also issued a statement expressing its anger at the way the issue has been handled, calling it a “a stain on democracy.”
“Unite is angry that the Commons debate on the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform bill was guillotined, so MPs could not debate the amendment abolishing the Agricultural Wages Board which has protected the incomes of 150,000 agricultural workers since the second world war.
Unite said that the demise of the Agricultural Wages Board on 1 October this year could now prompt a challenge to the European Court of Human Rights, as thousands of agricultural workers face a threat to their homes.
Unite national officer for agriculture Julia Long said: “What we have witnessed today is a national disgrace and the capitulation of MPs to the interests of the big employers and the supermarkets, who want to ruthlessly drive down costs.
“There was not even a vote on the amendment by MPs on this vital issue which is a stain on democracy. The spectre of poverty embracing the countryside is now very real.
“It is estimated that there are about 60,000 agricultural workers and managers in accommodation provided by their employer. They could face losing their homes after 1 October, if they left their current employment and had to negotiate a new contract.”
