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Harvest workers in big demand

THE start of pre-harvest fruit thinning has already soaked up the available seasonal workforce in Hawkes Bay and it looks as though horticultural labour shortages will be a reoccurring theme again this season.

Fruitgrowers Association executive officer Dianne Vesty says she had contacted Work and Income but was having little success in filling jobs such as picking, pruning and vine-tying.

She has advertised 54 jobs in Hawkes Bay and has had just 11 replies.

Contributing to the problem is that the supply of illegal workers has dried up.

Last year the Immigration Service cracked down on illegal workers, deporting many and laying charges against several contractor operations for tax fraud.

Diane said: "Where we had a lot of people working in the industry illegally, they are not there now and we need to have a legal alternative.

"We need to look at the future and how we are going to manage it - I don't see long-term immigration as an answer."

For a start, she is calling for the establishment of a nation-wide database of seasonal horticultural jobs and workers.

Associate Minister of Employment Rick Barker says the industry needs to more actively recruit overseas for workers.