The scheme has been deemed generally successful in its first year but there have been problems — not least I-Kiribati workers who returned home in debt.
There have also been accusations of overcrowding while some I-Kiribati have broken the terms of their visas and are in hiding from New Zealand immigration officials.
The CTU president, Helen Kelly, said changes have to be made to the way the scheme runs.
“We’re calling for them to be employed on standardized agreements in their own language,” she said. “We want the pastoral care element of their employment to be separated out from their employer and carefully monitored. We want a funded representation for these workers so that they can actually have Pacific unionists going into these workplaces.”
Kelly said the New Zealand government seems open to their ideas but it yet to make a commitment.
Meanwhile, the Kiribati’s labor department said it wants to ensure that the next group of its workers traveling to New Zealand under the recognized seasonal employer scheme are well treated.
Forty of the 70 seasonal workers have returned home, while New Zealand Immigration officials have confirmed a group of around 13 have disappeared somewhere in the country.
The workers say they have been given little work and pay and lived in overcrowded housing conditions.
The department’s secretary, Taakei Taoaba, said most of the 40 workers that have returned home are struggling.
“They do not have any employment here in Kiribati,” Taoaba said. “One of the issues that we are looking at is how they are going to repay the money they borrowed from government to fund their trip to New Zealand, the airfare and other expenses. There’ve been discussions between our president and the New Zealand prime minister during the forum meeting also looking at these issues. The New Zealand government will get back to us.”
Taoaba said they would send more workers to New Zealand in November and are trying to work out how to prevent such incidents in future.
