Workers leave country with debt – report
FIJIANS going to work in Australia under the Seasonal Workers Program (SWP) and in New Zealand under the Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) start their gig with a debt to family, banks and the Government.
This, according to a report released by the International Labour Organization, titled “Seasonal worker schemes in the Pacific through the lens of international human rights and labour standards” where data for the study was collected through individual face-to-face interviews with seasonal workers in Fiji, Kiribati, Samoa and Vanuatu.
The report said Fijians had to pay $F2790 in total cost for migration.
“Workers start their seasons in Australia and New Zealand with considerable debts to their employers, and partly with debts to family, banks and governments in their home countries,” the ILO report said.
“By contrast, while employers meet some up-front expenses, they largely recoup these later through wage deductions.
“The systems for deductions in both Australia and New Zealand are regulated as required by international labour standards, but have not been developed in consultation with the most representative workers’ and employers’ organisations.”
The ILO report said the cost of travel was defined as a cost related to recruitment that should not be paid by workers.
“SWP workers are responsible for all but AUD300 of their travel costs from origin to workplace, and RSE workers are required to pay all but half of their airfare.
“Both SWP and RSE employers are incentivised to recoup travel costs from workers quickly to avoid a situation in which a worker returns without having repaid their debt.
“The SWP requires employers to restrict deductions for travel costs to ‘reasonable instalments’, and in New Zealand employers are prohibited from making deductions that are ‘unreasonable’.”