Seasonal jobs ‘not worth it’

New Zealanders aren’t taking shortterm jobs because it’s not worth their time to do so, workers’ advocates say.

It was reported last week that there is a shortage of people to plant the trees required for the Government’s 1 billion trees by 2028 campaign.

Pay rates in the North Island are up to 60 cents a tree, or up to $400 a day for a tree a minute over 10 hours.

There have also been reports of shortages for meatworks, construction and agricultural roles.

At the end of last year the Government lifted by 1750 the number of overseas workers allowed in for seasonal work under the Recognised Seasonal Employer Scheme.

But First Union general secretary Dennis Maga said it was disingenuous to claim there were not enough willing workers.

‘‘If you look at the industries that are claiming a worker shortage, they’re all low paid. Some have even broken the law through the exploitation and human trafficking of migrant workers,’’ he said.

‘‘There’s a reason no-one wants to work in these jobs: Their time isn’t worth the money and they often cannot afford to live on what some of these unethical businesses choose to offer . . . It’s not like the money isn’t there. Horticulture, for example, is one of our highest export earners.’’

He said many of the industries struggling to find workers had previously been staffed by international students, but since then the number of students coming to New Zealand had dropped significantly.

In the 2017-18 financial year, there were 104,781 approved student visa applications. For 2018-19, it was 44,970.

Maga said employers should look at their strategy. ‘‘If they want to sustain their business in their industry they need to attract the young ones.’’

The union’s transport, logistics and manufacturing organiser, Denise Roche, said seasonal jobs in sectors such as horticulture did not appeal to some people.

‘‘In other industries with insecure work, employees are paid more in recognition of this . . . Give workers a bigger share of the pie and make it worth their time away from family and friends. Then there won’t be a shortage.’’

Worker advocate Chloe King said work such as the tree-planting roles often required people to uproot their lives and shift to a rural location.

‘‘A seasonal job can be really great if it’s something you like doing and it fits your lifestyle. But if you’re just desperate for work and bouncing between welfare and precarious, lowwage jobs and there’s no other option, taking that work is not the greatest.’’

She said the jobs would also often be on a contracting basis, so there were no protections usually given to employees, such as sick leave.

‘‘To make the $400 a day you’d have to plant 83 trees an hour over an eighthour workday, without taking a break, to make this kind of cash,’’ King said.

‘‘I’ve spoken with seasoned treeplanters who say this would be nearly impossible as the work is backbreaking, especially in rugged terrain and varying temperatures and weather conditions. They should pay a base living wage and then 30c or 60c per tree on top. I don’t think that’s asking too much.’’

Jessica Berentson-Shaw, founder of thinktank The Workshop, said many people decided it did not make sense to come off the Jobseeker Support benefit for short-term work.

‘‘It may not leave them better off economically over the longer term . . . On top of that there is the mental wellbeing of a person and their family to consider,’’ she said.

‘‘As a country we need to find good work that works for people if we want to improve our productivity.’’

‘‘You’d have to plant 83 trees an hour... without taking a break.’’ Chloe King, above