Agricultural Wages Board reprieve

Peers have put a brake on government plans to abolish the Agricultural Wages Board (AWB) which would hit the incomes of 150,000 agricultural workers.

The board currently regulates pay for agricultural workers in England and Wales and unions fear that without it, labour costs will be forced down (see Labour Research, December 2012, page 4).

The Unite union has also pointed out that the AWB’s abolition would save a mere £50,000 a year.

By speaking out at the committee stage, peers have stopped the amendment going straight through. Now, a vote must be held by the House of Lords on the AWB’s future at the report stage — expected to take place at the end of February or beginning of March.