The Sinalei resort which has been shuttered until the re-opening of borders.
Photo: Dominic Godfrey / RNZ Pacific
While the tragedy of the measles epidemic of 2019 prepared the country to act fast and avert another health crisis, it couldn t prepare them for an economic one.
A year into the pandemic and Samoa is one of a handful of countries to remain free of community transmission of the coronavirus.
It was also one of the first countries to close its borders which helped prevent Covid-19 s entry according to the country s Director General of Health, Leausa Dr Take Naseri, who said, with grief from the measles epidemic still fresh, the whole country rallied.
He hoped all its fruit could be picked in the time left. “At this point we’re going to get through, but it’s hard to say. There could be 500 bins we can’t pick. “At the moment the RSEs are picking three bins each on average a day, the locals, one and a half to two bins.” Tonder said the business could take on an extra 100 workers but there would be little point since inexperienced workers usually took a week or more to get up to speed.
Bejon Haswell/Stuff
This group of workers at MA Orchards come from Tonga.
How New Zealand s stone fruit industry has tried to mitigate labour shortage effects during harvest season freshplaza.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from freshplaza.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Source: Employment New Zealand
Canterbury employer Christopher Gray, trading as Motukarara Asparagus, has been ordered by the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) to pay $26,000 in penalties for employment law breaches.
This is in addition to $54,000 he was ordered to repay to 13 former employees last year.
The Labour Inspectorate conducted an audit of Mr Gray’s business, and found that in 2017, employees were paid a piece rate based on the amount of asparagus that they picked. This meant their payments fell below the minimum wage for some of the hours worked.
Other breaches included failure by the employer to provide for public holidays, a failure to obtain written consents for deductions from wages and to keep compliant holiday and leave records.
Air New Zealand transports Samoan seasonal workers to support local fruit and wine industries
Today s flight is the last of five Air New Zealand services that have transported more than 700 workers from Apia to Auckland over the past six weeks under the Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) programme.
The airline has transported workers on three charter and two commercial services between Samoa and New Zealand to support a sustainable seasonal labour force for orchards and vineyards in Hawke s Bay, Canterbury and the upper South Island. Once the workers have completed two weeks of managed isolation, they will disperse around New Zealand to support the country s horticulture and viticulture industries for the next seven months.