KEY POINTS:
Tonga's Minister of Labour, Commerce and Industries, the Hon Lisiate Akolo, responds to an article in last weekend's Review on migrant workforce problems
Your article on Tongan migrant workers last weekend made dramatic reading, which is what usually happens when a journalist fails to get more than one side to a story.
In covering the complaints of one disaffected and disgruntled worker, Mr Siosaia'Aholelei, your reporter has maligned Kerifresh's good name.
The report painted Kerifresh as an employer which "lures" migrant workers to New Zealand with promises of good money only to treat them badly by paying them poorly, providing substandard living conditions and taking too much money out of their wages.
None of these allegations stand up to scrutiny, as would have been discovered if contact was made with Kerifresh or Aranga Backpackers, the other enterprise mentioned in the article, or with the other 18 Tongan Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) workers in Mr'Aholelei's cohort who are still employees of the company.
All have indicated to us that they would be keen to return for another tour of duty with Kerifresh in October.
The report did none of this, instead relying on Mr'Aholelei's version.
Kerifresh, with the full support of New Zealand's Department of Labour and the Tongan Government, took Mr'Aholelei through a dismissal process because of a range of personal problems and relations with his Tongan workmates.
To any other employer glancing through the list of workplace problems, it would be quite apparent why Mr'Aholelei's fortnightly pay packet did not come up to his expectations or, for that matter, to the pay packets collected by the other Tongan RSE workers.
Had any attempt to genuinely investigate the wages earned by RSE workers, which incidentally are regularly checked by Department of Labour inspectors, it would have been discovered that many of'Aholelei's workmates were making up to $18 dollars an hour equivalent in piecework.
The Tongan Government and Kerifresh have devoted enormous effort and money to the success of the fledgling RSE worker scheme.
The company has had excellent support from all the relevant government agencies in New Zealand and Tonga.
We have jointly spent considerable sums on pastoral care of our Tongan RSE workers, including contracting the services of a company which specialises in the settlement of Pacific Island workers.
Likewise, Aranga Backpackers, the award-winning tourist facility where Mr'Aholelei claimed he "slept together with the pots and the dirty clothes", has worked hard to accommodate the preferences of our Tongan workers, providing a pleasant, welcoming home for them.
That includes setting up an outside cooking facility which was provided at the workers' request to allow them to cook as they would have done at home.
Between us we have also provided health and safety systems, including signing all workers up to a comprehensive medical insurance policy (which costs the workers $50 per month, not $105 per week as reported).
Besides paying for regular medical bills, this insurance has also covered the return travel costs to Tonga for one of the RSE workers to visit his son who was hospitalised after a car accident.
All the RSE conditions referred to in the article have been vetted and approved by the Immigration Service and Department of Labour. The checks have included regular inspection of the Aranga Backpackers accommodation. The dismal picture painted by your report is so inaccurate as to be almost laughable.
The focus on one ineffectual, unhappy worker in this crew does not reflect the reality of the RSE experience in New Zealand horticulture.
A more visionary view would be that New Zealand horticulture and viticulture are great success stories, and both are major earners of foreign income.
The RSE scheme (which has only been in place since October 2007) has been warmly embraced by the Pacific Island nations as a huge economic opportunity.
The scheme, (which allows employment in New Zealand for seven months in any 11 months) is carefully monitored and controlled, and is proving to be mutually beneficial to all parties.
It is by no means perfect but it has been a huge improvement on the past.
Companies like Kerifresh and service providers such as Aranga Backpackers will, however, continue to participate in the RSE scheme: currently Kerifresh have staff in Tonga recruiting another 40 workers for the winter harvest.
The fact that we have more than 80 applicants desperate for a place on this team indicates clearly that our people are keen to exploit this opportunity.
