Human rights abuses of RSE workers 'completely unacceptable'
Tuesday, 9 August 2022
The Green Party and the Council of Trade Unions have called for changes to the Recognised Seasonal Employers (RSE) scheme after an investigation revealed that Pacific workers are facing human rights violations, economic exploitation and substandard living conditions when working in New Zealand.
An investigation by Equal Employment Opportunities Commissioner Saunoamaali'i Karanina Sumeo found that migrant horticulture workers are living in cold, damp and overcrowded housing, have been denied paid sick leave after falling ill and have faced excessive restrictions placed on them by employers.
Sumeo told Stuff that she had written to Minister of Employment Relations and Workforce Safety Michael Wood requesting an urgent meeting after her team and the union representing the workers raised concerns with the Ministry of Business, Immigration and Employment with no success.
The Green Party has called for the Government to urgently overhaul the RSE scheme in the wake of the investigation’s findings.
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“The RSE scheme has been ripe for exploitation. The fact that this level of abuse can go on unnoticed to the people responsible for upholding minimum employment standards – the Labour Inspectorate and MBIE – would suggest they don’t even care,” said the Green Party’s spokesperson for Pacific Peoples, Teanau Tuiono.
“Sumeo’s findings leave the Government with no other option but to radically reform the RSE scheme so that everyone is guaranteed a warm place to live, safe working conditions, and good pay.”
The Council of Trade Unions have also urged the government to take action by progressing a review of the RSE scheme in consultation with unions and employers. A review would help determine what changes need to be made to end exploitative practices, the union said in a statement.
“Any abuse of workers employed under the RSE scheme is completely unacceptable and reflects badly on New Zealand’s reputation as a place to work,” said Council of Trade Unions President Richard Wagstaff.
“We need to do more to ensure workers who come to our country in good faith to support their families are treated fairly.”
The RSE scheme allows for 16,000 workers to come from the Pacific islands to New Zealand each year to work within the horticulture industry.