HTA director general David Gwyther has launched a furious attack on the Agriculture Wages Board after the AWB ratified much-criticised proposals for a new wages order.

Gwyther said that the association is ‘shocked and dismayed’ by the AWB’s decision to impose rate changes that he described as ‘completely out of line with pay settlements in other industries.’

“Fundamentally they will without doubt lead to a further reduction in employment levels in the UK industry, and the effective exporting of these jobs to overseas suppliers.

“We have to question why the AWB is causing this to happen and how it fits with the AWB’s brief from the government. In today’s modern economy, with its minimum wage legislation, it is beyond belief that we still have this archaic system in our industry.”