Media Release

11 November 2002

Peters Tells Food Union To Stop Politicking And Protect Its Members

New Zealand First Leader Rt Hon Winston Peters has told the Service & Food Workers Union to start protecting workers’ jobs and conditions instead of being a stooge for the Government’s disastrous immigration policies.

This follows the SFWU saying that it will be asking both the Human Rights Commission and the Race Relations office to take action against him.

Mr Peters referred the trade union movement to an article in the Dominion Post (8 November 2002), in which economists said that immigration was a significant factor in a rise in the unemployment rate.

“Instead of mouthing the sort of rubbish that their political masters instruct them to, this trade union should be protecting the jobs of New Zealanders and investigating some of the sweat shops set up by immigrants, and the casualisation of the industry which it, the union, represents.

“The food industry – particularly fast food outlets - has a sorry history of exploitation of workers, a number of whom work long, anti-social hours for low wages. Sadly, many of those exploited are, in fact, immigrants.

“If this union spent the same amount of energy looking after these workers that it expends attacking me, its members would be much better off.”

Mr Peters said Labour Department briefing papers to the Immigration Minister specifically mention immigrant employers and he suggested that the union’s officials read them.

ENDS

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