increase font size
The Fair Pay Agreements (FPAs) bill proposed by Government is causing alarm in the farming sector.
OPINION: The Fair Pay Agreements (FPAs) bill proposed by Government is causing alarm in the farming sector.
That's why farmer organisations are joining forces with Business New Zealand and business groups to launch a national campaign against it.
Federated Farmers is calling FPAs "an unnecessary, inflexible, one-size-fits-all legislation".
Dairy farmers, in particular, feel there's nothing fair about FPAs.
They see it as a straitjacket that lock employers and employees into a national set of pay and conditions rules. FPAs might suit a minority but remove all ability of businesses and staff to agree on terms that suit their own needs and local conditions.
The Government says FPAs are part of its wider work programme focused on lifting the wages of those on low to medium incomes.
The threshold for initiating an FPA is 10% of workers of 1000 workers in the identified group - whichever is less. Once an FPA is agreed, all employers and employees across an entire industry or occupation are locked into the conditions of that FPA.
Feds rightly point out that there's little or no collective bargaining in the agriculture sector, yet workers' pay is well above the minimum wage, above the living wage and, in most areas, above the median wage.
The 2022 Federated Farmers-Rabobank Farm Remuneration report shows 13.5% average growth in pay packages for farm workers over the last two years. Average reported hours worked fall below the International Labour Organisation recommended maximum standard working time of 48 hours per week (for full-timers - dairy 47.2 hours, sheep/beef 44.8 and arable 46.2).
Feds claims this is off the back of farm and business owners' negotiating with their staff about what will work to retain those workers in a competitive marketplace and keep the business profitable.
Farmers admit their industry isn't perfect but it's working hard to get it right with a slew of programmes.
They are unhappy with FPAs claiming these will reduce flexibility, raise costs and destroy productivity.
All food sector stakeholders are being urged to back BusinessNZ in opposing the proposed regulation.
Collective bargaining is currently almost unknown in the farm sector - except in ancillary occupations like dairy process workers and drivers. Not being bogged down in collective bargaining has helped contribute to NZ farming's great economic success. That could soon be in jeopardy.
New Zealand's pest problem has reached crisis point, according to Federated Farmers' second National Pests Survey, which shows farmers are spending more money and effort on control — yet pest numbers keep climbing faster than they were two years ago.
Despite political shenanigans in Wellington, farmers are confident that Resource Management Act (RMA) reforms will get over the line in this term of Parliament.
The Government has announced it will pause key parts of Waikato Plan Change 1 (PC1) in a decision that is set to give Waikato farmers a reprieve from new consenting and farm-planning requirements while the wider resource management system is overhauled.
OPINION: As the general election approaches, political parties are churning out policies in the hope of attracting more votes.
Federated Farmers president Colin Hurst and his family raised a glass of milk last week to toast the start of a new addition to their farming operation at Makihihi, south of Timaru.
OPINION: In politics, credibility is and should be big. It must surely rank higher than charisma, which is quite trite and superficial. Yet, voters nowadays are often wooed and influenced by how someone looks or talks at a superficial level. TV plays a huge role in this.
Farmers can spend less time on paperwork, thanks to a new data sharing agreement between DairyNZ’s DairyBase and LIC’s MINDA software.
Kaikōura families affected by July's severe storm have found a practical solution to a problem that's kept some children away from regular schooling for weeks: a washed-out section of Inland Kaikōura Road, which has stopped the local school bus from running its usual route.
Rural New Zealand is welcoming the Government’s recent package of rural healthcare initiatives.
Interest in agritech and production animal systems has prompted Massey University's School of Agriculture and the Environment to new majors to its popular animal science degree.
Ballance Agrinutrients chief executive Kelvin Wickham says despite a tough year, he is pleased the business has returned to profit.
