Unions and economists are joining in a call to overhaul the Recognised Seasonal Employer scheme.
They say fruit and vegetable pickers from the Pacific Islands suffer high costs and poor pay and are often left with almost no money to send home.
The value of RSE workers was brought into sharp focus during the Covid-19 lockdown with many growers forced to watch produce shrivel on the vine.
Mariner Fagaiava-Muller reports.