LAST week saw the start of the Scottish football season. It also saw the publication of yet another opinion poll on the state of the parties in Scotland. And it appears that the outcome of the Scottish elections next spring is as inevitable as the outcome of the Scottish Premiership.

This most recent poll has support for the SNP at 62 per cent in the constituency vote, polling 42 per cent ahead of Labour and polling 54 per cent in the regional vote.

This would translate into an even bigger parliamentary majority than at present and a level of democratic legitimacy way beyond the 36 per cent of the popular vote that gave the Tories a majority at Westminster.

On so many levels, the amount of support for the SNP is remarkable. It has been in government for eight years, lost the referendum and, according to this recent poll, has poor approval ratings on the key issues of the economy, crime and the NHS.

Support for the SNP is driven by a number of factors, including opposition to austerity and disenchantment with the main Westminster parties and institutions.

It remains to be seen if a Corbyn victory in the Labour leadership election would do anything to win back disenchanted Labour voters and there are several issues on the horizon that may yet derail the SNP bandwagon by testing if its stated ambition to reduce inequality and increase wealth redistribution are matched by meaningful action.

In key areas of policy such as tax, welfare and immigration, the SNP policy positions are relatively progressive and its approach to trade unions is quite clearly distinct from that of the Westminster government and compares favourably with Labour’s.

The Scottish government’s commitment to reducing inequality, and in setting that alongside improving competitiveness as one of the twin pillars of its economic strategy, goes beyond anything seen from a government anywhere in Britain in the last three decades.

Its very positive response to the recommendations of the Working Together Review, which it established at the instigation of the STUC and which considered the vital role unions play in the workplace and in the wider economy and civil society, demonstrates an appreciation of unions, which stands in stark contrast to the vindictive approach of the Westminster government.

Through the Fair Work Convention, the creation of which was the central recommendation of the review, unions, employers and government in Scotland have the opportunity to work together to establish a distinctive approach to industrial relations and fair employment practices, akin to the approach in the most successful European economies.

While its anti-austerity and redistribution credentials will be tested by how it constructs its draft budget in the autumn and, in particular, by how it chooses to use its new powers over income tax, and in its response to the Commission on Local Taxation which will publish its recommendations later in the year, its bona fides as a government supportive of the role of unions and of collective bargaining as a demonstrable and effective form of workplace democracy will be tested by how it responds to its recently concluded consultation on the future of the Scottish Agricultural Wages Board (SAWB).

The SAWB sets the minimum wage rates, holiday entitlement, sick pay arrangements and other conditions of service for Scottish agricultural workers.

Through the SAWB, Unite, the recognised union, has achieved pay rates above the national minimum wage, including the apprenticeship rate, and provisions such as the Stable Income Arrangement where wages are paid in equal amounts throughout the year despite the variations in hours demanded by outdoor working.

Given the government’s very positive response to the Working Together Review and its stated commitment to collective bargaining and fair work, it came as something of a surprise that it launched a consultation that includes both an option to abolish the SAWB or to change its status to an advisory body.

The adoption of either would mean, in effect, the removal of sector-wide bargaining arrangements — the consequence of which would be to drive down wages in the sector and in those ancillary businesses that use the SAWB orders to benchmark their pay rates.

The Working Together Review placed great emphasis on the importance of improving industry structures and collective bargaining.

Rather than its abolition, as demanded by the industry’s employers, an enhanced SAWB could provide a foundation for rebuilding sectoral bargaining in Scotland, reversing the downward trend in such arrangements that has existed since the late 1970s.

Furthermore, extending the scope of the SAWB to enable it to address the recommendations of the review, including the introduction of equality and green reps, the adoption of learning agreements and building the industrial relations capability of the sector’s unions and employers, would help address some of the significant challenges the industry faces on health and safety and the treatment of its migrant workforce among others.

When the First Minister addressed the STUC Congress in April she said: “This SNP government will always champion and stand up for the positive role unions can play. We value highly the role of collective bargaining in ensuring decent pay and working conditions — something that is especially important in low-wage sectors.”

Any decision other than the maintenance of the SAWB and the extension of its remit would give credence to the charge made by many remaining sceptics that the SNP does indeed talk left but act right.

• Grahame Smith is general secretary of the Scottish Trades Union Congress.