Kiwifruit picking - Part 2

Kiwifruit is a type of vine, similar to grape or tomato. The trellis (wooden structure that supports the vine) is built slightly over 6-ft high. This results in the fruits hanging at around eye level for a typical 1.70m person. Because of this, there is a height requirement for this job, which is between 1.60-1.80m. If you are too short, you will have trouble reaching the higher fruits. On the other hand, if you are too tall, you will not be able to stand up straight. You will have to bend your back or your neck, which is stressful over a long period of time. Fortunately, I am just the right height.

Me picking kiwifruit

Kiwifruit picking is very labour intensive work. Everything is done by hand, there are no machines involved. I am provided with a special bag, which is strapped over my shoulders and around my back. I simply reach up, twist the fruit off the vine, and drop it into the bag, while taking care not to damage the fruit. The bag can weigh between 20-30kg when full, so it's a physically demanding job.

Once the bag is full, I empty it into a "bin". This is a wooden box measuring approximately 1.5 x 1.5 x 0.75m. Once the bin is full, it is loaded onto a lorry. The lorry brings the fruits to a packhouse. The packhouse is a factory where the fruits are sorted, boxed, and stored until they are ready to be exported.

Kiwifruit pickers emptying their bags into a wooden bin

I work as part of a crew. The crew is a team of about 10-15 people. About 3-4 people are assigned to pick one row of fruits. We simply go through the row that we're assigned, picking every fruit that we see.

It is very hard work. We start at 8.30am, and work until 5.30pm. We get one 15-min break in the morning, 30-min lunch break at noon, and another 15-min break in the afternoon. Besides those 3 break times, we are constantly on our feet, and our arms never stop moving. There is a supervisor that watches over the crew. He or she would say: "Please pick faster!" (when we are tired and slow down), "No leaves or stalks please!" (when we have kiwifruit leaves or stalks mixed into our bags), "Try not to drop the fruit!" (when we accidentally drop a fruit onto the ground). We are constantly pressured to pick faster.

The work is also very dependent on weather. We only work when when the weather is good, we don't work when it's raining. This isn't because our employer is concerned about our health or well-being. The reason we don't work during rain is because the fruits will spoil if they're picked when wet. Because of this weather dependency, the cashflow from the work can be very inconsistent, as we only get paid if we work.

Some people at the hostel that I'm staying mentioned that they were without work for up to a week, because of rain. Fortunately for me, the weather was very good for the past 2 weeks. I had work for 11 days, out of 14, that I was here. In fact, the weather was too good. Because of the clear skies, I had to work 10 consecutive days without a single day off. At the end of the day, I was so tired that I went to bed right after dinner. I wanted to take a day off, but I didn't because of my teammates. Since I was one of the few people who had a car, my teammates from the hostel carpooled with me. If I don't go to work, they can't go. Some of them needed the money badly, so I continued to work for their sake.

So what kind of people are willing do this backbreaking, low-paid work? From my observation, about 50% are young backpackers with working holiday visa. I met backpackers from all over the world: Britons, Germans, Americans, French, Latvians, Japanese, Taiwanese, and of course Malaysians. The other 50% are poor immigrants and seasonal workers from Pacific Island nations such as Samoa, Tonga and Tuvalu.

Workers on my crew

This work reminds me of my grandfather. About 70 years ago, my grandfather migrated to Malaya (now Malaysia) from China. He had no money and no possessions. To make money, he worked in port Klang as a labourer, loading and unloading goods from ships. To save money, he lived in the warehouse with the other workers. Today, I am an immigrant to New Zealand, doing the same type of manual labour that my grandfather did 70 years ago. The main difference is, he did it out of necessity, while I'm doing it out of choice. Perhaps it is in the genes of my family to be nomadic, always migrating in search of a better life.