Seasonal worker scheme

This was confirmed by Acting Prime Minister Tuala Iosefo Ponifasio, who said Cabinet has endorsed the continuation of the regional seasonal workers' programme from February.

He said for this month, the RSE programme will resume under the existing arrangement with Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Labour (MCIL), and employers sending over 1200 workers to New Zealand and Australia.

The country has put a temporary suspension on its people working in seasonal jobs in Australia and New Zealand until a review is presented to Cabinet.

Deputy Prime Minister, Tuala Tevaga Iosefo Ponifasio, told Parliament last month New Zealand and Australia benefited more than the Samoan workers recruited under the schemes.

"We care for our people's well-being and how they are being exploited and not compensated well," Tuala said.

Announced by Australia's Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull at the 2017 Pacific Islands Forum leaders meeting in Apia, the scheme gives Pacific islanders the opportunity to work in rural and regional Australia for up to three years.

PRN reports the scheme will initially be capped at 2,000 workers and offers year-round employment unlike the Seasonal Worker Program for both Australia and New Zealand.

RNZ reports the automotive component manufacturer is one of the country's largest employer and its closure announced yesterday will put 740 people out of work.

In a statement the government said there is no denying the firm's pull-out before the end of 2017 will be a loss for the country and impact its economy.

Business closures are a reality that governments around the world must face, and Samoa is no different it said.

That’s over and above those who came to Australia under the earlier seasonal worker pilot programme, said Minister for Trade and Investment, Senator Richard Colbeck.

“We are in the process of negotiating an updated seasonal worker programme MOU with participant countries and we will sign an updated MOU with the Solomon Islands, and we're very pleased to be doing that.

Previously restricted to horticulture, aquaculture and cane farms, guest workers will now be allowed to work on cattle, sheep, grain and mixed farming enterprises.

Pacific Island and East Timorese workers can apply to work for either six or nine months, pay a flat 15 per cent tax rate and can return each year for the seasonal work.

The Weekly Times can reveal the scheme has been exploited by government-approved labour-hire companies that are paying workers as little as $1.20 an hour.

The issue came to a head on the weekend as six Fijian workers were in the process of being sent home by one labour-hire company.

A report into a pilot project involving 640 Tongan and Samoan RSE workers has found that they sent home more than 40 per cent of their take-home income between November 2014 and June 2015 –an average of between $4,600 and $5,500 (US$2,996) – US$3,583).

“Remittances have been playing an increasingly important role in reducing the scale and severity of poverty in the developing world,” says Woodhouse.

“The World Bank estimates that in 2013, remittances made up approximately 20 percent of GDP in Samoa and Tonga respectively.