A number of ni-Vanuatu Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) workers have also been impacted on by New Zealand’s Cyclone Gabrielle devastation, particularly those in the Hawke’s Bay region.

This has been a difficult time for people in Aotearoa New Zealand, but also for families of workers back in Vanuatu trying to understand what is happening.

Labour Commissioner Murielle Meltenoven and the New Zealand High Commission in Port Vila have assured everyone that all RSE workers in New Zealand are accounted for and safe — and that their welfare is a priority for the Vanuatu and New Zealand governments.

New Zealand government authorities, RSE employers, Vanuatu’s liaison officer, NGOs, churches and communities are working together to support affected workers.

The Pasifika Medical Association, a group of trained Pasifika health workers, is on the ground in Hawke’s Bay providing free health services to affected RSE workers.

Where worker accommodation was impacted, RSE workers have been supported in emergency response locations, often community halls or churches, together with other RSE workers.

All ni-Vanuatu RSE workers have now been able to return to their farms or to other suitable, approved, accommodation.

Employer obligations remain
Despite a small number of RSE workers not being able to work, obligations on RSE employers to support RSE workers remain.

This includes paying workers a minimum of 30 hours work a week at NZ$22.10 an hour and providing pastoral care.

The work of some RSE farms will be impacted on by the cyclone’s damage. Workers are able to work on their farms assisting with clean-up if needed, others will be doing their normal harvest work.

New Zealand officials are working to provide flexibility to enable RSE workers who were due to travel to affected areas or that need to be relocated to other parts of New Zealand.

Workers can also choose to return to Vanuatu if they decide they want to return early. It is important for workers to understand that they have a choice in any changes.

The Labour Commissioner explained that the Department of Labour (DoL) is working closely with the New Zealand government to monitor mobilisation of RSE workers into affected regions and assess whether workers need redeploying to other regions.

“I appeal to licensed agents sending workers to affected regions to work in partnership with the Labour Department and ensure mobilisations only go ahead when there is confirmation that approved employers can ensure enough work and safe accommodation for RSE workers,” Commissioner Meltenoven said.

Working closely with NZ
She sympathised with all RSE workers in this difficult time and has assured them that her office will work closely with the New Zealand government in ensuring that their welfare is prioritised and looked after.

Vanuatu’s country liaison officer, Olivia Johnson, is on the ground supporting RSE workers.

She is visiting them at their accommodation and working with Immigration New Zealand and the Labour Inspectorate to ensure safe conditions for workers.

“The devastation is extensive, and we had some workers evacuated out of their accommodation to safety. All are accounted for, and all are safe and well,” Johnson said.

“Our workers who needed to be housed in evacuation centers have been incredibly well cared for — while I was visiting one group at the Ascende Church in Hastings one evening a school out of Wellington had driven up to supply donations.

“The community support to all RSE workers has been humbling. My heart now goes out to the employers, some of whom have lost everything — this is also hard on our workers as most are like family and just want to stay, help and rebuild.”

Tragic, difficult time
Speaking about the devastation of the last few weeks with 11 deaths from the cyclone, New Zealand High Commissioner Nicola Simmonds said this had been a tragic, difficult and anxious time for many New Zealanders and RSE workers.

“From here in Vanuatu, it is humbling to see the contribution that RSE workers are making to support New Zealand at this time,” she said.

“Ni-Vanuatu know more than most about the devastating consequences of cyclones. But they also know how to respond, rebuild and support each other during such times.

“Many workers have been a huge practical help, but also a source of resilience and inspiration for New Zealanders. I humbly thank those ni-Vanuatu supporting New Zealand at this time.”

Workers who have concerns about their situation can reach out to the Department of Labour and Employment Services to raise their concerns and get an update on the welfare support that RSE workers are accessing in the affected region.

Republished with permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

More than 400 workers from the Pacific evacuated to a Napier church during Cyclone Gabrielle should be able to return to more permanent accommodation in the next few days.

Workers from Samoa, Fiji, Tuvalu and Solomon Islands had stayed at the Samoan Assembly of God church in Napier after being displaced by floodwaters that swept through New Zealand’s North Island towns during the cyclone.

Many were part of the Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) scheme.

One of them, Taylor Crichton from Samoa, arrived on Thursday after he and 46 others living at Taylor Corporation accommodation in Puketapu ran up a hill on Tuesday morning to escape rising floodwaters.

“At 5am we woke to water pouring in under our beds. We were like, just grab whatever we can and just run.”

Forty-seven of them ran up the hill, where helicopters eventually flew them out five at a time. When the waters receded they were able to go back to their lodgings to get their belongings.

The group had been staying at the church since Thursday and Crichton said it was a relief to finally be able to call loved ones at home.

“We managed to contact our family back home and they were: ‘Where were you guys? And they all think that we lost our lives.”

Many of the workers had harrowing experiences, Samoan Assembly of God church volunteer Fuimaono Nathan Pulega said.

“A lot of them were stuck on roofs, rescued, and then others were stranded for two days and they haven’t eaten, or they were wet,” he said.

“Some were in a real bad bad frame of mind, so all we could do just as soon as they got off the army trucks or the vans was just hug and cry with them.”

Food and supplies had been donated by the workers’ employers, including T&G and Mr Apple, and some had come from further afield.

The Penina Trust in Auckland donated a car load of food and phones. Volunteer Catherine Ioane said supplies included comfort food such as corned beef, noodles and taro.

Most of the workers were to leave yesterday or today as their usual lodgings were cleaned up or more permanent accommodation was arranged.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

In the midst of all the destruction from Cyclone Gabrielle in Aotearoa New Zealand, Pasifika voices singing songs of praise and gratitude have rung out in church halls across Hawke’s Bay.

Pacific churches have been sanctuaries for RSE workers in the region, some of whom were clinging desperately to rooftops surrounded by raging waters during the height of the flooding.

Cyclone Gabrielle has robbed them of the few possessions they owned, but their faith remains.

Hastings Pasifika community leader Tofilau Talalelei Taufale said that RSE workers in the region were among those worst affected by the extreme weather events.

He is currently on the ground, helping the workers who have been left homeless.

Tofilau said hundreds of workers have been evacuated:

“Many of them have been displaced, many of them have lost their possessions and many of them had struggled to contact their families to let them all know that they are safe.”

“So there’s a whole multitude of issues that impacted the shock that our RSE community is going through right now.”

As far as the emergency response is concerned Tofilau said he understands there are a lot of worried people, but he calls for patience and understanding.

Another day for our Tangata Tuārangi 🇼🇸 RSE workers taking shelter at EFKS Hastings – though they’ve lost everything, their spirits remain high 🤎🙏🏾 once again big alofa to all the support. More details to come on how you can help from afar🤎 #cyclonegabrielle #HawkesBay pic.twitter.com/LUoO4UwJzh

— Ali Leota (@ALiLeota) February 15, 2023

“We acknowledge that as a community everyone is trying their best, given their limitations so that’s when we as a community will say, okay it is what it is, we’re gonna help.”

Although the clean-up is now well underway, it’s estimated that it could take months.

“We acknowledge that as a community everyone is trying their best, given their limitations so that’s when we as a community will say, okay it is what it is, we’re gonna help.”

Although the clean-up is now well underway, it’s estimated that it could take months.

To further complicate things telecommunication and internet connectivity remain limited – the safest method to keep connected is via smartphone, with data, but even that poses a challenge.

there’s just so many emotions on the ground here in Hawke’s Bay – but the resilience of our Tangata Tuārangi RSE workers from the Pacific keeps us all motivated and hopeful 🤎#CycloneGabrielle #HawkesBay #Fiji pic.twitter.com/TSu8Ytvo2Y

— Ali Leota (@ALiLeota) February 16, 2023

Tepura Trow of SENZ Training and Employment said despite the battering it had taken, Hawke’s Bay communities stood united.

“Our community has pulled together and they’ve got such an overwhelming and overload of donations coming in so I know that our focus and a lot of the NGOs and the community — our main focus is really, how can we set them up for after this.”

The Secretary and CEO of the Ministry for Pacific Peoples, Gerardine Clifford-Lidstone, said the outpouring of support has also been felt outside the hard-hit regions.

“For us, it’s not just about the Hawke’s Bay or the Auckland region, lots of questions from our concerned communities want to help and are wanting to provide blankets and towels and all those necessities of life that our families might need,” she said.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ. If you have been affected by the North Island floods and Cyclone Gabrielle, go to the Ministry of Social Development website to see how you can apply for help through the community support fund.

For our Pasifika community members, you can also contact the Ministry for Pacific Peoples website. The ministry has set out an extensive list of severe weather events information and contact numbers.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

The New Zealand government has offered help to the under-pressure horticultural sector by allowing 2000 registered seasonal employer (RSE) workers in to help pick fruit and vegetables this summer.

Growers had complained that without these workers, some produce would rot unpicked.

The government has however imposed strict conditions.

The workers would have to be paid the living wage, of at least $22.10 an hour.

Their quarantine costs would have to be paid by their employer and workers would be paid for at least 30 hours a week while in quarantine.

Recruits would come from island nations in the Pacific, but the government has not specified which countries would be chosen.

Repatriation after the picking season is finished would have to be worked out before the workers could come in.

They would arrive between January and March next year.

‘Listened to the concerns’
“The government has listened to concerns raised by the [horticulture and wine growing] sectors,” Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor said.

“We understand their importance for our covid economic recovery. These changes will help support their ongoing success.

“We accept they need help to meet labour shortages that threaten harvests this coming season, so we are acting to allow up to 2000 experienced RSE workers to come to New Zealand from certain Pacific Island countries.”

Due to limited capacity in managed isolation and quarantine facilities, entry would be staggered, with workers coming in groups, O’Connor said.

The 2000 workers being allowed in will augment approximately 6000 RSE workers who did not go home last year.

But it still falls short of the total number that came in earlier – up to 14,400 RSE workers arrive in New Zealand annually.

With many only staying for part of the season, the highest number of RSE workers in New Zealand was 10,500 at the peak of last season.

Blocked by covid restrictions
Their return this year has been blocked by covid-19 border restrictions.

In addition to the RSE exception, working holiday visa holders still in New Zealand with visas expiring between October 2020 and March 2021 will be, or have already been, automatically granted another visa to enable them to work in the horticulture and wine industries this summer.

Immigration Minister Kris Faafoi said the seasonal workers would arrive after the rush on managed isolation facilities as people return to New Zealand for Christmas.

“We are apportioning some of the managed isolation facilities, we’ve planned for this, so there should be plenty of capacity for managed isolation for those Kiwis who have the right, and we expect, to come home,” he told RNZ Morning Report.

There had been some “challenging discussions” with employers over paying a living wage and other conditions, with some in the sector more willing than others.

Individual growers would decide whether to extend the living wage to New Zealanders and visa holders, Faafoi said.

“RSA workers coming to New Zealand are very experienced so making sure they are paid for that experience and for the productivity is important.

“We have certainly seen proposals from sectors and regions of New Zealand where they are quite willing to meet those kinds of conditions, to meet the challenge that they have with the labour supply.”

Financial incentives for New Zealanders
There is also financial help for New Zealanders wanting to work in these seasonal industries.

Minister of Social Development Carmel Sepuloni said unemployed people who move for a season’s work, and are still paying for housing in their home area, will get up to $200 for 13 weeks for accommodations costs.

There would be a $1000 incentive payment for workers who completed jobs of six weeks or longer.

Changes have also been made to the Seasonal Work Assistance Programme for those who have moved off a benefit to take up a seasonal job, but haven’t been able to work due to bad weather and as a result have lost income. Workers will now be able to receive the equivalent of minimum wage up to 40 hours a week, depending on the number of hours lost.

She said labour shortages in the horticulture industry were not unusual and better workforce planning was needed.

Sepuloni told Morning Report the government would like to see wages go up, and there were examples of employers paying more, but it was not industry-wide. “We need to continue to work on that and we’re continuing to do that.”

“We require better workforce planning. It is not just government, it is the industry that also needs to step up.”

2000 RSE workers ‘probably not enough’
Seeka kiwifruit company chief executive Michael Franks said RSE workers would usually make up 1200 of its 3500 workforce, but at the moment there were fewer than 200.

“Our labour shortage coming up at harvest is going to be acute. Anything that takes that acute pressure off is appreciated – but probably 2000 is not enough.”

Seeka was working with MSD and Ngāti Hine in Northland and Te Arawa in Bay of Plenty to try and train more New Zealanders into horticulture work, as well as setting up a programme for workers displaced from other industries.

Paul Paynter, general manager at Hawkes Bay firm Yummy Apples, said workers would have made the living wage or more last year, so pay was not an issue.

There were issues of productivity when the labour market was tight and the company increasingly employs people who may be struggling.

“They’ve had injuries or they’re dealing with mental health issues, or whatever, so we have a lot of people who are not so productive, and we really welcome them, but those are the ones we end up topping up to the minimum wage, because they might pick two bins of apples a day wheras the average worker is picking five.”

For Central Otago grower Stephen Darling, backpackers made up a large part of the workforce, since there is was no large population centre nearby as a source of local workers.

A welcome start
While 2000 RSE workers was a welcome start, the region needed all the workers under the scheme, he said.

The harvest volume will drop and pressure will go on prices a result of the labour shortage, he said.

To date the government has provided border exceptions for up to 30 veterinarians, up to 570 deep water fishing crew, and up to 210 agricultural machinery operators.

In the end many of these did not take up their allocation because of a shortage of places in managed isolation.

This article is republished by the Pacific Media Centre under a partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz