Rt Hon Winston Peters

New Zealand First Leader

Member of Parliament for Northland
3 OCTOBER 2016

Deport Bosses Who Rip Off Migrant Workers

Immigrant employers caught ripping off workers should face deportation, says New Zealand First Leader and Northland MP Rt Hon Winston Peters.

“No-one should adopt another country and abuse its laws. If the employers are citizens, that’s doubly concerning and proves we should tighten citizenship laws.

“Case after case of employers, including some New Zealanders, who underpay wages and exploit workers are being exposed by the Labour Inspectorate – but that is the tip of the iceberg.

“The latest is a food court in Auckland’s North Shore that took advantage of ‘vulnerable Chinese migrants’ who were ‘older and did not speak English’. They had them working 12-hour days, but only paid them for eight hours.

“National opened New Zealand up to the abuse of cheap labour when it allowed record immigration of over 70,000 migrants a year, many under-skilled and desperate for work.

“Other cases include:

• A Marlborough vineyard contractor fined for doctoring timesheets – this led to the exposure of widespread non-compliance.

• Dayon Trading Ltd not paying the minimum wage in its Whangarei sushi bars to 11 staff from Korea and Japan - it was described as a deliberate business practice repeated over many years with numerous employees.

• Hastings contactor MD Dara Miah Horticulture was fined for not keeping employment records. The Labour Inspectorate said ignorance was not an excuse for breaking the law.

“The government must increase the number of inspectors from only 54 for the whole country, and cut down on immigration. We are fast becoming a country with Third World workplaces, where the laws are ignored, and Kiwis have no hope of gaining jobs over cheap labour.

“What’s happening is a wholesale breach of human rights, forms of slave labour, and countless attacks on the integrity of New Zealand as a good society, whilst many in the establishment are simply turning a blind eye in condemnation. Such people are a disgrace to New Zealand and should be exposed for being so by every right thinking New Zealander.”

ENDS

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