OPINION: The Government has brought in a $1000 work incentive and is loosening entry restrictions in a bid to tackle the country’s labour shortage for fruit picking.

But has the crisis caused by the border lockdown exposed a key reason that the industry relies on cheap immigrant labour?
Kiwis applying for jobs have reported low pay and poor conditions.

Rather than handing out tax money, should the industry be told to increase pay, improve conditions and be better employers?

An MP from each side of the house gives their views.

National Party MP for Kaikoura, Stuart Smith.

The need to bring in seasonal workers from overseas has nothing to do with pay or work conditions.

The need is there because there simply aren’t enough Kiwis willing to do the job, even with the huge amount of job losses due to the recession.

It is going to cost businesses around $6000 to bring in overseas workers under the new rules, but even with the incentive of reducing these costs by hiring Kiwis, not enough New Zealanders are interested.

These businesses are more than happy to pay a little extra in wages to get Kiwis working now.

Ultimately, we need to be bringing in more than 2,000 workers. This amount is too little, too late. It’s less than one seventh of quota of RSE workers the sector would normally have available to harvest these key export products which are in huge demand.

There are also questions around how they will be allocated to businesses. Many primary sector businesses are at risk of losing income at a time when they need it more than ever if they are not able to bring skilled or season workers into New Zealand.

Recognised-seasonal employer (RSE) workers bring far more enthusiasm, reliability and productivity to the different industries, with some studies suggesting they are twice as productive as other workers.

The RSE scheme also benefited the Pacific Islands by more than $50 million last year while at the same time, helping New Zealand’s horticulture industry to keep up with production.

These workers show massive courage to leave their homes and come and work in New Zealand, with the opportunity to learn valuable skills while also earning a decent wage for their efforts.

They get full autonomy over the money they earn which makes a huge difference in their lives. It allows them to build cyclone resistant housing, pay for education, and set up businesses back home amongst other benefits.

RSE workers have become a substantial part of many communities around New Zealand.

They are absolutely crucial to the success of local economies which rely on their labour and they are recognised as such.

The time has come to allow RSE workers from Pacific countries to isolate in bubbles in RSE accommodation, like sports teams, provided by the industry.

There is no reason why we couldn’t implement a strategy with little-to-no risk that would produce huge benefits to New Zealand’s economy.

We must be doing all we can to kick-start our economy. A loss of productivity to one our most important sectors can’t happen simply because we don’t have enough workers.

Arena Williams, Labour MP for Manurewa.

All seasonal workers deserve fair pay and decent working conditions.

The Government is balancing the labour needs of the horticulture and wine growing industries with those of unemployed New Zealanders.

We’re working with the sector to making sure conditions are good and Kiwis make up the workforce this season and beyond.

Relocation costs and unstable income can be barriers for unemployed New Zealanders considering seasonal work. That’s why the Government is offering financial support for these people to take on this work.

We’ll provide up to $200 per week for accommodation costs, a $1,000 incentive payment for workers who complete jobs of six weeks or longer, and increasing wet weather payments to reflect the minimum wage when people can’t work.

Grape Vision workers. Owner James Dicey started recruiting people some weeks before the 2020/2021 season and had looked at various ways of accessing those people – such as approaching ski fields. The majority of people he has employed recently are backpackers.

The Government accepts the need to meet labour shortages that threaten harvests this coming season.

That’s why we’re also allowing up to 2,000 experienced seasonal workers from the Pacific to travel to New Zealand between January and March next year.

This border exception is conditional. Employers must agree to: meet the costs of their workers’ managed isolation; pay workers the equivalent of 30 hours a week while in managed isolation; and pay workers at least $22.10 an hour.

We encourage all employers to pay their workers more where possible to reflect their level of skills and experience. Where New Zealanders with similar experience and skills are employed, we expect employers to match the pay of experienced seasonal workers.

The living wage is a starting point and employers should look to continue providing opportunities for workers to be rewarded for good productivity.

Given these will be experienced workers, they will likely be capable of earning more than $22.10 per hour and employers need to ensure mechanisms are in place to see that’s possible.

The Government is not setting pay rates for other workers (aside from the minimum wage). However, we do expect higher wages across the board, as the industry will need to take steps to retain current seasonal workers and attract New Zealanders to fill vacancies.

Covid-19 is presenting challenges for businesses right across our economy and it has highlighted a steadily increasing reliance on foreign workers in some of those businesses.

The opportunity now is to find ways to reset training, recruitment, pay, conditions, and career pathways, to draw more New Zealanders into jobs like horticulture and wine production.

It’s all part of our plan to build back better.

Source: Stuff, Jo McKenzie-McLean