Tala Samoa, Samoan News, Apia
Seasonal farm workers receiving less than $10 a week after deductions, investigation reveals. By Social Affairs correspondent Norman Hermant
A group of Pacific islanders are being paid less than $10 a week after deductions to pick fruit and vegetables on Australian farms by a company that sponsored their visas under a federally-run worker program.
The workers came to Australia in January as part of the Department of Employment's Seasonal Worker Program.The group of 20 from Fiji, and others from Tonga, were taken to the caravan park in Merrigum, in the food bowl district of northern Victoria.
Most of the workers are taken by bus every morning to nearby tomato and apple farms.
They are here on 416 visas after signing contracts with AFS Contracting Pty Ltd, based in Shepparton.
Isikeli Fifita, one of the workers from Tonga, said after deductions — which included super, rent, health insurance, tax and transport — his total net pay was $9.96 for one week.
"I feel sad because there's no money to send to my family in Tonga," Mr Fifita said.
Petero Kanawabu said he expected long hours and hard work when he signed on to come to Australia under the program.
But said he, and many others in his group from Fiji, had been shocked by their payslips.
"I thought that we would come here and do a job, maybe save some money," Mr Kanawabu said.
"Even my mum cried when I told her my first payslip. I don't know what to do now."
Workers thought they would earn hundreds a week
The Fijian workers signed the agreements back home, through the Government-run National Employment Centre.
The contracts prominently mention workers can expect to earn an average of $657 per week paid on the hourly wage.
Alternatively, the contract states an average worker can expect to earn a minimum of $595 per week if they work on the so-called piece rate, paid by the number of bins they fill with pieces of produce.
"Back home in Fiji, most of the people, even the National Employment Centre themselves, they were not sure of what was in the contract," said Merewairita Sovasiga, a worker who has emerged as a group leader.
She said the Fijians were never allowed to choose which rate they wanted to work under.
After the first week of work on the piece rate, Ms Sovasiga was shocked at her low pay.
Her payslip shows total pay of $295.80 for the week. That is before deductions for super, accommodation, daily transport to the farm and back, health insurance, and tax.
After those deductions, her net pay for that week was $58.80.
Three workers paying $120 a week each for a caravanThe Fijians were particularly upset by how much they were being charged for rent: $120 each per week.
Some, like Sia Davis, were wedged three to a basic caravan.
"There's actually like three people here, and we're paying $120," she said.
"It's small, and it's not comfortable."
Most of the seasonal workers came to Australia with the intention of sending money home to their families.
But for Vasiti Savunicava, from Fiji, things are so bad her husband has had to send her money to buy food, and pay back an advance of $150 she received to buy basics when she arrived.
"My hope, when I came here, was to earn much to send money back to my family," she said.
"Instead of that, they sending money for me. So they're looking after me again."
Ombudsman investigating complaints
Fed up with the pay and conditions, the Fijians contacted both the Seasonal Workers Program in the Department of Employment, and the Fair Work Ombudsman.
The Ombudsman's office told 7.30 it was investigating the workers' complaint.
The owner of their employer, AFS Contracting, is Shepparton businessman Tony Yamankol.
After inspections by the Department of Employment and Fair Work Ombudsman the week of February 8, Mr Yamonkol visited workers at the Merrigum caravan park.
The workers said he singled out five so-called ringleaders. They recorded him telling them that they should leave on their own accord, or they would never work in Australia again.
"You want to go back on your own will, or you want to get terminated?" he is heard saying.
"If I terminate you will not come back into Australia with any other employer with this program."
Mr Yamankol declined 7.30's request for an interview to address the workers' complaints and also declined to respond to a series of questions submitted to him by email.
Ms Sovasiga has now left the caravan park.
She is staying over an hour away with Fijian-Australian Sakiuasa Lesuma, the founder of a Facebook forum which has become a key source of information for Pacific Islanders looking to pick produce in Australia and New Zealand.
Mr Lesuma is warning the forum's 45,000 members about potential pitfalls in the Seasonal Worker Program, starting with the fact that under their visas, seasonal workers are bound to the contractor that sponsors them.
"If you tell them to and go work for somebody else, in order to get some money they can send home, the contracts say they can't do it," he said.
"When I think about it, it's pure exploitation. It's not right. Not right."
Government will not tolerate 'exploitation' of seasonal workers
About 4,000 Pacific Islanders a year come to do seasonal work on Australians farms, and the Government is expanding the program.
Employment Minister Michaelia Cash told 7.30 the "Government would not tolerate the exploitation of vulnerable foreign workers".
The National Farmers Federation (NFF) said it was very aware of the damage these stories can do to the Seasonal Worker Program's reputation.
"It's very hard to find workers in the first place," said NFF general manager Sarah McKinnon.
"When you have concerns about how people are being treated on Australian farms circulating in the media and social media, that makes it even harder for all the good hardworking farmers to find the workers they need."
The Fijians said last week Mr Yamankol asked them to sign a separate piece work agreement — something the Australian Workers Union said he should have done in the first place.
Of the 20 Fijians who arrived on Seasonal Workers visas in January, 13 refused to sign and have now left the caravan park and quit working for AFS.
Some are staying with Fijian-Australians; others have relocated to another less expensive accommodation.
They have three months left on their seasonal worker visas.
For most, that seems like long time.
"For me, I wish I was back home," Sia Davis said.
"I wouldn't have come. I didn't think it would be like this."
The workers came to Australia in January as part of the Department of Employment's Seasonal Worker Program.The group of 20 from Fiji, and others from Tonga, were taken to the caravan park in Merrigum, in the food bowl district of northern Victoria.
Most of the workers are taken by bus every morning to nearby tomato and apple farms.
They are here on 416 visas after signing contracts with AFS Contracting Pty Ltd, based in Shepparton.
Isikeli Fifita, one of the workers from Tonga, said after deductions — which included super, rent, health insurance, tax and transport — his total net pay was $9.96 for one week.
"I feel sad because there's no money to send to my family in Tonga," Mr Fifita said.
Petero Kanawabu said he expected long hours and hard work when he signed on to come to Australia under the program.
But said he, and many others in his group from Fiji, had been shocked by their payslips.
"I thought that we would come here and do a job, maybe save some money," Mr Kanawabu said.
"Even my mum cried when I told her my first payslip. I don't know what to do now."
Workers thought they would earn hundreds a week
The Fijian workers signed the agreements back home, through the Government-run National Employment Centre.
The contracts prominently mention workers can expect to earn an average of $657 per week paid on the hourly wage.
Alternatively, the contract states an average worker can expect to earn a minimum of $595 per week if they work on the so-called piece rate, paid by the number of bins they fill with pieces of produce.
"Back home in Fiji, most of the people, even the National Employment Centre themselves, they were not sure of what was in the contract," said Merewairita Sovasiga, a worker who has emerged as a group leader.
She said the Fijians were never allowed to choose which rate they wanted to work under.
After the first week of work on the piece rate, Ms Sovasiga was shocked at her low pay.
Her payslip shows total pay of $295.80 for the week. That is before deductions for super, accommodation, daily transport to the farm and back, health insurance, and tax.
After those deductions, her net pay for that week was $58.80.
Three workers paying $120 a week each for a caravanThe Fijians were particularly upset by how much they were being charged for rent: $120 each per week.
Some, like Sia Davis, were wedged three to a basic caravan.
"There's actually like three people here, and we're paying $120," she said.
"It's small, and it's not comfortable."
Most of the seasonal workers came to Australia with the intention of sending money home to their families.
But for Vasiti Savunicava, from Fiji, things are so bad her husband has had to send her money to buy food, and pay back an advance of $150 she received to buy basics when she arrived.
"My hope, when I came here, was to earn much to send money back to my family," she said.
"Instead of that, they sending money for me. So they're looking after me again."
Ombudsman investigating complaints
Fed up with the pay and conditions, the Fijians contacted both the Seasonal Workers Program in the Department of Employment, and the Fair Work Ombudsman.
The Ombudsman's office told 7.30 it was investigating the workers' complaint.
The owner of their employer, AFS Contracting, is Shepparton businessman Tony Yamankol.
After inspections by the Department of Employment and Fair Work Ombudsman the week of February 8, Mr Yamonkol visited workers at the Merrigum caravan park.
The workers said he singled out five so-called ringleaders. They recorded him telling them that they should leave on their own accord, or they would never work in Australia again.
"You want to go back on your own will, or you want to get terminated?" he is heard saying.
"If I terminate you will not come back into Australia with any other employer with this program."
Mr Yamankol declined 7.30's request for an interview to address the workers' complaints and also declined to respond to a series of questions submitted to him by email.
Ms Sovasiga has now left the caravan park.
She is staying over an hour away with Fijian-Australian Sakiuasa Lesuma, the founder of a Facebook forum which has become a key source of information for Pacific Islanders looking to pick produce in Australia and New Zealand.
Mr Lesuma is warning the forum's 45,000 members about potential pitfalls in the Seasonal Worker Program, starting with the fact that under their visas, seasonal workers are bound to the contractor that sponsors them.
"If you tell them to and go work for somebody else, in order to get some money they can send home, the contracts say they can't do it," he said.
"When I think about it, it's pure exploitation. It's not right. Not right."
Government will not tolerate 'exploitation' of seasonal workers
About 4,000 Pacific Islanders a year come to do seasonal work on Australians farms, and the Government is expanding the program.
Employment Minister Michaelia Cash told 7.30 the "Government would not tolerate the exploitation of vulnerable foreign workers".
The National Farmers Federation (NFF) said it was very aware of the damage these stories can do to the Seasonal Worker Program's reputation.
"It's very hard to find workers in the first place," said NFF general manager Sarah McKinnon.
"When you have concerns about how people are being treated on Australian farms circulating in the media and social media, that makes it even harder for all the good hardworking farmers to find the workers they need."
The Fijians said last week Mr Yamankol asked them to sign a separate piece work agreement — something the Australian Workers Union said he should have done in the first place.
Of the 20 Fijians who arrived on Seasonal Workers visas in January, 13 refused to sign and have now left the caravan park and quit working for AFS.
Some are staying with Fijian-Australians; others have relocated to another less expensive accommodation.
They have three months left on their seasonal worker visas.
For most, that seems like long time.
"For me, I wish I was back home," Sia Davis said.
"I wouldn't have come. I didn't think it would be like this."
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Whale carcass removed from letogo shores and disposed in deep waters.By Nielsen Petersen
A giant whale's dead carcass was stranded and washed up on the shores at Letogo Beach in Samoa last week, down from the bridge going towards Lauli'i. This huge dead whale left the area with bad smelly air. Police transported Tafa'igata prisoners to tow it to the deep and cut it up with electric saws for disposal. I hope they kept the jaw bones, rib bones and teeth, which are commodities of high cultural value. Not far from there at Vaõto between Letogo and Lauli'i, a cave for the giant fe'e of our ancient Samoa mythology. Our Manu Samoa legend, Brian Lima and locals were there to check it out. Samoa launches new submarine cable companyThe Minister for the Ministry of Communication, Information and Technology, Tuisugaletaua Sofara Aveau says the Samoa Submarine Cable Company is an innovative case of private partnership.
He says it's a marriage of Samoa telecom carriers, Bluesky and Digicel, the Computer Service Limited, and Samoa financial investors the Samoa National Provident Fund, the Unit Trust of Samoa and the Samoa Life Assurance Corporation. "SSCC will strengthen Samoa's communication links to the world. The cable will span 1,300 kilometres and link Samoa's largest islands of Upolu and Savai'i to the Southern Cross cable network in Suva, Fiji." Tuisugaletaua says it will mean improved internet for Samoans, while the new cable will also allow existing carriers to reduce internet costs substantially. He says the project will take 18 months to build and come into service. The project has been established with financial assistance from the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, and Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. All Blacks arrive in Samoa for historic match at Apia ParkThe waiting was endless, the heat relentless and there were only so many pretend Richie McCaw interviews that could be endured before, finally the real All Black skipper entered the arrivals hall at Faleolo Airport to greet the hundreds who were waiting.
The noise lifted, decibel by decibel as all 29 All Blacks filed through - the loudest cheer reserved for Sonny Bill Williams. The All Blacks were really here. Richie McCaw arrives with the All Blacks in Apia. Photo / Dean PurcellThe All Blacks - the team that no one, not anyone in Samoa anyway - ever thought would pack their three tonnes of kit and double that in precious human cargo onto a plane to Apia and slug it out with the Manu. The anticipation is so often, sadly, the best bit about longed for events. But not last night. Not this occasion - the significance of which will only sink in over the next days and weeks...months even. No one in the whole of Samoa will forget the day the All Blacks came. They might not remember what happens on the field Wednesday. They might get hazy on the details of who played and who did what - but not the night the All Blacks arrived as the instant McCaw led his team came through the arrivals hall, that was all anyone needed to see. That was the moment Samoa had won. That was the moment it all became real. Samoa have given so much to rugby and yet the sport has so cruelly taken without giving anything in return. Change was so desperately needed - and how fitting that in the thick of it was John Campbell, one of the pioneer media voices that did his bit, more than his bit, in bringing history, and some sort of sporting justice, to Samoa. "It's nice to be here," said American Samoan-born Jerome Kaino, who had the look of a man who didn't want to acknowledge the emotion he was feeling for fear the floodgates might open. "It means a lot to the people and the country and it means a lot to us. We've got a lot of Samoan boys in the team. It [playing a test in Samoa]was always a dream when I first made the All Blacks. "It's going to be awesome, it's going to be loud, and not just at the game - tomorrow too and leading up to the game. "I'm feeling the heat already and it's what 10 o'clock at night?" He and the rest of the squad squeezed into two two mini vans to begin what will have been a slow and colourful procession into Apia. The road to the airport was lined with what could only be called, literally, homespun charm. The elders of one village keeping a candlelit vigil of their scarily good effigy of McCaw and Samoan captain Ofisa Treviranus. Flags, bunting, painted coconut displays and one boat randomly adorned with what appeared to be a giant wooden Ma'a Nonu, were the physical manifestation of the pride and enormity of this test. No one was in bed. No child in Samoa will be going to school this morning wondering what happened. All of them will be able to say they were there, close enough to touch the buses, the night the All Blacks came. A nation's heart was along the road, in the terminal - across the Island. And on Wednesday, a rugby team's heart will be on its sleeve. - NZ Herald Voice for worker fairness emerges for Samoa private sectorSamoa First Union is being established by New Zealand organisation First Union.
The union's initial focus is not small-owner businesses, but large multinationals like the Australian-owned banks. One of its first goals is to unionise Westpac Samoa's 75 workers as the bank undergoes transition to Bank South Pacific ownership. The union's co-ordinator Jerome Mika says Samoans are keen to increasingly look at ways that they can prioritise issues of employment around businesses run by multi-nationals. "We've set some immediate targets that we'll be looking at. Just trying to establish some collective agreements in the banking sector. So we'll be looking at Westpac, or the Bank of South Pacific, and also ANZ. It's going to be interesting on how we fit into the employment environment. I guess what we'll be doing is... Samoan people doing it the Samoan way." Jerome Mika says Samoa's government has recently made some progress around workers issues while also having joined the ILO and brought in the Employment Relations Act 2013. He says some of the issues they expect to be faced with around multinational employers relate to compliance with minimum labour standards. "With the reforms that the government made in 2013 they put in things like redeployment allowance, probationary period, double-time on a Sunday. So we'll be really interested to meet some workers and talk to them about their terms and conditions, and probably out of that we'll find out there are some workers who are not getting paid those minimum entitlements." The establishment of the Samoa First Union is also in partnership with Sapolu Law. It launches in Apia on June 29. Samoa Land Corporation turns a $1 million Tala profit for the first time. From Samoa Government websiteThe Samoa Land Corporation, on Thursday last week, presented a cheque for $1,026,640.00 in dividends to Government, as required under the Public Bodies (Performance & Accountability) Act 2001.
The Samoa Land Corporation was set up to divest, develop or invest approximately 24,000 acres of land retained from WSTEC, at an estimated value of $23 million. PM Tuilaepa receives the dividend cheque from Chair of the SLC Board Lavea Tupuola Lemalu Sione Malifa Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, as Minister of Finance, received the cheque on behalf of Government and spoke of SLC’s inception after the damage to plantations from cyclones Ofa and Val in the early 1990s. The devastation to crops and plantations prompted Government to consider other avenues for development of the sizable tracts of land. “The SLC is in place to look at ways to generate revenue for Government, through the proper management of Government land assets. “It’s important that land assets are utilised for the benefit and development of the people of Samoa, and with proper investments that will inject revenue in to the Government’s budget for its development agenda.” The SLC 2015-2018 Corporate Plan was also launched, with the new vision: “To ensure current and future generations of Samoa benefit from the sustainable management of all SLC assets”; and mission “To promote social and economic development opportunities for the people of Samoa, through the efficient and effective use of all SLC assets.” Samoan Government Press Release March, 2015Cabinet Releases (English and Samoan)
20 March 2015 1. Work Plan progress report of airport at Aleipata Cabinet has approved the report on the progress of the work plan for the construction of a new airport at Aleipata. Land approximately 800m in length and 50m wide has been selected inland of Satitoa and Malaela for this project. The runway is expected to run 700m long and 18m wide. This location is 26-32 feet above mean sea level and seven miles from the coastal main road and two miles from the new access road, inland of the two villages. Seventy five percent of the land is customary-owned while 25% is freehold and partly-owned by the Catholic Church. Work plans in the pipeline include:
Ua faamaonia e le Kapeneta le lipoti mo fuafuaga ma galuega faagasolo mo le fausia o se malae vaalele i Aleipata. Ua filifilia nei se fanua e tusa ma le 800 mita le umi ma le 50 mita le lautele i gauta o Satitoa ma Malaela mo le fausia o lea galuega tele. E 700 mita le umi ae 18 mita le lautele o le auala sesee mo vaalele ua fuafuaina. O lea fanua e tusa lona maualuga ma le 26 i le 32 futu mai i le amataga o le sami, fitu maila mai le aualatele i le talafatai, ae lua maila mai le auala fou i gauta o ia afioaga. O le 75% o lenei fanua e umia i lalo o fanua tau Samoa a o le isi 25% o lea eleele e umia saoloto ma umia e le Ekalesia Katoliko. Galuega o lo o fuafua le faatinoina e aofia ai:
Cabinet has approved the appointment of Susuga Hinauri Petana as Samoa’s High Commissioner to Australia for three years commencing on April 2015 until April 2018. This post was previously held by the late Afioga Lemalu Tate Simi. Ms Petana has served in Government for over 30 years, where she held the position of Chief Executive Officer for the Ministry of Finance from 1999 to 2009. She also served in many positions within the Ministry of Finance since 1979. Ms Petana was the principal financial adviser to the Government and was the chairperson of various Government Boards including the Samoa National Provident Fund, the Development Bank of Samoa, Samoa Life Assurance Corporation, Computer Services Ltd, National Revenue Board and the National Investment Committee and the Samoa Qualifications Authority Committee. She was also the Director for various Government committees and corporations, and was Alternate Governor to the Asian Development Bank, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund and had also been a member of the Governing Council of the University of the South Pacific. Ms Petana holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science & Administration from the University of the South Pacific, Fiji. She hails from the villages of Moataa, Matautu and Safaatoa Lefaga, Vaiee Safata, Laulii, Faleasiu and Fasitoo Uta and is a Deacon of the Peace Chapel Church. Tofia le Komesina Maualuga o Samoa mo Ausetalia Ua famaonia e le Kapeneta le tofia o le Susuga ia Hinauri Petana e avea ma Komesina Maualuga o Samoa mo Ausetalia mo le tolu tausaga, e amata atu ia Aperila 2015 seia aulia Aperila 2018. O le tofiga lea na tauave e le Afioga Lemalu Tate Simi lea ua tuumalo. Ua silia ma le 30 tausaga o tautua le Susuga ia Hinauri mo le Malo, lea na seei ai i le tofiga Ofisa Sili o Pulega mo le Matagaluega o Tupe mai le tausaga 1999 i le 2009. Na galue foi i tulaga tofi eseese i totonu o le Matagaluega o Tupe amata mai i le tausaga 1979. O le Susuga Hinauri sa avea ma faufautua mo tulaga tautupe mo le Malo ma sa avea ma taitaifono o nisi o Komiti Faatonu a le Malo e aofia ai le Faalapotopotoga o Faaputugatupe mo le Lumanai Manuia o Tagata, Faletupe Atina’e o Samoa, Faalapotopotoga o Inisiua a Samoa, Komiti o le Pulega o Faailoga Taualoa a Samoa ma le Komiti o Tupe Maua ma Tupe Faafaigaluega. Na avea foi o ia ma Faatonusili o nisi o Komiti ma Faalapotopotoga a le Malo faapea ma umia nisi o tulaga tofi aloaia i totonu o le Faletupe o Atina’e o Asia ma le Faletupe o le Lalolagi ma le Iunivesite o le Pasefika i Saute. O le Susuga ia Hinauri e umia le faailoga o le Bachelor of Arts in Political Science & Administration mai le Iunivesite o le Pasefika i Saute i Fiti. O Hinauri e mai alalafaga o Moataa, Matautu ma Safaatoa Lefaga, Vaiee Safata, Laulii, Faleasiu ma Fasitoo Uta ma o se Tiakono o le Ekalesia Peace Chapel. 3. Preparation meeting for the Two Samoas Trade Fair Cabinet has approved the participation by Samoa at the preparation meeting for the “2Samoas Trade Fair” being held in American Samoa on 20 – 21 March 2015. The trade fair will be held in American Samoa on 15 – 17 April 2015, as part of the territory’s Flag Day celebration. The trade fair came about from an agreement between Samoa and American Samoa during the Two Samoa talks in 2012. The first trade fair was held in Apia last year. The trade fair preparations subcommittee include representatives from the two Governments and private sector. Samoa’s representatives at the meeting include the Assistant Chief Executive Officer for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Ms Aida Savea; Chamber of Commerce chief executive Ane Moananu and Small Business Enterprise Centre chief executive Peseta Margaret Malua. Fono mo tapenaga o le Faaaliga Oloa a Samoa e Lua Ua faamaonia e le Kapeneta le auai atu o sui o Samoa i le fono mo le tapenaga o le Faaaliga Oloa a le Aufaipisinisi a Samoa e Lua e faia i Amerika Samoa i le aso 20 – 21 o Mati 2015. O le faaaliga e faia i Amerika Samoa i le aso 15 – 17 o Aperila 2015, e talafeagai tonu ma le taimi o le Fu’a a lea atunuu. O le faaaliga oloa lenei o se maliega autasi a taitai o Samoa ma Amerika Samoa na faia i le 2012. O le tausaga na te’a nei na faia mai ai i Samoa le ulua’i faaaliga o oloa a atunuu e lua. O le soakomiti mo tapenaga o le faamoemoe e aofia ai sui o Malo e lua faapea ma sui o le aufaipisinisi. O le Tamaitai Ofisa Sinia ia Aida Savea o le Matagaluega o le Vaifafo ma Fefaatauaiga faatasi ai ma le sui o le aufaipisinisi Susuga Ane Moananu ma le Pule o le SBEC Peseta Margaret Malua o lo o fai ma sui o Samoa i lea fono. ### 2Samoas Trade Fair 2015, @samoagovt, Aleipata Airport, Government of Samoa, Hinauri Petana, Malaela, NUS, Samoa, Samoa Government, Samoa High Commissioner to Australia, Samoa news from Cabinet, Satitoa, Two Samoas Trade Fair |