Seasonal labour
The last of the 2,012 RSE workers approved under the border exception have now arrived in New Zealand. Whilst this is a substantial cohort, there is a real and growing challenge for those currently harvesting. This situation sounds a warning for our sector leading into pruning, and then the next harvest.
Consequently, I am working with others across the horticulture sector to develop a comprehensive plan with government agencies to bring a substantial cohort of RSE workers into New Zealand, and work on the return of those who have been here for lengthy periods.
The return of workers to the Pacific remains challenging in many cases, with an understandable reluctance to accept the risk. This means that currently returning workers continue to need access to the very limited quarantine facilities. This is something we’re looking into, to assist with improving movement back to the Pacific – an important precursor to getting further workers into New Zealand.
Working together
Despite the work on RSE, this past season has proven the value of the industry pulling together to find innovative and creative solutions to the worker shortage, accommodation, and attraction to work. Not everything has worked, but we’ve learnt a number of lessons that we’ll put to good use for the coming season.
Importantly we’ve established new relationships with cohorts of workers that we haven’t engaged with before, or elevated those that did exist, in particular students. I’m impressed that you, as growers and packers, have responded to the necessity to employ a non-traditional workforce and, in most cases, adopted improved contract rates and bonuses to reward those workers who are most productive, and stay the season.
Worker survey results
In our recent worker survey there was a high degree of satisfaction from workers with the season, with over 40% ‘definitely’ returning for the next harvest. Most reported that they enjoyed the season, the work, and the company of their fellow workers, however a couple of negative comments were concerning, including this one:
Also we didn't get paid for holidays (Christmas and New Year) and the orchard managers (and owners) were never clear about this information.
On the presumption that the work (on the same basis and without a new contract), continued after the Christmas break – this appears to be illegal and unacceptable, and is one of those areas where the decisions of one employer can have broad-reaching effect on the wider industry.
For those who are unfamiliar with the requirements please have a read through the Summerfruit NZ Employer Charter to identify areas for improvement.
Planning for next season
I encourage all employers to reach out to those workers from this past harvest and keep in touch for future work. The availability of workers for next season is far from assured, so any efforts we can all make to attract previous workers back will be important. Likewise, think about improvements to on-site accommodation, productivity, etc as a way to attract workers for next season.
Meanwhile our efforts to achieve change for RSE workers will continue, and also efforts to engage with the Government on the challenge of managing productivity. I’ve spoken to a number of growers concerned about the effort required to manage the very unmotivated and worst performers, a huge distraction from aiding those who are hard working. This is an area where we are looking at options to assist growers and packers.
Government support
You may have heard the announcement this week of a support package from MPI to assist growers with dealing with the stress of the season. We’ll be in touch as further details come to light, but in the meantime, if there are specific areas of interest or training you think would be worthwhile, please do let us know.
This week the Government also announced the extension of its international airfreight support through until 31 October under a new scheme (the Maintaining International Air Connectivity Scheme) and, subject to Ministerial consideration of need, potentially through until 31 March 2022.
The Ministry of Transport went out to the market on Monday with an RfP bid seeking registration of interest in providing services through until the end of October. That process is scheduled for completion by around the end of April.
We continue to talk with government agencies about our seasonal need for 2022.