Two groups of Fijian seasonal workers deployed under the Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) Work Scheme met with the Minister for Employment, Productivity and Industrial Relations Jone Usamate during his week-long tour in New Zealand recently.

This follows recent adverse reports received by the Employment Ministry.

Mr Usamate visited these workers to discuss the issues reported by the New Zealand Government and to also hear their views of challenges faced.

“Issues raised by our Fijian RSE workers were in relation to the poor quality of accommodation, less weekly wage pay, high charges of transportation cost, payslip discrepancies, uneven income distribution for group contracts and the need for more time to be given to our workers to familiarise themselves with a task before moving to another work,” Minister Usamate said.

“There is also a need to standardise all employment contracts and that all costs are to be articulated in the contract, which means no surprises for workers,” he added.

He said these issues were raised during the RSE 10th year anniversary celebration and also during the Employers Conference held in New Zealand last week.

The Minister for Employment noted the current challenges and expectations from the employers.

He also noted that communication and cross cultural understanding continue to be a challenge yet to be resolved.

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