The horticultural sector is cautiously optimistic the prospect of Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) staff arriving here in the coming month has not died with the lockdown, after getting government approval in early August.
Prior to lockdown, the Government announced RSE workers from Samoa, Tonga and Vanuatu would be welcome without being subjected to MIQ regulations on arrival.
Until now, any workers that have arrived have been subject to industry-paid MIQ and full wages for the two-week period prior to commencing work.
Former Hort NZ chief executive Mike Chapman has been liaising between industry and government over the RSE scheme, which was hit hard by the lockdown and many workers returning home earlier this year.
Estimates are that about 5000 workers remain and the industry has anticipated about 12,000 being available this season if the process went smoothly.
“It is still very much on the cards, but we have not had anything official just yet; government is obviously very occupied with managing the lockdown. We continue to work on the basis that we are dealing with covid-free countries, but lockdown has blown things out a bit here,” Chapman said.
Two flights of workers who would have still been subject to MIQ regulations set prior to the later announcement have been postponed until a later date, while a flight from Samoa is due about September 10 under the new conditions, if they are to remain.
Pipfruit NZ chief executive Alan Pollard was confident New Zealand will see the first RSE workers here in early October, albeit delayed by a month.
“Importantly though, even with these workers coming, we are still looking at being significantly down on labour. Should the industry have a full crop this year, after last year’s losses, we could be looking at an additional 115,000 tonnes, which itself demands another 2000 extra staff,” Pollard said.
Summerfruit chief executive Kate Hellstrom says she understands the logistics on how staff would be safely deployed on arrival here are still being determined.
“But we are getting very strong signals from the Government that it will happen, it just needs to be done safely,” Hellstrom said.
She says there was no indication Pacific Island officials were pushing back against staff coming here, despite lockdown.
“These people are really keen to be able to come and work. The repatriation process will, however, also have to be considered. But we don’t want growers to lose hope that this will happen,” she said.
The countries of Tonga, Vanuatu and Samoa have been decimated by loss of employment opportunities in the tourism sector and workers are keen to recoup that income with work here.
Pollard says there is also hope the Solomon Islands will join the other three island nations as an approved worker source. Workers from the Solomons have particularly strong ties to Central Otago orchards.
The kiwifruit sector is also currently surveying members to determine numbers needed in coming months.
Richard Bibby of Thornhill Horticultural Contracting says some RSE workers had not returned home from last year and in some cases needed to return.
“The big worry for us is that we are simply not going to get the numbers we need in time. A plane load here, a plane load there, is still not a lot. We are still awaiting protocols for quarantine-free travel once they arrive,” Bibby said.
Bibby acknowledged even with more RSE workers coming, the sector would be significantly short due to the lack of backpackers in the country.
Estimates are that about 5000 remain in the country, but typically the sector would have about 50,000-70,000 to draw from when borders were open.
“We would only have two working for us and usually we would have 50 at this time of year,” he said.
