Labour govt 2020-23

[moka]

RSE staff work seven days from dawn to dusk for 2 – 3 months.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/...OYTBOXMA4VPIY/
Fields of courgettes go to waste because grower can't get workers.
To do that, he needed about 10 staff who are in Thailand and unable to travel to New Zealand, as they have done for years through our Recognised Seasonal Employer scheme that brings in about 14,000 workers from other countries.
For Heap's business, it was geared to Thai workers with specialist knowledge that reduced waste and maximised profitability.
"They have been here year after year. They know what they're doing. They hit the ground running."
With their focus on the short work period, the RSE staff worked the two-to-three month picking season with seven-day working weeks and working days that begin at dawn and finish on dark.
Heap said the productivity differences between RSE workers and local workers was enormous. He needed at least two New Zealanders to do the work of one RSE worker, and the churn of local workers was huge.

[iceman]

RSE staff work seven days from dawn to dusk for 2 – 3 months.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/...OYTBOXMA4VPIY/
Fields of courgettes go to waste because grower can't get workers.
To do that, he needed about 10 staff who are in Thailand and unable to travel to New Zealand, as they have done for years through our Recognised Seasonal Employer scheme that brings in about 14,000 workers from other countries.
For Heap's business, it was geared to Thai workers with specialist knowledge that reduced waste and maximised profitability.
"They have been here year after year. They know what they're doing. They hit the ground running."
With their focus on the short work period, the RSE staff worked the two-to-three month picking season with seven-day working weeks and working days that begin at dawn and finish on dark.
Heap said the productivity differences between RSE workers and local workers was enormous. He needed at least two New Zealanders to do the work of one RSE worker, and the churn of local workers was huge.

Poor things. No wonder Kiwis don't want to do this work. Yea right.
Stop justifying laziness moka ! If you're on the unemployment benefit and you are young and able, get of your arse and go and work. Very simple. Almost every restaurant here in Nelson is advertising for staff, but can't get good people. Add that to all the primary industries. WTF !!!!

[jonu]

Poor things. No wonder Kiwis don't want to do this work. Yea right.
Stop justifying laziness moka ! If you're on the unemployment benefit and you are young and able, get of your arse and go and work. Very simple. Almost every restaurant here in Nelson is advertising for staff, but can't get good people. Add that to all the primary industries. WTF !!!!

I know going to sound like the Monty Python sketch but when I were young...

I did haymaking in the 80s as a teenager. You didn't stop until the last bale was in. If you had problems or a difficult paddock that could be 2am. The farmer would normally bring a feed out to the paddock and a beer for when you were finished. If there was no dew you were back on the job at 9am. It would get to the stage where you would pray for rain. It was reasonable money (any pay was good money to a teenager) but you worked your arse off. I remember being so exhausted (and probably dehydrated) unloading in a haybarn up in the rafters under a tin roof on a hot HB day. Would have been 40+ degrees in there. The thought crossed my mind to fall off the truck to get out of it. If the loader broke you heaved the bales up by hand. My older brothers did more of it than I did and it paid their way through varsity.

It taught me a lot about resilience and toughened me up, much like my rugby playing days. Oh dear I'm starting to sound all PMS (Pale stale male...not the other type). Thing is...I talk to a few of the old kaumatua around here and they will tell you similar stories.

Young people need to be encouraged to test their physical and mental limits through hard work and recreational activity. Seasonal work is a good place to start.

[artemis]

Poor things. No wonder Kiwis don't want to do this work. Yea right.
Stop justifying laziness moka ! If you're on the unemployment benefit and you are young and able, get of your arse and go and work. Very simple. Almost every restaurant here in Nelson is advertising for staff, but can't get good people. Add that to all the primary industries. WTF !!!!

Lindsay Mitchell posted recently about official Stats unemployment rate and actual recipients of Jobseeker benefits. Including Tasman, though she does note a difference in coverage area for Tasman.

Noticeable difference between % on JS and Stats %, though she notes some possible reasons for this. Still, that % represents a lot of individuals in each location on JS.

https://lindsaymitchell.blogspot.com...jobseeker.html

[iceman]

I know going to sound like the Monty Python sketch but when I were young...

I did haymaking in the 80s as a teenager. You didn't stop until the last bale was in. If you had problems or a difficult paddock that could be 2am. The farmer would normally bring a feed out to the paddock and a beer for when you were finished. If there was no dew you were back on the job at 9am. It would get to the stage where you would pray for rain. It was reasonable money (any pay was good money to a teenager) but you worked your arse off. I remember being so exhausted (and probably dehydrated) unloading in a haybarn up in the rafters under a tin roof on a hot HB day. Would have been 40+ degrees in there. The thought crossed my mind to fall off the truck to get out of it. If the loader broke you heaved the bales up by hand. My older brothers did more of it than I did and it paid their way through varsity.

It taught me a lot about resilience and toughened me up, much like my rugby playing days. Oh dear I'm starting to sound all PMS (Pale stale male...not the other type). Thing is...I talk to a few of the old kaumatua around here and they will tell you similar stories.

Young people need to be encouraged to test their physical and mental limits through hard work and recreational activity. Seasonal work is a good place to start.

Hear hear. That is the attitude we need back in NZ

[iceman]

Lindsay Mitchell posted recently about official Stats unemployment rate and actual recipients of Jobseeker benefits. Including Tasman, though she does note a difference in coverage area for Tasman.

Noticeable difference between % on JS and Stats %, though she notes some possible reasons for this. Still, that % represents a lot of individuals in each location on JS.

https://lindsaymitchell.blogspot.com...jobseeker.html

Thanks for posting this artemis. Summarises what I have been trying to say and am seeing in my industry. Lots of young (mainly) people simply do not want to work.

[Bjauck]

Poor things. No wonder Kiwis don't want to do this work. Yea right.
Stop justifying laziness moka ! If you're on the unemployment benefit and you are young and able, get of your arse and go and work. Very simple. Almost every restaurant here in Nelson is advertising for staff, but can't get good people. Add that to all the primary industries. WTF !!!!

Are you serious? Did you read the work conditions?
"With their focus on the short work period, the RSE staff worked the two-to-three month picking season with seven-day working weeks and working days that begin at dawn and finish on dark."

They are antebellum plantation cotton-picking conditions. It is no surprise that NZ plantation owners are missing their supply of foreign workers from impoverished countries. Pay and conditions should be fit for C21st New Zealanders. If it is not profitable - the land should be turned over for other uses.

[artemis]

Are you serious? Did you read the work conditions?
"With their focus on the short work period, the RSE staff worked the two-to-three month picking season with seven-day working weeks and working days that begin at dawn and finish on dark."

They are antebellum plantation cotton-picking conditions. It is no surprise that NZ plantation owners are missing their supply of foreign workers from impoverished countries. Pay and conditions should be fit for C21st New Zealanders. If it is not profitable - the land should be turned over for other uses.

The Thai workers will not be paid less than minimum wage, and they seem to be happy to come back year after year. Like some of the PI RSE workers a short stint of hard work each year will set them up back home. Some talk about their savings letting them build a house.

Sounds like the courgette farmer is looking at closing the business.

[iceman]

Are you serious? Did you read the work conditions?
"With their focus on the short work period, the RSE staff worked the two-to-three month picking season with seven-day working weeks and working days that begin at dawn and finish on dark."

They are antebellum plantation cotton-picking conditions. It is no surprise that NZ plantation owners are missing their supply of foreign workers from impoverished countries. Pay and conditions should be fit for C21st New Zealanders. If it is not profitable - the land should be turned over for other uses.

Yes I am serious. Do you really think working from dawn to dusk is unusual in many primary industries during harvesting ? All the workers get paid at least the ever increasing minimum wage and the conditions ARE fit for C21st New Zealanders, or at least they should be for people with a good working attitude. I inspected a Seeka kiwifruit orchard a few years ago and spoke to RSI workers from Samoa. They were very happy with their conditions and what I saw was perfectly acceptable in all areas.
Workers do not have to work 7 days a week but the RSE workers choose to do so because they are making a lot of money for a few weeks/months to take back to their families.

Did you read this sentence in the article ? "Heap said the productivity differences between RSE workers and local workers was enormous. He needed at least two New Zealanders to do the work of one RSE worker, and the churn of local workers was huge.
Do you think this may be at least part of the problem, both lack of productivity and unreliability (i.e. will they turn up for work today !) ?

[Bjauck]

Yes I am serious. Do you really think working from dawn to dusk is unusual in many primary industries during harvesting ? All the workers get paid at least the ever increasing minimum wage and the conditions ARE fit for C21st New Zealanders, or at least they should be for people with a good working attitude. I inspected a Seeka kiwifruit orchard a few years ago and spoke to RSI workers from Samoa. They were very happy with their conditions and what I saw was perfectly acceptable in all areas....

Are you saying that NZers don't have a good working attitude because they do not want to work dawn-to-dusk 7 days a week for several months for wages and conditions poor workers from Pacific Islands tell you they are grateful for?

I can certainly see it is a way to denigrate and to try keep Kiwi workers in their place for the benefit of NZ plantation owners

Covid has certainly revealed that NZ had become dependant on the supply of poor young Pacific Islander seasonal workers. So young NZers trained and were employed in other fields. As these young NZers are becoming unemployed as a result of covid, they are then unfairly criticised for being lazy if they do not suddenly work for the plantation owners, who no longer have the same access to the foreign temporary workers.