Dozens of i-Kiribati workers sent to New Zealand to work under the Recognised Seasonal Employer scheme are now going home reportedly unpaid.
Most of the 70 i-Kiribati labourers left the Marlborough wine-growing contractor they were working for in June after concerns emerged with the quality of the accommodation he provided them.
Several other local contractors then stepped in to give the i-Kiribati more work in the industry, but the work has now dried up.
Despite this case, the New Zealand Winegrowers' Manager of Policy, Dr John Barker, says the RSE scheme has generally been a success.
"It seems to me an issue partly about expectations, also organisation at this end, particularly when people have come here with quite different expectations and how to manage that and I guess how to be organised enough to look after those people in a proper way."
While the Department of Labour is investigating the case, ten of the i-Kiribati workers have absconded.