Seasonal workers misunderstood
Hundreds of Pacific Island seasonal workers have again joined the workforce in Motueka, but as Helen Murdoch reports, their relationship with some in the local community is a work in progress.
You would think the annual influx of Pacific Island horticultural workers would be welcomed with open arms in Motueka.
After all, the Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) workers from the Pacific provide growers with a consistent portion of their harvest workforce, are said to be good, conscientious workers and have never reportedly caused trouble.
However, because of cultural misunderstanding, intolerance, or racism – call it what you will – the island workers have been encouraged not to gather in the region’s streets to socialise or shop.
The request followed discussion between retailers, the Department of Labour, the police and orchardists earlier this year.
The meeting was called after a verbal survey of the town’s retailers by an Our Town Motueka (OTM) member raised concerns about large groups of the island workers congregating in the town’s retail area.
Senior sergeant Grant Andrews, of Motueka, said fears of criminal activity and malicious intent by the islanders were groundless. No Pacific RSE workers had been charged with any crime.
He did not know why some people saw them as a threat.
‘‘Perhaps it is because they were more visible as a group. That’s the only thing I can put it down to.’’
The request that the workers not congregate in groups was a collective agreement made at the meeting.
‘‘It was easier to deal with it than allow it to grow and become an issue.’’
OTM chairman Howie Timms said the retailer survey illustrated a lack of cultural understanding about why the islanders gathered in groups, particularly around the banks on pay day.
‘‘They are not used to being told their wages will be in their bank account – they want to check the money will be there.’’
This year, 840 RSE workers, mostly from the Pacific Islands, came to the region for work, with about half of them living and working around Motueka.
Mr Timms said it was the islanders’ habit of clustering in groups, which made them noticeable and the butt of speculation.
‘‘The Pacific Islanders stick out. It’s unfortunate, because if a group of Caucasian South Americans stood near a bank, I don’t think anyone would notice.
‘‘If you look at it from a retailer’s point of view, the Pacific Island workers spend a little and are essentially here to save money. Having said that, most retailers understand that the work they do in horticulture is extremely important and results in money which flows into the shops.’’
The conjecture surrounding the Pacific Island workers was part of a wider web of rumours surrounding their wages, conditions, accommodation standards, claims that they had taken local jobs and false allegations of crimes committed, which have simmered in Motueka since the RSE scheme started in 2007.
Conversely other sections of the community strongly support the workers who interact with the community through playing for rugby clubs, singing in church choirs or organising the annual Tongan Festival to raise funds to send home containers of goods.
This year about half of the 840 RSE workers, mainly from Samoa, Vanuatu and Tonga, who were employed by 22 accredited growers across the region, worked around Motueka.
Peni Fifita, who has been translating for and leading orchardist David Easton’s teams of RSE workers for the past five years, is aware of the issue.
‘‘The Nelson community is really good and I think they understand the island ways. Like sometimes we hang around as a group and like to walk together talking and laughing at jokes – it’s what we do at home.
‘‘About three years ago,
I be- came aware that our gathering in groups disturbed some people and I told the boys not to go out in groups, that two is enough.’’
Mr Fifita spends 61⁄ months a year living and working on Eastons Orchards’ Waimea Plains block – thousands of kilometres physically and culturally from his wife, five children and extended family.
But the lack of a social welfare system in Tonga led him to take up RSE work five years ago to provide for his family after he lost his managerial role with Shell when it sold its Pacific interests.
The money he earns now pays for his children’s school fees, his family’s welfare and has helped him build two small homes – one for his wife and children and one for his parents.
‘‘I earn good money here and it has helped my family develop the life they have in Tonga.’’
Mr Easton said he felt embarrassed by some of the attitudes of New Zealanders.
‘‘But it is only a minority of people and the vast majority of people in Nelson welcome and understand them.’’
Island workers like Mr Fifita are bright, intelligent human beings, he said.
‘‘But they live in a country where they don’t have access to paid employment.
‘‘They are here to save money. They may be shopping, but they’ll buy a chainsaw to take home – not a coffee and a croissant from a cafe.’’
Mr Easton said the islanders had been picked on because they stood out.
‘‘One of the rules under the RSE scheme is that we have to provide transport. So the workers tended to arrive in town en masse in van loads, which made them more of a target.’’
Also, the islanders felt intimidated by New Zealanders, which made them gather in groups, he said.
In comparison, the Working Holiday Visa staff from other parts of the world tended to be seen as Kiwis on the street and blended in.
However, providing accommodation, transport, translators, air travel and specific RSE team managers meant they did cost more to employ than other casual staff.
‘‘We also organise things like dances at the Hope Hall and there is a growers’ consortium which employs a New Zealand Tongan specifically to look after the pastoral care of 200 workers.
‘‘We’re not here to babysit them, but we do need to know where they are and what they are doing.’’
The benefit of RSE workers was that, once trained, they did a skilled job well and returned each year. The key to orchards’ success was consistency and the RSE staff helped provide that, he said.
Chairman of the Nelson Region Labour Governance group Paul Heywood said he would do anything to improve the understanding and relationships between the workers and the community.
The Dehra Doon orchardist said the workers’ wages and conditions were closely monitored, but the visibility of some RSE homes within the town had led to claims of overcrowding.
A case in point was a suburban home in Atkins St owned by a horticultural company which housed 18 RSE workers this season.
A Labour Department spokeswoman said the home was approved to house 19 workers. Its sleepouts met council standards and a second toilet had been provided to meet agricultural guidelines for accommodation.
She said 13 such homes were used by RSE employers to accommodate staff in the Motueka area, with nine workers living in each house on average.
Mr Heywood said he could understand public concerns about overcrowding and the perception that employers were making money from their RSE workers when it came to homes, like the Atkins St property.
‘‘The perception has to be acknowledged. On the surface it is not a good look, but the reality is the public do not know what costs are incurred. It costs a lot more to look after RSE workers than people think and there is a commitment to their pastoral care.’’
Mr Heywood said the benefit of RSE labour for Motueka lay with the viability of the fruit industry.
‘‘Fruit production is the region’s gross income.
‘‘We have to harvest the crop on time. It is critical and has a huge influence on revenue.’’
RSE workers provided essential reliable labour before, during and after the harvest, he said.
‘‘They are productive and extremely conscientious, but they to have to be mothered.’’