NZ seasonal labour scheme welcomed [1]
Monday, October 30, 2006 - 17:15. Updated on Sunday, November 2, 2014 - 18:30.
The recent announcement by the New Zealand Prime Minister, Rt. Hon Helen Clark, at the Pacific Islands Forum in Fiji, of a new seasonal labour scheme for workers from six Pacific Islands countries, was welcomed by the New Zealand Pacific Business Council (NZPBC).
The NZPBC Chairman, Gilbert Ullrich, said that the new labour scheme, "should be mutually beneficial to both New Zealand and those six Pacific Islands, as New Zealand's horticulture and viticulture industries need a seasonal influx of planters, pruners, harvesters, packers, and a pool of largely unskilled people from the Islands need well paid work and new skill sets."
The six Pacific countries that the workers for the seasonal labour scheme will be drawn from are Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Kiribati, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu.
Gilbert estimated that the new scheme could pump up the remittances from New Zealand to these Pacific countries by NZD30-35 million per annum, but he said that the most important thing is that, "we must get the scheme properly designed and rigorously implemented, if it is to be a success, and will benefit both New Zealand and the Pacific Islands that participate."
Seven months
The New Zealand Immigration Minister, David Cunliffe, has confirmed that under the scheme up to 5,000 Island people will be taken each year, for a maximum of seven months. He also cautioned that the seasonal workers must not be exploited, and employers are required to provide board and lodgings, and pay half their airfares. Minimum adult wage rates are currently NZD10.25 per hour, and any deductions for, say, food and accommodation cannot drop their gross take-home pay below that minimum figure, so between NZD11 and NZD12 per hour looks likely.
Paulo Kautoke, the Secretary of Tonga's Ministry of Labour and Commerce said today that a meeting will be held in New Zealand later this year between the six Pacific Island countries and the New Zealand Government, and New Zealand employers to discuss what he referred to as the Employer...s Agreement, "their requirements, conditions and demands in regards to what kind of seasonal workers they are looking for."
"And the first of those many things is the employer's agreement because we cannot just send our workers there without meeting the demands from the employers," he said.
Paulo said that Tonga would definitely participate in the meeting because there was still a lot of discussion and work to be done before the scheme is implemented.