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in restrictive conditions, far from home, doing mostly heavy, whether they are satisfied or not,” she said.
unskilled work because the pay even after healthy, hefty The response from that survey was that 93% of them said
deductions, was far more than they would earn in Samoa,” Dr ‘yes’, they were satisfied, while 7% said ‘no’.
Meleisea said. “When we asked them why they were not satisfied, the
While labour schemes may have some downsides, the ben- majority of these 7% pointed out too high or non-transparent
efits of labour mobility include not just income from remit- deductions of their salary, lower earnings than their expecta-
tances, but also transfer of skills and knowledge, and net- tions, inconvenient working hours, and some of them com-
works that can lead to entrepreneurship and new markets. plained about severe working conditions,” Doan said.
Dr Meleisea acknowledges these benefits: “Since 2007, Sa- “When it came to questions around how they are being
moans have become aware that returning from seasonal work treated by the employers, more than 80% of them felt they
often means building modern houses, buying cars and furni- were being treated fairly,” she said.
ture, home appliances, stoves, and giving lots to the church. Although that is a positive response, the rest of the 20% had
“Having money from these things raised the social and eco- varying concerns.
nomic status of their families,” he adds. Doan said, “There were some instances of bullying and ha-
Dr Meleisea added: “After stakeholder consultations, the rassment that have been reported. Some female workers said
government of Samoa is considering setting a cap on mobility that the contract was too long and inflexible, even for sea-
opportunities. It’s considering a proposal that a maximum of sonal short-term work, and they didn’t want to be separated
12,000 currently unemployed workers will be mobilised annu- from their families for so long.
ally, 6000 each for New Zealand and Australia.” “And then there were concerns raised over health insurance
Samoa is also looking at strengthening the capacity of its and access to health services in the host country,” he contin-
Ministry of Labour and the agencies involved in mobilising and ued.
reintegrating workers. The Pacific Update was held at the University of the
“The government is further considering opening a dialogue South Pacific in partnership with the Australian National
with Australia and New Zealand towards improving the protec- University.
tion and security of Samoan workers. It wants those countries
to address well-documented issues [such as] failed deductions
from their wages, substandard accommodation, and workers
being laid off, unpaid for periods when they have to cover
their own living expenses because the labour hire firms have
not found work for them,” he added. TRADE MARK CAUTIONARY NOTICE
IN MICRONESIA
Surveying treatment of seasonal workers
The growth of labour schemes across the Pacific has seen Kao Kabushiki Kaisha also trading as Kao Corporation,
many allegations of exploitation, but by and large they consid- a Japanese corporation, of 14-10, Nihonbashi
ered positive experiences says an Australian National Univer- Kayabacho 1-Chome Chuo-Ku, Tokyo 103-8210, Japan,
sity researcher. does hereby provide notice that it claims proprietorship
A Pacific Labour Mobility Survey conducted with workers of the trade mark
(December 2022-March 2023) and household surveys con-
ducted between 2021-2023 have collated quantitative data JERGENS
on a wide range of social and economic indicators for workers in relation to:
across Australia’s Seasonal Workers Programme and Pacific La-
bor Scheme and New Zealand’s Recognised Seasonal Employer Cosmetics, moisturizers, toiletries, cleansers, lotions,
program. and other preparations for the care and treatment of
Researcher Ryan Edwards told the Pacific Update that the the body, face and skin.
surveys “gives us a good idea of some systematic patterns out
there, rather than a few sorts of anecdotes and case studies Kao Kabushiki Kaisha also trading as Kao Corporation,
that tend to pop up with quite a lot of selection bias through cautions that any use of the trade mark or any confusingly
them.” similar trade mark in relation to any of these goods and
The survey covered 2085 workers and households: 248 from services, or similar goods and services, would be seen
Kiribati, 762 from Tonga, and 1075 from Vanuatu. as infringement of their rights and that they will take such
action deemed necessary to protect those rights.
According to Dung Doan from the World Bank, who also pre-
sented research at Pacific Update, most of the workers rated Kao Kabushiki Kaisha also trading as Kao Corporation,
their overall experience in their host country as very high. can be contacted care of their address for service:
Doan said, “It seemed that Vanuatu workers are the least
satisfied relative to Tongans, but then we went deeper and AJ Park, Level 22, Aon Centre, 1 Willis Street,
asked them about their current working conditions to see Wellington 6011, New Zealand, mail@ajpark.com

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