Fijians in New Zealand and Australia have been urged to report matters relating to our seasonal workers directly with the government.

Employment Minister, Jone Usamate, says during his recent visit to the two countries he found out that Fijians working under the Recognized Seasonal Workers program are being given wrong advice.

Usamate says any issues concerning the workers should be relayed to them directly so they can follow the right procedures to deal with it.

“One of the things we did as we went around to the Fijian communities there was to tell them that if they hear about our workers facing problems they must please relate it back to us so that we can discuss it with our employers and with government agencies in Australia and New Zealand. This will ensure that we resolve the issue because we don’t want any workers to leave their employers. If they leave their workplace, reputation for Fijians workers goes down and those organizations might not want to hire any Fijians.”

Usamate was on a two week visit to Australia and New Zealand where he held consultations with the two governments’ representatives, the Employers and the workers as well.