Nurseries fear impact of cheap prison labour

Photo / Bay of Plenty Times

An emergency meeting has been called as the horticulture industry confronts what its says is the negative impact of cheap prison labour.

Of particular concern was the Corrections Department supplying re-vegetation - native plants used in large-scale planting - at prices the industry could not compete with, Nursery and Garden Industry Association president Peter Fraser told the Otago Daily Times.

Several growers had already gone out of business and more could follow unless the department stopped undercutting those in the sector, Mr Fraser said.

"Margins are already low. We can't compete with them on labour," he said.

The association, with more than 400 members nationwide, will meet representatives of the Corrections Department in Hamilton next month to thrash out the issues.

Fraser confirmed nurseries operated by Corrections - at Rimutaka, Whanganui, New Plymouth, Auckland and Rolleston - had been members of the association for several years, but a decision on whether they would be invited to the meeting had yet to be made.

Concerns raised at the meeting were likely to be taken to Corrections Minister Judith Collins, who earlier this week said that the department aimed to compete on commercial terms and not undercut the market.

Collins said she had asked Corrections to look at ways it could work in partnership with private companies in some industries, rather than directly competing against them.

"Corrections meets with industry bodies whenever concerns are raised about perceived competition from Corrections Inmate Employment (CIE)."

An aim of the Government was to reduce reoffending and "get prisoners off the treadmill of crime" by giving them job skills, she said.

- NZPA