PROTECT
Vintage Countdown Skilled foreign vintage workers ready and waiting SOPHIE PREECE
EXPEDITING APPROVALS for international vintage workers stranded in New Zealand is the “highest and most urgent priority” of a labour think tank in Marlborough. Vintage 2021 will require a “small army” of New Zealanders, trained by seasoned cellar hands, says Brendon Burns, chair of the Marlborough Regional Skills Leadership Group (RSLG). “We have a big challenge in vintage 2021 and one of our key tasks is to try and secure those visa holders to get into wineries as soon as possible, and start training Kiwis.” Two thirds of Marlborough’s 2020 vintage workforce was from overseas, according to a Wine Marlborough remuneration survey, with 490 on working holiday visas and 431 on Essential Skills - Approval in Principle (AIP). Another 20% of the cellar crew were permanent staff, while just 14% were New Zealand seasonal vintage workers. Covid-19 paints a completely different picture for the looming vintage, with most of the foreign workforce locked out by closed borders. There are 210 experienced international vintage workers still in New Zealand from 2020’s harvest, and they’ll be a vital resource to train up workers for the remaining 800 positions, says Brendon. “Everyone who has worked vintage knows you are under enormous pressure and big days, and you don’t need someone who is not up to speed.” While he is confident AIPs will be turned around in time for vintage, the system needs to be expedited to ensure they’re available far sooner, he says. The RLSG - which contains regional industry leaders, economic development agencies, iwi, union and Government representatives - has been communicating with stakeholders and Government to ensure the message is getting across, he says. “It doesn’t matter what the solution is as long as you get those people into the wineries now.” 22 / Winepress November 2020
Marlborough’s RLSG is one of 15 regional groups established to ensure regions have the future skills and workforce they need. Last month the Marlborough group released a Local Insights Report, looking at some of the challenges and opportunities facing the region, which was struggling with labour issues before Covid-19 pulled the rug out from under the feet of industries like wine. The report notes that restrictions carried on the coattails of the pandemic could influence a “paradigm shift” in terms of how employers source their labour supply “and, in doing so, help resolve some of Marlborough’s longer-term labour market issues”. One of the opportunities promoted by the RLSG is in creating year-round employment, to “combat the reluctance” of locals to take up seasonal positions. It suggests a “labour hire company” approach could see people employed in vineyards for busy harvest or pruning periods, then utilised in other industries at other times of the year. “Further work is required from Government and wider industry to ensure sustainable employment is offered, along with the opportunity to upskill,” says the report. They also raise the opportunities of adapting local training, with polytechnics bridging skills gaps and becoming more flexible in how they offer their courses and respond to industry needs. Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology has already made moves in that direction, with more frequent student intakes, and a new 19-week cellar hand course. Brendon says Covid-19 has revealed the vulnerability of being dependent on migrant labour – including the 3000 Recognised Seasonal Employer scheme workers who typically come from the Pacific Islands to work in Marlborough vineyards in the busy winter pruning and summer growing seasons. “Clearly there is going to be a major shift here - whether it’s permanent or just temporary is unclear,” he says. “But we’ve had a huge reliance - perhaps in hindsight an overreliance - on imported labour.”
