Gloriavale kids made to work days without sleep, one chained to steel post, court told

Tuesday, 22 February 2022

The isolated West Coast Christian community of Gloriavale has set itself apart from the rest of society for more than 50 years.

A child was chained to a steel post at Gloriavale because his father did not know how to look after him, a former community leader has told a court.

Zion Pilgrim was a senior leader, or servant, at Gloriavale until he left in 2020. He is part of a group of former members fighting against the Government and community leaders for classifying them as volunteers rather than workers.

A hearing before Chief Judge Christina Inglis is taking place this week, which will decide whether Gloriavale members are employees or volunteers.

The decision would have impacts on both those currently and previously living at Gloriavale regarding their working conditions, pay and employment rights.

**READ MORE:

Zion Pilgrim has spoken out about the way “volunteers” and children are treated at Gloriavale.

* What now for Gloriavale Christian Community's $41m business empire?

* Moo Chews ditches Gloriavale factory and seeks new manufacturer

* The fine line between a genuine volunteer and exploitation

Pilgrim left Gloriavale in 2020 because of its toxic culture.

* Gloriavale leavers launch petition and protests to get Government inquiry

Pilgrim, 43, told the court that mothers, fathers and children were made to work long hours or risk having to leave the community, their friends and their families, and never see them again.

29062012 NEWS Photo:SUPPLIED Screengrabs from Christchurch filmmaker Cody Packer's documentary on a reclusive West Coast religious community, Gloriavale, which will be shown at the Chicago International Film Festival in October.

He said the family unit was broken down so badly that one father chained his son to a steel post because he did not know how to look after him.

Children received significant injuries and were forced to work long hours in dangerous businesses with no safety equipment. He said young boys were told to sign a declaration of commitment, told who to marry and had no choice about what work they would do.

Gloriavale’s businesses were structured in a way to maximise Government subsidies and minimise tax, Pilgrim said. He was a director of eight businesses but had no idea how they were run. Ferveant Steadfast was the chief financial officer and the Overseeing Shepherd, Howard Temple, had ultimate say over everyone’s lives. Pilgrim said the community’s founder, the late Hopeful Christian, was a dictator.

Steadfast would tell people there was no money, all while amassing new land, turning over $22 million in the community’s businesses, and taking millions of dollars in Government subsidies every year.

Former Gloriavale member Hosea Courage has told a court he was beaten with a shovel and starved for not working fast enough when he was a child in the community.

Pilgrim said while he was a servant, he tried to get the leadership to change the culture, including the way it handled inappropriate sexual offending. When his efforts failed, he left with his wife and 12 children.

Levi Courage said he worked before and after school at Gloriavale businesses Forest Gold Honey and Moo Chews. He said children went to school all year round, without any school holidays.

When he left school at 15, he worked at Forest Gold Honey for up to 70 hours a week, sometimes starting at 3am against his will. He had only one week of holiday a year and if he did not work he was not allowed to eat.

Former Gloriavale members protest outside the Press Leaders debate before the 2020 election in a bid to see changes in the way the religious community is run.

“I wanted to do a building apprenticeship but [leader] Mark Christian said no I had no choice. Young people work where they were told to work.”

He said they once had to fulfil an order for 200,000 75-gram honey jars in just three days.

The Gloriavale business stable includes Pure Vitality, which makes health supplements and anti-ageing skincare products.

He and several other boys worked for 50 hours without sleep, had a four-hour break and then worked another 72 hours without sleep to get the order done. He ended up exhausted and with bleeding hands.

“I was being used as a slave and not being paid… It was awful.”

When the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) conducted a quality assurance audit on the honey business, Courage was told to hide in a chemical store for three hours until the auditor was gone, because at 14 he was an underage worker.

Another time, he was told to write 40 hours a week in a log book when he actually worked 90. He was expected to work while sick and recalled vomiting in a dairy shed during a milking. He said he did not get legal advice before signing a document presented by a leader that he felt he had to sign or be cast out from the community and shunned. Gloriavale and the Crown are relying on the signed documents to prove Gloriavale members give up their possessions and chose to work for the good of the community using their own free will.

The court previously heard from former members Hosea Courage and Daniel Pilgrim about starting work at the community’s moss farm from the age of 6.

The leaders would hit them and withhold food if they did not work fast enough.

The lawyer for Gloriavale leaders, Scott Wilson, said Gloriavale witnesses would say there was no compulsion on children to work. Adults signed a declaration to work and donate any profits back to the community. He referred to the children’s work as “chores”.

“Activities are provided to support parents, and it’s a case of parental discretion whether children work in those activities … the work is performed for the benefit of the community.”

Levi Courage said his parents tried to stop him and his brothers from going to the honey shed, but the leaders told them they had to.

“My welfare wasn't good. I had a hard life growing up.”

The leavers’ lawyer, Brian Henry, told the court Gloriavale was a totally isolated community and its people lived without basic human rights.

He said the leaders coached members to say they were volunteers, so they were not required to PAYE and not entitled to minimum standards.

The Christian Partners, who worked at Gloriavale's businesses, were paid, but their bank accounts were controlled by the community and the money was immediately transferred into the community's account. Henry said the leaders’ claim that members got independent legal advice was a “scam” because the lawyers were chosen and paid for by the leaders.