Unite is lobbying Labour and Liberal Democrat peers in the run-up to the House of Lords debating the future of the AWB on Wednesday (16 January).
Just before Christmas, the government announced that it was intent on abolishing the AWB, which has set agricultural workers’ pay since the Second World War. This followed a hasty consultation process.
Unite national officer for agriculture Julia Long said: “Many peers share our sense of outrage, both at the government’s plan to decimate rural workers’ livelihoods, and at the underhand and dishonourable way in which it has been done.
“The AWB’s abolition will take £247m out of the pockets of agricultural workers in the next ten years, according to the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs’ (Defra) own figures.
“The beneficiaries from such a move are clear – the big agri-business bosses and the major supermarkets hell-bent on driving down workers’ wages to poverty levels.”
Source: Unite
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