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More signs of a booming kiwifruit sector.
That’s from Colin Bond, the CEO of NZKGI, the organisation that represents kiwifruit growers. His comments come following another report of migrant exploitation. Reports say two migrant workers were forced to work up to 70 hours a week in Bay of Plenty kiwifruit orchards for low or no pay, and one was made to hand back $1500 in cash under the guise of paying tax.
This was the latest in a series of incidents in the past year where migrant workers in the kiwifruit industry have been exploited.
Bond says they have seen such reports over the past years and his organisation has zero tolerance for such behaviour by employers. He says they would encourage anyone who is aware of any exploitation to report it to the authorities, and would in turn expect them to take action. But he admits in the case of immigrant workers, the situation is tricky because those affected may not be aware of NZ laws or are too afraid to report a problem.
According to Bond, the kiwifruit industry has 10,000 permanent employees and 24,000 seasonal workers at the peak of the season.
“Our hope is that every one of those workers gets treated well and gets a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work and has a good experience working in the sector,” he says.
Bond says he’s confident that most employers in the sector are good and that staff are well treated.
