Workers' conditions under scrutiny

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Pressure is expected to ramp up next season to ensure kiwifruit orchard workers are not being ripped off, a Tauranga kiwifruit contractor says.

Peter John was commenting on the investigation launched by Immigration New Zealand into a potential case of exploitation in which Fijians lured to work in Bay kiwifruit orchards were alleged to have received vastly inferior pay and living conditions than promised.

Mr John said if the case under investigation involved a contractor employed by a packhouse, then the industry had "an absolutely major problem".

He predicted there would be a shortage of pickers next season because of the impact of the new G3 gold variety in which the areas planted was forecast to increase by 913 hectares.

It meant the packhouses would be under real pressure to get the kiwifruit picked, packed and shipped.

"Millions of trays have to be picked in a certain time frame. There will be a real shortage of workers ... all the big boys will be looking to import people to work," he said.

The company he contracted to, Apata, regularly checked the documentation of his pickers to ensure he complied with employment law. It meant he always carried copies of their IRD numbers, bank account numbers, photocopies of passports, work permits and time sheets. They had to receive more than the minimum wage.

"It was beholden on the packhouses to make sure all their employees and contractors were compliant," he said. Despite the industry's efforts to ensure compliance, there were always "cracks in the vinyl".

He had heard how some of the orchard workers brought in from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh were being ripped off. Mr John said the number of non-compliant contractors was very small and the industry usually heard through word of mouth who they were. Contractors who broke the law were able to do the work at a cheaper rate than he could offer.

Meanwhile, the allegations around the Fijian workers prompted a Tauranga woman to disclose details of a young Indian man who she says worked for $5 an hour in Bay kiwifruit orchards.

She asked not be named, fearing she would be targeted for speaking out.

She said the man was sleeping in a garage. Accommodation of $80 a week was allegedly taken out of his pay, along with $5 to $7 a day for transport to the orchard.

Growth in Zespri Gold Crop

• 2013-14 Gold and Organic Gold: 1609 hectares

• 2014-15 Gold forecast: 2522 hectares

• Growth in average yield of Organic Gold: 523 trays per hectare