If Gloriavale members are not employees, they are slaves – leaver
A Gloriavale leaver is calling for an end to “slavery” in the community with a challenge to Prime Minister Christopher Luxon.
Pearl Valor was one of six women who successfully argued in the Employment Court that they were employees when they worked in the West Coast Christian community’s kitchens, laundries, sewing rooms and childcare centres.
She said a decision by the Court of Appeal granting leaders leave to appeal the decision was “a normal court process ... and that’s fine”.
“It does slow the process down, which can be exhausting, but we’re not going away.”
She said she was now living with the “privilege of choice” that did not exist in Gloriavale, and could now wake up every day and make her own decisions.
“Gloriavale says I’m not an employee, I say I’m not a volunteer. So what am I? Am I a slave and, if I am, what is the Government doing about modern slavery in 2024?” she said.
“I watched Christopher Luxon’s maiden speech, and it was inspiring. He said Christians like William Wilberforce, Martin Luther King and Kate Sheppard made a huge difference by entering public life. What are you doing, Christopher Luxon?”
Wilberforce was a leader of the movement to abolish the slave trade in Britain.
Gloriavale’s leaders – Howard Temple, Stephen Steadfast, Samuel Valor, Faithful Pilgrim and Noah Hopeful – went to the Court of Appeal to seek leave to fight on four grounds against the Employment Court’s decision that recognised the group of women as employees rather than volunteers.
It refused them leave to appeal on those grounds, but found two “narrower questions of law” of its own, which could have wider significance for religious or volunteer organisations.
The questions were whether the women worked for reward and, if not, whether they were volunteers who did not expect to be rewarded.
The Court of Appeal invited submissions from lawyers on intangible benefits such as religious support, spiritual salvation, and the entitlement to remain in the community.
The decision to grant leave to appeal, by justices David Collins and Christine French, was released publicly on Thursday.
Employment lawyer Susan Hornsby-Geluk, who was not involved in the case, said judges’ roles were to ensure that justice was done.
“It is not inappropriate or even uncommon for them to ‘fill a gap’ if counsel presenting the case don’t identify an available argument,“she said.
The Employment Court decision meant the women had rights under employment law, including minimum working conditions and pay.
Gloriavale Leavers’ Support Trust manager Liz Gregory said the appeal was an opportunity to assure everyone that the judge had applied the law and followed proper process.
“Being given permission to seek an appeal and winning an appeal are two totally different things,” she said.
She said it was not a retrial. A panel of three appeal judges would comb through the judgment to see if it erred on any finer points of law.
Gregory said the delay meant leavers would have to wait for their entitlements.
She said Gloriavale had made small changes to working conditions as a result of the judgment, but an appeal would ensure that money created from members’ work in the community was being gobbled up by lawyers.
“If for whatever reason the leavers lose this appeal, it creates a much bigger issue for the Government, and the stakes just got higher. If they weren’t employed, they must have been slaves, and if New Zealand doesn’t have a legal remedy for slaves, then that’s an international scandal,” she said.
In her decision, Chief Judge Christina Inglis said her ruling would be referred to police to ascertain if slavery and forced labour were happening in the community.
A police spokesperson said police staff were “monitoring the workforce elements currently before the Employment Court”.
Luxon’s office has been approached for comment.