The Agriculture Wages Board has angered growers with the announcement that their wages bill will increase by 5.1 per cent from October 1 for full-time permanent employees and 7.8 per cent for manual harvest workers, as rates are brought in line with the National Minimum Wage.
More than 100 detailed submissions were sent to the AWB via the National Farmers Union - many from fruit and vegetable growers - who are angered that the increase is twice the rate of inflation especially given the difficult summer and harvest conditions encountered by many.
"This is putting tremendous stress on our businesses," said Graham Ward, chairman of the NFU’s horticulture board. "Labour is a very high proportion of costs particular for soft fruit and this will significantly affect profitability. It is a severe new financial burden that has been put on us that is not on other sectors : we are out of kilter with the rest of the economy. We are seeing no rise in prices from our customers and significant wage inflation."
He warned that a number of horticulture businesses may have to look at changing direction and laying off permanent members of staff as a result.
For its part, the horticulture board will be working with growers to get an accurate picture of their labour costs so it is better prepared in its negotiations with the AWB, which bases its calculations on national rather than agriculture specific trends, next year. It will also be working hard to ensure the independent members of the AWB who take the final decisions on wages have a better understanding of the sector. "We cannot go on with this nonsense," said Ward. "If we do, it will put all our businesses, out of business."
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