Worker representatives say vulnerable Pasifika people are still being taken advantage of, over two years after a damning review of our Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) scheme found conditions amounting to ‘modern-day slavery’.
Immigration Minister Erica Stanford recently apologised for a lack of communication about the scheme with Pacific leaders.
There are currently 13,000 workers around the country helping with vineyard and orchard harvests, most coming over from Tonga, Samoa and Vanuatu.
There is no law requiring RSE workers to have a day off each week – one of many issues raised with the Immigration Minister last year in briefing notes released to 1News. There are also concerns some housing isn’t meeting the Healthy Homes standards or Residential Tenancies Act rules.
This is not required under the current laws, despite accommodation costs often coming out of paycheques.
Ex-RSE worker Roy Wanemut told 1News, “We’re not robots. We’re human beings. So we need time to rest… just to recover because you’re doing hard work”.
Pacific Legal director Richard Small said the fact RSE workers still had lower-standard accommodation “verges on a scandal… it’s completely unacceptable”.
Nia Bartley from the Council of Trade Unions Komiti Pasifika said she didn’t “believe that many Kiwis would put up with this”.
“How is it fair that you’re crammed like a sardine in a tin and yet there is the likelihood there will be a rent increase?”
The Human Rights Commission found evidence of overcrowding in 2022.
Equal Opportunities Commissioner Professor Gail Pacheco told 1News they “found evidence of a number of workers who were living in substandard accommodation”.
“There were even cases where there were unreasonable charges for their accommodation, where there was up to seven people living in one room.”
She is among those calling for Government to speed up the response.
“Because why shouldn’t the seasonal workers be afforded the same entitlements that other renters in New Zealand also have?”
Wanemut said some of his accommodation was cold and crowded.
“Living 10 months with four people in a room… I slept in the sitting room sometimes.”
Wanemut, now a union liaison, said conditions for some haven’t improved.
“We still have the same complaints.”
‘Never congeal into concrete actions’
Small, the Pacific Legal director, said while they’ve been told “time and again” by successive governments there will be end-to-end reviews, they “never congeal into concrete actions”.
However, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) said there had been improvements, with half the workers now in residential properties with normal rental tenancy standards. Others are in hostels and purpose-built accommodation that met those standards too, regardless of the lesser legal requirements.
Stanford declined an interview request with 1News. However, at a Select Committee in January, the minister said the Government had recently apologised to Pacific leaders for failing to consult with them last year about the latest RSE accommodation and pay conditions.
New Zealand Winegrowers also declined an interview, but Horticulture NZ chief executive Kate Scott said in a statement that “any concerns regarding worker welfare are taken seriously, and we fully support thorough investigations by the appropriate authorities where required”.
“HortNZ continues to work with Pacific nations, Government and growers advocating for high standards of pastoral care and accommodation for RSE workers, ensuring their wellbeing remains a priority.”
She said a new pilot programme being launched, called Whānau Moana Nui, would focus on “promoting world-class, industry-led, government-enabled Pacific labour mobility practices”.
