Labour mobility: Push for more to be done for RSE workers

Pacific governments sending workers under the Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) scheme to New Zealand must appoint spiritual or community leaders to be part of teams sent across for work.

Bay of Plenty church pastor and Fijian community leader Patrick Rounds told RNZ Pacific it was critical in ensuring smooth transition by workers into the local environment and set-ups.

The RSE scheme has been hailed as "critical" for the horticulture industry across New Zealand.

The New Zealand government has committed to supporting the economic and social reilience in the Pacific region through labour mobility programmes.

But some stakeholders say a lot more still needs to be done by island countries to ensure workers are settled in well and able to perform to their full potential.

Pastor Rounds' has seen the scheme grow in the last 10-odd years and believes having people that can provide advice on the ground is a must.

"I think it is very important when our people leave home, they lived in a structured environment where we have social structures," he said at the RSE workers sports festival in Mount Maunganui last Thursday.

"When they come here, I think as governments, we have a responsibility to ensure that we try to as much as possible replicate that sort of structure here. You know, have somebody appointed to be a spiritual director or a spiritual pastor for them.

"It's really, very, very important to do that."

He said the RSE workers are the backbone of the horticulture industry and they have impacted the local communities not just economically.

"They are very vital part of our community. Without them, our industries would not survive," he said.

"They have really contributed in a positive way to our community, not just in economic sense, but also in the cultural sense, and also in a spiritual sense."

He said the workers bring their faith with them when they come to New Zealand and it brings a new life to small congregation churches, when they come into these places.

Rounds has been working with local companies and workers for the past decade, assisting where he and the local Fijian community can.

That support has included translating contracts so workers can understand them and mediating between workers and employers.

"The challenges have been varied," he said.

"One challenge is communication. Some of our workers come from outer islands and from rural areas. They have no exposure to every day English speaking.

"In the early days, I used to be called in to mediate and translate, and to get them to understand the different documents that they have to read, and even their work contracts.

"But now, with more exposure, and some of them have been here now for six years, they are a bit more familiar with how everything works. Now, the older workers are translating and helping the ones who are new to the industry."

The Bay of Plenty Fijian community work with labourers to help them so they feel at home while away from their families.

"We work closely with companies, and we liaise with them to know when the workers are arriving and what we try and do is we try and visit the workers where they live and welcome them in the Fijian traditional way," he said.

"We get them involved in the celebration of special days, like Mother's Day and Father's Day and Fiji Day, and now we also have a few Fijian pastors who visit the workers and take them under their church programs."

Understand law, says group

The Pacific Island Community Trust in Tauranga has worked with RSE workers for almost a decade as well.

They believe workers must also be assisted to understand what they are signing up for and the laws of New Zealand prior to their leaving the Pacific islands.

The Trust's chief executive Esther Martin the said workers need to understand the laws of the land and the consequences if those are not followed.

"I think it's important that for any workers that have come that are coming to New Zealand, that they actually understand the work that they are coming to and that they've been explained the laws of New Zealand, because you know, some of our workers do break the law here and are sent home," she said.

"It is important that they understand what they can do, what they cannot do. I know they are here to make some money to send back home and support their families, which is our number one focus.

"But also, that they must understand the consequences of what would happen if they did not fulfil their role, or misbehaving outside of the work hours. It is more of understanding the New Zealand laws.:

Martin said they are working on a "pastoral care" pilot project with workers from the Solomon Islands, aimed at reducing accidents.

She said it will be a new pathway.

"This is heading into the aquaculture industry and we have partnered up with a mussel farm factory, where the workers have come over from the Solomon Islands," she said.

"It is a pilot program and we want to be able to improve the pastoral care side for our workers that are coming here, especially in terms of the driving, like a lot of our accommodation is 40 minutes or even an hour away from where they work, and then they are expected to drive.

"So that is 12 hours on their feet and then another hour and a bit to drive. For us, it is the health and safety, it is to eliminate the risk of any injuries or any accidents.

She said the Pacific Islands Community Trust is in the process of putting a framework together.

"But the number one focus about the framework is the health and the safety of the workers and to eliminate the risk," she stressed.

Company eyes more time out

Kiwifruit management and operations outfit, DMS Pro Grower, employs over 200 workers from the Pacific and Bali.

The company's human resource manager Rache Trimbell said it also works with workers on having time with community members, to reduce the possibility of them missing their families at home.

She said connecting with communities is a must, especially after going through the Covid-19 struggle two years ago.

"I think many of the RSE workers that were lucky enough to get into the country at that time were then stranded in New Zealand and could not get back home," she said.

"I know some of the Tuvalu teams were here for up to three years because they just could not get home. So that distance from their family is a real struggle, and we are very conscious of that at DMS.

"We try and do some day outings and things like that, just to connect them with the community a little bit more, because that is what they miss when they're when they're over here, their families."

Trimbell said their workers are critical for the industry and they have had good returns from them.

"At DMS, we could not do what we do without our RSE workers. They are really stable workforce," she said.

"We get them mostly into night shifts…it just means that they are reliable. We can trust them.

"They come back year-on-year. Many of our RSE workers have been back many, many years, so they have got lots of experience. We could not pack the millions of kiwi fruit without them."

The company has been getting workers since 2016 and this year brought in 220 workers from Fiji, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea, Tuvalu, Samoa and Bali.

The Regional Public Service Commissioner (RPSC) for Waiariki Bay of Plenty, Ezra Schuster, said the island workers are critical for the industry.

"They are a critical workforce and they drive the economy and particularly in the region of horticulture and an important part of our community," Schuster said.

"Without the workers we will not be able to achieve what we have been able to achieve."

He said the scheme has two-day rewards and a mutual partnership, between New Zealand and the Pacific island countries.

Workers praise scheme

Meanwhile, Ni-Vanuatuans Colin Shem and Trevor Arunabat said they have seen what they have been able to achieve, especially the finance to help them and their families back home.

The duo work for Bay Kiwifruit.

Shem said he believes workers also need to be honest with themselves and set goals with their families before they leave their countries for Aotearoa.

"My message to all the RSE workers who are still yet to come is to make sure you are prepared and set goals before they come here," he said.

"Most of us come without setting our goals and some return with nothing. So, if you set your goals do not change your goals when you come to New Zealand."

Arunabat said he has been able to build a house and buy a vehicle from what he has earned and pay for his children's school needs.

"That is what I have been able to do, and I would like to say to those thinking of coming to prepare themselves well."

The RSE and horticulture stakeholders are meeting this week in Tauranga to deliberate on issues affecting the industry at the annual New Zealand Horticulture Conference.