I move "That the Bill be now read a Second Time."
This Bill aims to set up a joint labour committee under the aegis of the Labour Court to regulate the rates of pay and conditions of employment of agricultural workers of whom there are 20.000 in full-time employment and 14,000 in part-time employment.
The Bill represents the first significant legislative measure to be introduced by a government for the improvement of the general conditions of farm workers for more than 40 years; the implementation of its provisions will result in the replacement of the Agricultural Wages Board, established under the Agricultural Wages Act 1936, by a joint labour committee which in its representation will permit farmers and their workers to determine together the future conditions of employment in this important industry.
The joint labour committee system of negotiating the working conditions of an industry already operates in respect of 42,000 industrial workers through the medium of 21 joint labour committees. I am confident that future agreements arrived at by utilising the procedures of this Bill will lead to the elimination of the conditions differential that has been allowed to develop down through the years resulting in a growing gap between the work conditions of the farm workers and those of other industrial employees.
The improvement of his working conditions is naturally in the interest of the agricultural worker. I believe, however, that such improvement is also in the interest of the agricultural industry itself. The changing pattern of economic activity from a rural agricultural base to one in which industries, other than agriculture, account for more than three-quarters of the work force, entails a change in the composition of our manpower. Such a change in the pattern of economic activity of the work force is observable in most of the European countries as the normal accompaniment of economic development. The figures of those leaving employment based in agriculture during the past ten years suggest, however, that we are now at a point where the agriculture industry's demand for skilled manpower in the future would be affected should this drain of skilled manpower continue unabated over the next decade.
Clearly, the remuneration and conditions of agricultural workers must be brought into line with those obtaining in the industrial sector. The mistaken social attitudes of the past relegated farm workers to a low place in the esteem of our society and have no relevance today because now, increasingly, the importance of each job is measured by its contribution to the development of the national economy. The increasing mechanisation of the industry means that the role of farm workers, always a skilled job, now requires even higher standards.
Agricultural workers have in the past been generally excluded from the scope of the Industrial Relations Acts which provide the legal framework under which the terms and conditions of certain industrial workers are determined. As a result, agricultural workers have been excluded from access to the Labour Court except in the event of a trade dispute. This Bill rectifies that imbalance and provides that in future agricultural workers will have full access to the machinery of the Labour Court for the negotiation of their working conditions.
As I have stated already, the Bill utilises the structure of the joint labour committee and I should like to outline what this involves. A joint labour committee comprises a chairman and two independent members appointed by the Minister for Labour. It also has an equal number of members nominated by the two sides of industry. The chairman has a casting vote in the event of deadlock. It is on the basis of proposals for settling the statutory minimum wages and conditions of employment that the orders regulating employment in the industry are based. The rates of pay and other conditions finally agreed upon by both sides and adopted as an employment regulation order are enforceable legally.
I have just referred to the normal composition of a joint labour committee. Having regard to the reservations expressed by the farming organisations in regard to the joint labour committee system I have agreed, following discussions with the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries, to certain modifications of the normal manner of appointment of members to a joint labour committee in the case of the proposed committee for agricultural workers. I have agreed and the Bill so provides, that the chairman and independent members of the joint labour committee for agricultural workers will be appointed by me only after consultation with, and with the agreement of, the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries. I have agreed further that two panels for the selection of employer and worker members of the committee shall be prepared following consultation with the relevant employer/ worker interests and these shall be subject to consultation with, and the agreement of, the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries. I believe that a joint labour committee system so modified will allay any fears that the farming organisations may have.
The Bill makes special provision for the immediate establishment of a joint labour committee for agricultural workers, thus dispensing, in the interests of urgency, with the time-consuming consultations normally involved prior to the making of an establishment order. In addition, agricultural workers will in future also be enabled to be parties to registered agreements relating to wages and conditions of employment and will be included among the classes of workers in respect of which joint industrial councils may be registered with the Labour Court.
As the joint labour committee for agricultural workers will take over all the duties performed up to now by the Agricultural Wages Board, the Bill provides for the abolition of the board. The Agricultural Wages Act of 1936 which set up the board shall cease to have effect on and from the making of the first employment regulation order for agricultural workers following proposals by the joint labour committee. The general inspectorate of the Department of Labour will be charged with the responsibility of enforcing the provisions of employment regulation orders emerging from the committee.
The Agricultural Wages Board has hitherto been responsible for enforcing the holiday entitlements of agricultural workers which are provided for under a number of Agricultural Workers (Holidays) Acts. Sections 2 and 14 of the Holidays (Employees) Act, 1973, which governs the holiday entitlements of other workers provide that agricultural workers may be brought within its scope by regulation. It is my intention that simultaneously with the proposed abolition of the Agricultural Wages Board, and following consultation with my colleague, the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries, this power will be utilised.
The widening range of worker protection legislation imposes a heavier work-load on the Labour Court. The court at present operates in three divisions and it is my intention to take power to appoint additional divisions by order to enable it to deal with this increasing work-load. I will be introducing an amendment to this effect at Committee Stage. I commend the Bill to the House.