Stakeholders in the Central Otago agricultural and horticultural industries welcome an increased cap on Recognised Seasonal Employment (RSE) Scheme workers announced on Sunday, but say they have been waiting for the extra workers for some time.
Stephen Darling, co-owner of Darlings Fruit, said the Government’s announcement on Sunday was very welcome news, but went back to a commitment made three years ago.
The increase from 14,400 RSE workers to 16,000 had been signalled by then-immigration minister Iain Lees-Galloway in 2019 for the 2020-21 season and growers were encouraged to see it eventuate.
"We are absolutely reliant on having a reliable team of people to harvest and pack our export fruit and during the last two years with Covid, we haven’t had that reliability with our borders closed," Mr Darling said.
"Central Otago does not have any big population centres nearby so we are ... tied to the partnership with Pacific nations for workers."
The scheme benefited New Zealand and the Pacific nations, and his family and company had long-standing relationships with many of the workers.
"They are more than just workers, they are our family," he said.
Darlings Fruit usually employed up to 25 RSE workers but had only a dozen in the early season.
The absence of young people on working holiday visas had also hit Central Otago businesses.
Seasonal Solutions Co-operative chief executive Shaun Fogarty said he welcomed the increase, which had been expected before the outbreak of the pandemic.
"Any growth in RSE workforce numbers is clearly beneficial for the region in the long term, however, there remains complexities with sufficient accommodation that go hand in hand with ensuring any increases to employee numbers are managed effectively," he said.
Simon Webb, of Webb’s Fruit, said the rise was a step in the right direction.
"They provide about 25% of our labour force but, with our permanent workers, provide a real backbone to build your crews around.
It was going to help but there was still a lot of stress around overstaffing," he said.
Central Otago Winegrowers Association general manager Jake Tipler hailed the move, but said viticulture in the region was already "pretty flush for RSE workers."
The wine industry was still short of casual labour in the region and the industry welcomed anyone wanting to work the harvest, "picking the fruit of other people’s labour," he said.
- By Tracie Barrett
