New Zealand’s labor pains
Labor is not a subject that gets a lot of attention in the wine world. If California’s vineyard workers come from south of the border, where do New Zealand’s come from?
Why north of the border of course. In this case, about a thousand miles north of the border from the islands of Fiji.
With harvest winding down, vintners down under are in the most labor intensive part of the year. But a government plan to provide more seasonal work permits has failed to deliver enough vineyard workers, as stuff.co.nz reports labor shortages.
So as pruning season looms next, many vintners in Marlborough are thinking about offering Fijians one year contracts to reduce training costs and increase worker satisfaction. But their biggest obstacle to providing these pruners better contracts will be cutting through the red tape that places limits on foreign workers. Sounds a lot like California.
tags: wine | New Zealand wine | wine labor
