Campaign to retain Agricultural Wages Board comes to West Lothian

Local Linlithgow MP & MSP and the trade union Unite have launched a campaign to save the Agricultural Wages Board which is under threat from the SNP Government in Edinburgh.

Michael Connarty MP and Mary Mulligan MSP met with officials from trade union Unite to show their support for the Board that will cover between 600-800 people in West Lothian .

Michael Connarty MP said: “I am shocked at this Tory style proposal from the SNP in Edinburgh. The last thing people need right now in these difficult times is their pay and conditions being lowered. Ordinary hard working people deserve a proper days wages for a day's work. I am backing the campaign to save the Wages Board 100 percent.”

Mary Mulligan MSP said: “We will be fighting hard in the Scottish Parliament to keep the protection agricultural workers currently have. It would be a scandal if hard pressed low paid Scottish agricultural workers end up worse off than agricultural workers in the rest of the UK”.

John Quigley - Unite Scottish Secretary said: 'Unite strongly supports the retention of the Scottish Agricultural Wages Board. The Board covers around 25,000 individuals and supports their families particularly in areas like ours where the agricultural sector is a vital part of the regional economy. The proposal by the SNP to scrap the Board will result in the wages and standards of the agricultural sector being driven down towards the absolute minimum rather than building them up in what is already a low paid and often dangerous industry.'

'Scrapping the Board will also result in two-tierism between English and Welsh agricultural workers and their counterparts in Scotland. The SNP claim to act in the interests of Scotland and its workers but this is not the reality. Therefore, we warmly welcome the support from Labour politicians as we continue our fight to protect Scotland's agricultural workers.'