Former Gloriavale women who took the community’s leaders to court hope today’s ruling will mean change for their families still living in the West Coast commune.
The women had very little real choice about working, having been primed for the job and taught from birth to submit to male leadership in all aspects of their life, she said.
Following the ruling, plaintiff Rose Standtrue told RNZ she felt “over the moon and just validated in my experiences”.
“So often I tried to speak up and was just put down and told that what I had said wasn’t true or wasn’t the facts, and today, I didn’t just hear that it was true, I heard that it was true from a judge.
“It just feels amazing to be acknowledged.”
Standtrue still has little sisters living at Gloriavale - 11 siblings in total. She said she did this for them, so they did not have to grow up “and face the things I’ve faced”.
“I want them to be safe, I want them to have choices, I want them to have freedom.”
Serenity Pilgrim said the decision took a while to sink in.
“It’s so huge and it’s been such a long haul to get to this point, but I’m absolutely overwhelmed with feelings and happiness and I just can’t wait for change,” she told RNZ.
It was a huge step forward to finally be recognised as not being volunteers, she said.
“I just hope for my family in there that now, you know, they have choices available, the same choices that I have every single day out here. That they can decide what they want to do, and if they don’t want to go to work one day, they can opt to not go to work, and they can actually get paid for the work they do and get recognition for that - I think that’s huge.”
The feelings the case brought up were quite overwhelming, she said.
The Employment Court found Serenity Pilgrim, Anna Courage, Rose Standtrue, Crystal Loyal, Pearl Valour and Virginia Courage were effectively born into and kept in 'servitude' at Gloriavale. Photo / George Heard
“Working just 90 hours on average a week, doing three o’clock mornings sometimes and working till eight o’clock ... and when you’re doing heavy lifting all day, it’s just physically tiring and mentally tiring, and just not getting a break, it’s huge.”
Pilgrim said she had issues with her legs from having the wrong shoes and had back problems, like others who have left.
Pearl Valor told media she wanted to see a culture change inside the Christian community.
Gloriavale Leavers Support Trust manager Liz Gregory said she thought the judge “nailed it”.
“She fully understands the issues. The issues are power and control, and in this case, it happened to be in the employment sphere, but we know how Gloriavale operates - there are many other spheres and other government agencies need to be taking up, taking a look, taking notice.”
The ruling was “pretty huge”, she said.
“This will mean recognition for those still living in Gloriavale and the work and the working conditions for them. This means recognition and validation for those who have lived in Gloriavale and lived in that system and grew up in a type of servitude.”
It should ring as a warning for other similar groups, she said.
She said government departments failed to do their jobs and called for an apology.
Gloriavale to appeal
The Gloriavale Christian community intends to appeal against the ruling.
In a statement, Overseeing Shepherd Howard Temple said Gloriavale’s leaders believe the decision was wrong and they intend to lodge an appeal.
It has significant and wide-ranging implications beyond Gloriavale, including how faith-based communities, iwi and whānau choose to live and structure their household responsibilities, he said.
Agencies react
Associate Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety Priyanca Radhakrishnan said in a statement she would continue to monitor the situation at Gloriavale.
“New Zealand’s courts provide an important and key avenue to challenge decisions and clarify points of law, which this judgment has.
“I have asked for advice from the all-of-Government cross-agency response that is currently considering the judgment carefully to determine the next steps.
“The issues that have arisen over the years at Gloriavale remain a concern for the Government, and it is a situation I continue to monitor.”
Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment head of Compliance and Enforcement Labour Inspectorate Simon Humphries said the ministry welcomed the court’s decision.
The Inspectorate was considering the judgment and comment in time, Humphries said.
“It’s important to note that like in the Courage case, this current ruling does not identify the employers. The Labour Inspectorate’s approach to enforcement in response to the judgment relies on the court determining the identity of the employer(s).”
In a statement, police said their focus remained on “ensuring the safety and welfare of all those in the Gloriavale community and of leavers”.
WorkSafe said its activities with Gloriavale “aren’t dependent on employment arrangements”.
“As New Zealand’s workplace health and safety regulator, WorkSafe’s role is to consider the working environment. The Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 applies not just to workers, but to all who enter the working environment.”
