The Minister for Employment, Productivity & Industrial Relations, Honourable Semi Koroilavesau and a team of senior officials from the Ministry is currently in New Zealand to discuss the labour mobility portfolio with counterparts in New Zealand and meet Fijian seasonal workers currently employed under the Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) scheme.

“It is also to ensure that the expectations of Fijian workers and New Zealand employers are in line with the Inter-Agency Understanding (IAU) arrangements,” said the Minister.

The demand for Fijian workers is expected to grow and as a result of good performance the first group of 31 pilot workers in 2015 has returned to New Zealand to commence work for another season in 2016.

During this visit, the team met with employers, senior New Zealand Government Officials, Fijian workers and the Fijian community.

The visitation is part of the RSE bilateral agreement between the Governments of New Zealand and Fiji following the invitation extended by the Honourable Murray McCully, the New Zealand Minister for Foreign Affairs during his visit to Fiji last month.

The Minister thanked the New Zealand Government for the invitation and welcomes his New Zealand counterpart to Fiji as part of its strategic partnership arrangements.

The inclusion of Fijian workers to participate in the RSE work scheme was through the signing of the lnter-Agency Understanding (IAU) agreement on 10th December, 2014 between the Ministry of Employment, Productivity & Industrial Relations, Fiji and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE), New Zealand.

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