Minister’s non-existent ‘crackdown’ on migrant worker abuse
Darien
FENTON
Immigration Spokesperson
01 November 2012 MEDIA STATEMENT
Minister’s non-existent ‘crackdown’ on migrant worker abuse exposed
The Government has misled New
Zealanders by publicly talking up its promise to crackdown
on migrant worker abuse when in fact it is turning a blind
eye to serious breaches of our labour laws, says Labour’s
Immigration spokesperson Darien Fenton.
TVNZ
last night revealed that two months after it exposed
Auckland restaurants paying migrant workers less than the
minimum wage, the number of labour inspections have been
reduced, no additional Labour Inspectors have been employed
and no prosecutions have been undertaken.
"This is
incredibly disappointing. At the time, Labour Minister Kate
Wilkinson promised to investigate and to take action. What
we find now is that the Government is unable to even tell us
how many complaints have been made by workers on temporary
work visas or how many investigations have been carried
out.
“This is why Labour wants an inquiry into the
extent of this kind of abuse and a proper response to the
threat this poses to all New Zealand
workers.
“National is content to sit back and wait
for complaints to come its way or let others, like TVNZ, do
its work. That’s not good enough. Kiwis expect
better.
“Workers expect this Government to protect
their rights and to act when they are mistreated. Breaches
of employment laws and minimum wage need to be treated as
the crimes they are, not simply shrugged off or ignored,”
said Darien Fenton.