Union: Pickers and packers want pay, not pavlovas

Monday, 11 April 2022

Kiwifruit bosses have been accused of trying to put a “glamorous gloss” on current labour shortages following the launch of an Instagram campaign that includes free pavlovas in return for content.

Union officials claim it is “pay, not pavlovas” that will attract workers to the industry.

New Zealand Kiwifruit Growers Inc turned to Instagram influencers in an attempt to attract workers during what’s described as a “chronic shortage”, doling out packages of free pavlova and kiwifruit and paying one Bay of Plenty influencer to visit an orchard.

Mike Murphy, head of communications and strategic projects at NZKGI, which represents the interests of 2800 kiwifruit growers, said it was the first time they had used influencer marketing.

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Makaia Carr was paid to visit a Bay of Plenty kiwifruit orchard.

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“Every year we advertise for workers for the harvest season,” he said. “We have used Facebook for a while and this year we are trying Instagram.”

Instagram influencers like Nicole, a fitness trainer, were sent a box containing pavlova, cream and kiwifruit.

Murphy said boxes of ready-made pavlova as well as kiwifruit had been sent to up to 30 New Zealand-based influencers, with information in the pack urging people to “pick and pack for the pav”.

Bay of Plenty influencer Makaia Carr was also paid to post about the labour shortage and visit a local orchard. When asked, Murphy would not reveal the cost of the campaign, saying it was “inappropriate” to do so.

In her first post, Carr posed with a pavlova decorated with kiwifruit, stating she had made it.

The post read: “Our kiwifruit industry is bracing itself for a chronic labour shortage, putting our iconic kiwifruit in danger, which also means your pavlova could end up kiwifruit-less.

“We need more Kiwis (people not the fruit) to apply and take on jobs in the many orchards across the country, helping our growers stay on top of what will be one of the biggest years yet for the industry, picking green, gold and RubyReds (sic). 24,000 workers are needed to pick and pack, and over 19,000 of those are available right here in the Bay of Plenty.”

Megan West-Hill of Wright Communications – an Auckland-based public relations agency which spearheaded the campaign – said the idea behind it was to highlight that “the kiwifruit is a New Zealand icon like the pavlova”.

First Union spokeswoman Anita Rosentreter said she agreed that the kiwifruit industry should be celebrated by New Zealanders, and that it was desperately in need of an image makeover, but she admitted she was surprised at the campaign.

Anita Rosentreter, strategic project co-ordinator First Union: “It’s appalling that [Michael Way] did not receive any training, and was effectively thrown into the job.”

“This glamorous Instagram content is out of place,” said Rosentreter. “Images of a pavlova gloss over the serious issues of worker pay, poor conditions and exploitation.

“The kiwifruit industry is one of our most important and recognisable industries. It should be valued by New Zealanders, but so should its workers.

“Unfortunately the industry has a reputation of worker exploitation, underpaying workers, not allowing them the protection of labour contracts and subjecting them to poor conditions.”

Rosentreter said the industry needed to make fundamental changes to worker pay and conditions, not “try to gloss over the reasons for a labour shortage”.

“Kiwifruit industry leaders have only themselves to blame for a so-called labour shortage,” she said. “There’s a shortage of decent jobs in the industry, not a shortage of good workers. Horticulture employers have traditionally kept local workers’ wages low by using relatively cheap seasonal labour.

14062016-dpt-Seeka Kiwifruit CEO Michael Franks.

“To make changes the industry has to do more real action on pay and conditions. Existing kiwifruit workers have told us the professional changes they would like and need, and these changes would also attract new workers to the industry long term.

“Investment in workers is going to bring more benefit than posts on instagram.”

First Union is currently in collective bargaining with industry leaders Seeka, with workers in Kerikeri looking to secure better pay and conditions. Rosentreter told Stuff that Seeka had so far refused to enter negotiations for its thousands of workers in the Bay of Plenty.

Chief executive of Seeka, Michael Franks confirmed to Stuff that Seeka was only negotiating with First Union in Northland “for just 16 workers” and “no more of the approximately 3500 people we employ across New Zealand”.

Stuff has also highlighted how the kiwifruit labour crisis has forced the industry to hike its pay to workers to up to $60 an hour for pickers, and a $24 an hour starting rate for packhouse workers.

Rosentreter says the union fears that higher pay will be cut once overseas workers return, and claims part of the current $24 per hour is a 'seasonal allowance' because of recent border closures. She also pointed to high profits made by industry leaders, which she says were not reflected in pay to workers.

“These are essential workers in the food supply chain but are treated expendably,” said Rosentreter.

First Union said it had also contacted Immigration New Zealand to review what it called “unsafe” conditions for overseas workers.

Dennis Maga, First Union general secretary, said that employers like Seeka had been supported by government initiatives such as the RSE scheme to employ thousands of workers from the Pacific Islands.

'I don’t believe they should be allowed to continue employing RSE workers in this manner until they have proven they can support them and conduct fair and transparent negotiations with local workers first,' said Maga in a statement.

Carr said that she was taking part in the campaign as it was “an important issue that our country is facing”.

“In the past, NZKGI has found its seasonal workers in students, backpackers, retirees, seniors and other international workers,” she said. “With our borders closed at the start of the season there was a huge gap needing to be filled, especially in the Bay of Plenty where I now call home.”

Carr also pointed to New Zealanders in need of work. “I know there are many Kiwis out there in need of work right now, and many of them are Māori and Pasifika.

“As we come out of the other side of Covid-19, finances can be a burden, and the cost of living continues to rise. Around half of New Zealand’s kiwifruit seasonal workers last year were Māori, and many were also unemployed.

“Knowing first-hand how powerful social media can be for getting people aware of causes like this and motivated to actually do something, this felt like a perfect opportunity to help and spread the word that this work is available.”

Carr has 56,000 followers, and her Instagram profile states she also has business relationships with a fitness company, a car sales company and a company selling collagen powder.

The vast majority of comments on Carr’s posts as part of the NZKGI campaign thanked her for “raising awareness”. One comment asked Carr if it was paid content, commenting that there was not a labour shortage but a wage shortage. Carr did not reply to the question.

Carr’s post used a hashtag #ad underneath the text, as per new guidelines by the Advertising Standards Authority that state paid influencer content must be easily identifiable.