Seasonal workers

Seasonal work during pandemic not easy for ni-Vanuatu

Around 150 ni-Vanuatu landed in Christchurch on Monday for work in the Recognised Seasonal Employer scheme in New Zealand's South Island.

RSE work offers them a chance to earn money to help their families back home, while providing much needed labour for New Zealand's horticulture and viticulture sectors

Coming from a covid-free country, ni-Vanuatu workers are exempt from managed isolation and quarantine at New Zealand's border, and instead isolate at their workplace.

Vanuatu Seasonal Workers required to be fully vaccinated

Commissioner of Labour, Murielle Meltenoven said ,“If any Ni-Vanuatu chooses to apply to join an Australia or NZ labour mobility scheme, they have the responsibility to ensure they are fully vaccinated to protect themselves, their families and communities here, and the communities they join abroad.”

“There is a transition time period in which seasonal workers will be allowed to depart if they received only one vaccine.”

“This is to enable seasonal workers who may not have time to receive both vaccinations, to still be able to travel to New Zealand or Australia in 2022.”

Vanuatu to trial in-country quarantine for seasonal workers

Australia’s Agriculture Minister David Littleproud told ABC’s AM program, earlier this week that the arrangement would include Vanuatu.

“This month we'll be trialling in country quarantine in Vanuatu."

"[South Australia'a] chief health officer has got comfortable with the risk profile of Vanuatu that they'll allow them to quarantine in country," he said.

Vanuatu’s Director of Foreign Affairs Yvone Basil said they’d hoped for it to start this month following talks with the Australian High Commission but so far no date has been set on when it would be rolled out.

Vanuatu concerned new Australia agriculture visa threatens seasonal workers

Vanuatu MP and former seasonal worker agent John Salong said the visa which starts next month and targets ten Southeast Asian countries would threaten the gains made by Vanuatu and Pacific nations in Australia.

"We are very concerned that now Australia is bringing in Asian workers into the horticultural sector, which is in direct competition with the Pacific seasonal workers program, which we have built over the years," he said.

Ardern announces RSE workers allowed one-way quarantine-free travel

In a post-Cabinet media briefing Monday afternoon, Ardern announced Cabinet had made the decision to allow Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) workers from those countries to travel one way, without using MIQ.

The countries this would apply to reflected the fact all three nations had experienced very few cases of Covid-19, she said. Tonga had seen zero Covid-91 cases, Samoa just one, and Vanuatu had four - all those cases having been at the border with no community transmission.

Seasonal workers from Pacific Islands gather to celebrate culture, identity and sport

People from the Pacific Islands have long been a part of the Riverland community, with many travelling far from home to take up seasonal work in the South Australian agricultural region.

However, COVID-19 has made that distance from home seem even further, with workers who were already in Australia before the pandemic hit forced to stay longer than expected.

As well, due to the labour shortage across Australia, 800 people from the Pacific Islands have come to the Riverland and quarantined for two weeks before heading out to work on properties across the region.

Programme seeks to prevent common problems faced by Vanuatu seasonal workers in Australia and NZ

But they've not been without their criticism, from welfare issues and accusations of sub-standard accommodation, to deaths on the road.

The Australian government wants to review the two schemes: the Pacific Seasonal worker program that sees people working in agriculture, as well as the newer Pacific Labour Mobility program where people come to work in meat processing centres or in aged care.

And it's not just the workers themselves who are affected when they head overseas for work -- their families and communities who stay at home, often looking after children, are too.

New programme in Vanuatu aims to help seasonal worker families

"We're very aware in the Pacific that seasonal work can bring great economic benefit but those benefits need to be felt by not just the worker but also by their family, so that takes some financial planning training and good communication," World Vision Vanuatu's country director Kendra Derousseau said.

"We also know that the distance imposed by seasonal work can break families apart so the 'Femili i Redi' curriculum also looks at how to keep a family relationship healthy and strong, despite the distance".

Vanuatu launches framework to support seasonal workers’ investment in agriculture

Minister of Internal Affairs, Ishmael Kalsakau, responsible for labour launched the Framework for the Reintegration of Agriculture Workers in Labour Mobility Programmes.

Director General (DG) of MALFFB, Moses Amos, said the framework will support seasonal workers become business ready investors.

“It is designed to start in the provinces, with pre-departure support before they leave Vanuatu, and continuing when they return,” Amos said.

Vanuatu workers back on Bundaberg farms, others risk deportation for absconding

Last month Vanuatu's High Commissioner to Australia revealed details about an employment dispute involving 51 workers who were no longer employed under the federal seasonal worker program (SWP).

It is understood many of them absconded from their employer in Bundaberg in September in search of better pay and work conditions and had been living in various backpacker hostels until recently.

According to the ABC, a spokesperson from the Department of Education, Skills and Employment said some had rejoined the SWP with an approved employer based in Childers.