THE horticulture industry is struggling with a perception issue with ongoing concerns about the way our industry treats it workers. Like most things, the real picture is complex with most growers treating their workers fairly and ethically and complying with workplace legislation.
The actions of a few not only tarnish the reputation of our industry but they can unfairly undercut good operators on price which has a significant impact in a price taking industry.
Growcom, with the support of the Queensland Horticulture Council, is taking leadership on this issue to develop mechanisms to improve practice and restore confidence in horticulture workplace relations.
Cue the Federal Government’s funding into the Growcom led national Fair Farms Initiative that gives growers the tools they need to treat their workers fairly as well as restoring confidence to customers and the wider community.
This is a program led by industry, funded through government to deliver a sector wide approach to the issue of worker conditions and perception.
This failure of consumer confidence in the sector has also allowed the opportunistic National Union of Workers (NUW) to engage in a membership turf war through their Fair Food Farmers scheme. The NUW scheme looks to pressure the major supermarkets to only use their “list preferred union endorsed” suppliers and contractors.
The Fair Farms Initiative is a holistic approach to managing issues around worker treatment which encompasses education, benchmarking and certification and we welcome engagement with the unions along with other key stakeholders in the development of this program. The Fair Work Ombudsman recently released figures that show that Queensland growers are improving their practices, which demonstrates that our programs here are working.
The horticulture supply chain is notoriously complex, and any top-down nnion imposed scheme is doomed to failure and will push vulnerable workers further away from support. Only an industry driven program funded and managed in conjunction with the Fair Work Ombudsman will be able to work constructively to deliver long term change. Any other scheme that seeks to misrepresent the vitally important issue of workers right and conditions for its own political and organisational gain should be rejected.
- Pat Hannan is the chief executive officer of farm group Growcom.
