NFU - Membership to be made compulsory?
- From: "Pat Gardiner" <patgardiner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 19 Feb 2008 20:39:56 -0000
Pat's Notes: The last time failed unions had to make membership compulsory
was in 1940s - Eastern Europe. It was called Communism then.
If the achievements were that great, there would be a queue to join. They
are wasting far too much money on paying rather dim lobbyists.
http://www.fwi.co.uk/Articles/2008/02/19/109503/peter-kendall-takes-a-swipe-at-freeloaders-at-the-nfu-centenary-conference-video.html
Peter Kendall takes a swipe at 'freeloaders' at the NFU Centenary
Conference - Video
19/02/2008 17:00:00
FWi
NFU president Peter Kendall has rounded off the NFU Centenary Conference
with a swipe at "freeloaders" and a call for members to encourage their
farming friends and neighbours to join up.
Mr Kendall said it was hugely frustrating that so many farmers felt they
could freeload on the NFU, benefiting from the organisation's numerous
achievements without paying for any of it.
In the past year the NFU had made progress in getting a regulator for
retailers, had watered down the pesticides Directive and kicked into touch
the soils Directive, as well as continuing with its Why Farming Matters
campaign.
Mr Kendall ran through a list of ten reasons why farmers should be members
of the NFU, including its lobbying, its information role and its legal
support.
But its greatest strength was its unity - the fact that it represented all
sectors and all farmers meant that it was listened to by government. This
was why the NFU had managed to get the leaders of all three political
parties to speak to its annual conference.
It was greatly encouraging that they had all mentioned food security as a
priority concern - especially since it had hardly been on the agenda before
the conference
"However, I am frustrated that there appears to be a blockage in DEFRA when
it comes to food security," said Mr Kendall.
Meeting the challenge of boosting global food supplies and tackling climate
change would mean making full use of the latest science and in this regard,
it was crucial to win the confidence of consumers.
But Mr Kendall believed there was a window of opportunity presented by
climate change to explain that science was part of the solution.
Tightening world markets were already putting pressure on food prices. But
Mr Kendall said it was very dangerous to expect prices to continue climbing
as some had suggested.
There would be times when markets went into surplus again and prices fell.
It was therefore crucial for the industry to protect itself by forging long
term partnerships with processors and retailers.
--
Regards
Pat Gardiner
www.go-self-sufficient.com
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