Fijians return for work in tobacco fields

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32789, 14 December 1971, Page 13

Fijians return for work in tobacco fields

(From Our Own Reporter) NELSON, December 9. The first six members of a 305-strong Fijian labour party to work in the Nelson district tobacco fields during the coming season, arrived in Nelson on Monday.

The Fijians, brought to New Zealnad by the New Zealand Tobacco Growers’ Federation, will provide growers with a nucleus of full-term workers in the big transient labour force employed in the industry until the end of March.

The party is more than twice the 142-man contingent which formed the federation’s highly-successful pilot scheme last season. But at a time when there are more than 4000 unemployed in New Zealand, the federation has laid itself open to criticism for its decision to bring so large a party into the country for seasonal work. The federation is well aware of the implications of its actions and the likely criticism to be directed at it should seasonal labour be turned away from the tobacco fields when the season is in full swing. It feels, however, that it has answers to such criticism, and these are all drawn from their experiences with seasonal labour in past years. Present situation The background to the present situation and thefederation’s main argument' in providing growers with a: full-term work force for the season—is a history of dissatisfaction with a transient and unreliable labour force recruited for a three-months period from the whole of New Zealand.

Every grower who employs seasonal labour from outside the district, can recall vividly his labour problems in the past—the defections of staff during the night; the accommodation wrecked and fouled; the fights, vandalism and drunkenness.

One grower in 1970 employing a 7-man gang in the fields, turned over three times this number in the three months. Another had 40 male workers start and finish within the same period. Most growers would hasten to add that this does not apply to all seasonal workers, many of whom are entirely reliable and who return each year for another spell in the tobacco fields. , Yet it has been the experience of most growers, that even workers in this category fail to work the whole season.

The same cannot be said for the main force of workers recruited throughout New Zealand. Last season, 1549 applied for tobacco work through the Labour Department, but 300 cancelled their applications before the season commenced. The department’s records show that about 1250 went out to work in the fields. There is no record of how many workedout the full three months. Growers say that very few, if any, last the three months. In one respect, it is not surprising. Many seasonal workers come to the district for a working holiday in the sunny tourist centre only to find that the work is hard, dirty and extremely hot and wearying. The wage rates

are not very high—92c an hour for men 20 years and over and 68c for women in the same age bracket. Many who come are younger and receive a correspondingly lower wage. Free accommodation (which does not include power, food or blankets) is provided, but against this is the no-work-no-pay basis on which they are employed. In wet weather, when work comes to a standstill, there is no pay. The Fijians, flown out to Nelson, have to repay their return air fares to their employers and in all other respects are engaged on exactly the same terms as those from within New Zealand.

The very fact that the work is for a very limited period, attracts the drifters and the undesirables among those who see in the tobacco fields an opportunity for a three-months working holiday. Some of the drifters have police records and it is an undeniable fact that in the past the district’s crime rate climbs during the fruit and tobacco season. Excellent season

The last season was an excellent one for growers, and especially for those who employed Fijians. “For the I first time in years I was able to go to bed at night knowing that when I awoke' I .would have the labour I needed,” one grower said. The Fijians worked hard and kept out of trouble. The Motueka police reported that on no occasion was there any necessity to approach any Fijian about his behaviour.

So, heartened by the undoubted success of the pilot scheme, in September, the federation gave each of the 466 growers the opportunity of applying for Fijians for the coming season. Ninety of them accepted the offer. It is quite likely that more would have responded affirmatively had it not been for the 18.6 per cent reduction in leaf set by the tobacco companies. Many growers, unsure at this stage what this cut-back would mean to them, were not prepared to accept responsibility for providing work before the season’s crop had been planted. Why so large an overseas work force at a time when growers have been cut back hard in leaf production? This was the question asked of Mr G. H. Hunt, chairman of the federation’s sub-com-mittee for Fijian labour, and the man who, in Fiji, negotiated for this year’s contingent. Labour short

Last season, said Mr Hunt, although nearly 1300 seasonal workers worked on the crop, there were many growers who were short of labour. He estimated, very conservatively, that a labour force of 1600 full-term workers were required to harvest the crop. “We had 1300 who worked transiently, and 142 Fijians who worked full-term,” he said.

The figure of 305 Fijians represented the difference in what labour was available and what labour was re«he said. “We applied m because the grower demand was there. The in-

dustry feels that it can handle about 300 as a maximum figure without affecting New Zealand-labour requirements,” said Mr Hunt.

But if the larger number of Fijians this year proved as successful as last year’s pilot scheme, was it not probable that even more would be required next year by the 376 growers not in the scheme? N.Z. labour “Very definitely I would say that it is not our intention to displace New Zealand labour,” said Mr Hunt. “The idea is to keep a stable work force in the district so that we have a show of harvesting the crop at the time it must be harvested.”

To another question Mr Hunt said the Fijians would make no difference to the labour drawn from the district. The majority of district labour was female and these would not be affected, he said.

While the growers are enthusiastic about the work of the Fijians, retailers in Motueka are a little less happy about the overseas visitors’ spending habits. The town relies heavily on the tobacco industry for the degree of its prosperity, and undoubtedly, a large proportion of the wages earned by the hundreds of seasonal workers crosses the counters and bars of the stores and hotels. Since the Fijians’ budgets are influenced, initially, by a commitment to repay their air fares—around the $2OO mark—they spent little last year until this liability had been met.

Thereafter, although a little more liberal in there spending habits, they did not spread their money around in the lavish manner of their New Zealand counteroarts. With unemployment facing them when they returned home, all saved hard to take back to Fiji as much money as possible. This was money lost to Motueka and the district. Business Effect One retailer said it would be difficult to assess what effect the presence of the Fijians had had on business last season. The business community, however, was a little concerned at the size of this year's contingent and would seek some assurance from the federation on the size of future .drafts, he said. “However, if the Fijians work as well as the growers say they do, this could be reflected in bigger incomes for the growers and we will eventually get the benefit,” he said.

The use of Fijian labour for work distasteful to New Zealanders, is nothing new in this country.

About 1955 the North Canterbury Nassella Tussock Board began to employ Fijian labour for tussock grubbing when it found New Zealand labour would not accept the work. At first the working parties were unorganised but since 1969, the labour force for the eightmonth season is settled by inter-government negotiation.

Now, the Fijians work the nassella tussock in two drafts, each of 80 men, for

four months at a time. However, the size of these contingents is negotiated on the basis of the amount of unemployment existing in New Zealand at the time. Federated Fanners Federated Fanners have also entered* the Fijian recruitment field, employing the Fijians in scrub cutting in the Gisborne district. The tobacco federation commenced it’s scheme last year and have extended it this year. It is known, too, that the New Zealand Fruitgrowers’ Federation has also shown interest in the Fijian scheme, but so far has taken no steps towards recruitment. Organisations * representing specified industries can, under the New Zealand Government’s Fijian labour scheme, seek permission to bring into New Zealand, Fijian labour for such work as land clearing, tobacco and other specified agricultural and silvicdUural purposes. But there is no limit to the numbers than can be brought in for work in any of these categories.