Acompañamiento En El Aula:

Without first-hand knowledge of the New Zealand employment sector, unrealistically high expectations would be unsurprising, particularly in the early stages of the RSE programme. Expectations of high earnings and more substantial life benefits were encountered with corresponding disappointments:

I was one of the first workers. We were told we would make 700,000 vatu. Craig Howard told us that we would make 700,000 vatu in seven months. Helen Clark went to Vanuatu for another meeting. They changed the pay so it was no longer 700,000 vatu. We were paid contract rates. (Abel, 3-8-12)

It is not unknown for some workers to make over 700,000 (about $9,000) vatu in seven months but Abel’s perception that this amount was guaranteed and was changed by a visit by the New Zealand prime minister is illustrative of the difficulty of successfully briefing workers on what to expect.119

Disappointments were expressed by some workers who believed they had signed a contract guaranteeing work for a certain duration such as seven months but were sent home earlier when the season finished. “I didn’t like that Dick Eade said six months but it was less. May, June July only.” (Fred, 25-7-12)

The most often expressed disappointment concerned the level of deductions from the pay. Deduction levels were a surprise to many workers. They are seen by some workers as the principal reason for lower than expected earnings:

119 _{This comment presumes that there was not unscrupulous use of false promises, but is seems reasonable to} assume that a New Zealand employer would have referred to likely earnings and been misunderstood.

The first pay slip I was surprised by the deductions. The big one was the flight deduction of $250 per fortnightly pay slip for six payouts. (Leon, 26-7-12)

The money wasn’t too straight. Dick didn’t tell us about tax, rent, ACC. The deductions were not clear. And the transport [costs]. (Oden, 25-7-12)

The problem with going for three months, lots of deductions to pay, the bus from Auckand to Te Puke, the rent of $100, the transport charge of $30 each week. So many deductions. We didn’t make good money. (Assil, 4-8-12)

The deductions were not clear. We didn’t know there were going to be deductions for light and water. (Violet, 14-8-12)

Oden belonged to one of the earliest contingents of workers and it would be reasonable to expect that word of mouth since then would add to briefings on this issue. All workers are briefed by the ESU but some workers remain largely unaware of the legal and formal arrangements they enter into. ”It was a big company but I can’t remember what it was called” said Bertie (interviewed 13-8-12).

Often it is the person who recruits or manages, the personality rather than the position held, which is in the worker’s consciousness:

Kate is a lovely friend to me [stated tearfully]. I stayed in Omahu Road. The farmers built one camp - it is a nice place, a safe Vanuatu village. She uses Sophie [as recruiter]. Kate just comes to help Sophie. (Ella, 16-8-12)

Language difficulties, compounded by the condominium legacy120_{, presented a major barrier to the}

effectiveness of briefing procedures:

The contract was in English. I am Francophone. Many of us were Francophone. (Assil, 4-8-12)

Aside from the briefing carried out by the ESU, levels of briefing vary greatly from recruiter to recruiter:

An agent whose name was Kylie talked to us on Tanna. We were at Kwamera down south Tanna. Kylie came to the village. She worked with R. N. She talked about the work only. New Zealand laws and aspects of money. She explained that if you wanted to send money you used Western Union. Many people did not understand what she was saying first time round. (Violet, 14-8-12)

120 _{Vanuatu was never formally annexed by either France or Britain, but was jointly administered for many} years as a de facto colony of both, with the result that French and English languages are used in roughly equal measure and most ni-Vanuatu identify as either Francophone or Anglophone.

There was a consistency of perception as to what constituted a successful level of earnings, or what level of savings was seen as good or small, but at the 300,000 vatu level; which may be modal, opinions flowed both ways, as illustrated by these comments from Andy and Dwight:

I signed a contract for seven months but we only stayed for six. In the first year I made about 300,000 vatu. It was a bit disappointing. (Andy, 15-11-12)

In 2009 it was about $3000 and in 2010 I made $4000 [280,000 vatu]. That was better. (Dwight, 23-10-12)

However earnings in excess of half a million vatu (roughly $7,000) were seen by many as aspirational:

I went for two seasons, 2009 and 2010. Not 2011. J. S. gave my name to Dick Eade. He gave me an interview. He checked my English. I heard about some people from the north who had saved $8000. (Steven, 26-7-12)

The second season was a big one. I made $7,000 or 500,000 vatu. (Jonah,1-8-12)

It was clear from a number of the conversations that particularly in the early stages of the programme misunderstandings were commonplace, particularly in the sense that people had no perception of the risks or the costs involved. The preferences of the growers to employ the same people year by year inevitably meant that over time workers came to understand the realities much better.