ICMSA call for wage freeze in food processing sector

A leading farming organisation is calling for a wage freeze in the food processing sector.

It comes from the ICMSA, which says unless the decline in farm incomes is positively addressed in the new national agreement negotiations, farmers could not be part of the deal.

Association President, Pat O'Rourke, says the PPF failed to deliver what was agreed on farm incomes. He says relative to other sectors, average incomes in the sector fell from 61% of the national minimum wage in 1996 to 50% last year.