Hort boss hits back at RSE critics

Barry O’Neil, a kiwifruit grower since the 1980s, has worked for both MPI and Kiwifruit Vine Health. He says the issues raised are being blown out of all proportion.

“I reject a number of the accusations being made and am very concerned about suggestions that industry is not complying with the strict conditions laid down for the employment of RSE workers,” he told Rural News.

“I have yet to find accommodation that I would categorise in the bad territory.”

However, O’Neil does concede that in a scheme of 19,000 RSE workers there will be one or two individuals who will not meet the standards. But he says the Labour Inspectorate has been very quick to identify those who break the rules.

O’Neil adds that the RSE scheme is very hard to get into because of the strict compliance conditions that employers must meet.

Rural News was recently told by a major grower that the conditions are so strict and the cost of meeting these so high and time consuming that they avoid employing RSE workers where possible. Others have said that the problem is anything but systemic and that certain individuals are making accusations to benefit their own particular causes.

O’Neil points out in a number of cases the RSE workers themselves decide how many of them will be in a room. He says they come from environments where communal sleeping arrangements are common. “Often RSE workers prefer to be in rooms where there are others, rather than being on their own."

He adds that employers generally give RSE workers an opportunity to have a room of their own, but that they seldom take up this offer.

“We have got to remember that this scheme has been reviewed by the World Bank and judged as the best mobility seasonal labour scheme in the world,” O’Neil says.