A new body in England is needed to negotiate wages and better conditions for agriculture workers, a food campaign group has said.
In a new briefing out today (25 July), the Sustain alliance said the current state of UK and English farm employment and the loss of the Agriculture Wages Board (AWB) means a new body should be created.
More than 40 per cent of the UK's agricultural workforce are employees, rather than farmers or family labour.
Yet English agriculture workers, unlike those in Wales and Scotland, have no statutory protection for their pay and conditions since the abolition of the AWB in 2013.
According to Sustain, this leaves English agriculture workers more vulnerable to unfavourable wages and conditions in a system where markets do not value agricultural workers as vital contributors to the food chain.
"This needs to change and should be part of the new UK Agriculture Bill due in summer 2018," the alliance said.
The briefing follows news of Labour pledging to reintroduce the AWB in a move which Jeremy Corbyn says will "bring back millions of pounds to English rural workers".
The board was abolished in England five years ago by David Cameron's Conservative government due to an increased minimum wage and the introduction of the national living wage.
But the Sustain alliance now says that the EU Referendum vote has made it more difficult for farmers to recruit and retain farm workers because of the fall in value of sterling and a "more hostile climate" for migrant workers.
Some farmers are already highlighting how unpicked crops are going to waste; others say they are planning to move their businesses abroad, or have done already.
'Real crisis'
Sustain explains that a new collective bargaining body to protect existing workers in England and enhance the status of farm work to attract recruits into the industry is needed to fight such issues.
The campaign group says markets need to be regulated to ensure farmers can earn sufficient income from trading to meet the costs and working environment that result from decent pay and conditions.
Deals and pricing in the food supply chain needs to be regulated to ensure fair incomes for suppliers, including farmers and growers, and therefore those working for them.
Making this happen should be part of the new UK Agriculture Bill, due after the summer 2018 Parliamentary recess.
Vicki Hird, Sustainable Farming campaign coordinator for Sustain said the industry is "facing a real crisis" in farm workers.
“The loss of the agricultural wages board was far from popular amongst farmers as well as workers, as it provided an easy tool for farmers and a level playing field. It needs to be reinstated, otherwise who will want to pick our crops?," she said.
