ABOLITION OF AWB...
The AWB was set up just after the war, as an Act of Parliament along with many other Wages Boards. These helped regularise and standardise the relations between employers and employees.
The Wages Boards were nearly all done away with by the Thatcher government in the late 1980's. Only the Agricultural Wages Board remained as it was widely recognised that the power relations between farm workers and farm owners was so unequal, that a regulatory system was bneeded. With workers spread hither and thither and often totally dependent on their owners for all manner of things, only legal agreements were satisfactory in the modern age. The AWB was also saved because the main employers' federation - the National Farmers Union, also wanted to maintain it, as it would cause all sorts of promlaems for smaller farmers.
The Wages Board determine annually what is a decent rate of return for work. The two main sides in the industry - NFU for the farmers and the Rural Agricultural and Allied Workers (RAAW) sector of Unite the Union for the employees, meet annually along with a group of lawyers. They, and various 'independents' determine the structure and wages. It is a curious legal process, but one that has worked for over 60 years, enabling many employers and employees to get on with the jobs they can do - work the land. AWO 2009 full pdf Short version pdf Business Link Guide
Caroline Spelman was asked at a recent EFRA Select Committee by Tom Blenkinsop (q29) about the rationale for the closure of AWB. She said: "The Agricultural Wages Board was set up long before legislation on the national minimum wage, which now provides protection to employees on their remuneration, which has rendered the need for a separate agricultural wages board obsolete." Clearly she has no idea about the 80% of AWB that goes beyond minimal wage levels and encourages skills development.
Click for main aspects of Agricultural Wages Order....
