Labour pains in Central Otago

Covid-19 disruptions Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) scheme, combined with airline logistics delaying repatriations for some Pacific Island workers, have caused the scheme to fall out of sync with peak labour needs for employers, says Central Otago viticulturist James Dicey, owner of contracting company Grape Vision. "There're so many moving parts... The rest of the industry is scrambling like I am."

Growers struggling with logistics of labour supply, pay rate increases and compliance costs, as well as limited availability of flights for RSE workers, are hopeful the government will relax rules around stand-down periods, so workers heading home shortly can return to New Zealand in time for critical pre-Christmas tasks, such as bud rubbing and shoot thinning. RSE worker numbers were down all winter, and the crews from Vanuatu James employed across Central Otago vineyards had been working nine-hour days, six-and-a-half days a week to get through the pruning this season.

Covid-19 lockdowns and border closures have also meant some workers have stayed in New Zealand for much longer than the normal seven months allowed by work visas. Seasonal Solutions Cooperative Chief Executive Shaun Fogarty knows of some workers who were in New Zealand for more than 19 months. Some of last summer's crews from Central Otago had been sent to Marlborough for winter pruning as they were unable to be repatriated, he says. 

Shaun says there are plans to repatriate most of the long-stay workers over the next few months. However, he is hopeful of an announcement from Immigration New Zealand later in July which could lessen the normal four-month stand-down conditions, meaning pre-Christmas viticulture labour would become available. Employers are also watching carefully to see how the opening of borders and arrival of backpackers might track in filling jobs in the next few months, especially given competition and pressure from other industries such as hospitality, he says.

Timbo Deaker, co-owner of contracting company Viticultura, says the RSE scheme is gold standard, and he supports the need for workers to return to their homes and families. He would like to see the system of winter crews and summer crews reinstated, and the cap on RSE workers increased. The current scenario was similar to this time last year, and the labour market continued to be "out of whack" because of Covid-19. Winegrowers faced with not getting the labour they need may have to consider other management tools for critical tasks, he says, "some of which wouldn't be viewed as being sustainable, such as chemical or mechanical management".