MINIMUM WAGE FOR AGRICULTURAL WORKERS (Hansard, 12 April 1972)

§ Mr. Gavin Strang (Edingburgh, East)

I beg to move, That leave be given to bring in a Bill to provide for a minimum wage for agricultural workers. The disparity between the earnings of farm workers and other workers has now become indefensible. The latest figures for farm workers in England and Wales, released this month, show that the average weekly earnings of farm workers for the year ending December, 1971, were £21.6 for a 47.9 hour week. Recently the Department of Employment issued the results of its survey into the earnings of manual workers in the first week of October last year. They showed that the average earnings of manual workers covered by the survey were £30.93 for a week of 44.7 hours. The figure for manual workers in manufacturing industry was £31.37 for a week of 43.6 hours.

We have a situation where the gap between the earnings of farm workers and of workers in other industries is intolerable. It is a gap of about £10 a week. If one looks at the hourly earnings, bearing in mind that farm workers work longer hours than industrial workers, incredibly the average hourly earnings of a worker in manufacturing industry are no less than 66 per cent. higher than those of a farm worker.

It is sometimes argued that payments in kind to farm workers reduce the size of the disparity. That is simply not true. The now defunct National Board for Prices and Incomes conducted two inquiries into the wages of farm workers in England and Wales. Incidentally, the average earnings in Scotland are much the same as those in England and Wales. The Board's 1969 Report showed that non-monetary payments were insignificant and that, as farm specialisation increased, non-monetary payments as a percentage of earnings were becoming even less significant. The report also pointed out that the tied cottage system contained some very grave disadvantages for farm workers in terms of the lack of security of tenure, the fact that a worker had to give up his house on leaving 1262 his job, and the additional obligations which living on a farm put on farm workers. It went on to cite further disadvantages that farm workers suffer in terms of the lack of occupational pension schemes and sick pay schemes.

The fact is that on the ground of social hardship it is imperative that farm workers obtain a substantial and immediate increase in their wages. However, it is not just a question of social hardship. Farm workers are now highly skilled. The day has long gone when it was simply a matter of having a great deal of stamina and strength. As highly skilled workers, farm workers should be remunerated accordingly.

Furthermore, there is a growing realisation that it is in the interests of agriculture to increase substantially the wages of farm workers. If we want the agricultural expansion that everyone talks about, we are reaching a situation where the drift of workers from the landwill put the programme in jeopardy. That is becoming increasingly recognised even in the National Farmers Union. In the last few weeks there have been instances of N.F.U. branches criticising the Agricultural Wages Board for not giving farm workers enough money.

This is not a new problem. The gap has been with us for a very long time. The worrying fact is that in recent years the gap between the standard of living of farm workers and of other workers has been increasing. Back in August, 1970, the unions representing farm workers, the National Union of Agricultural and Allied Workers and the Transport and General Workers Union, put forward a claim to the Agricultural Wages Board for an £18 40-hour week. It was rejected. It was put forward again in 1971. Despite the fact that farm workers have had two increases in wages, the situation remains that the minimum wage of agricultural workers in England and Wales is £16.20 and the figure in Scotland is £16.40.

The Agricultural Wages Board, particularly the independent members of the board for England and Wales and for Scotland, have failed completely to face this problem. What I advocate is that the Government should allow us to get this Bill through, for it would give them power to bring in an immediate minimum wage of £22 for a 40-hour week for farm workers.

1263 For farm workers the minimum is very important. The gap between their average earnings and the minimum is considerably smaller than that in other industries. Given that £22 minimum, I advocate that the Agricultural Wages Board should be allowed to continue over the next few years to close the gap completely. Eventually, I hope that agricultural workers will be amongst the better paid workers, since that is what their skill merits.