Tuesday, 16 April 2024 13:00

Exploited by one of their own

Written by Milking It

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OPINION: Milking It believes a recent Employment Relations Authority ruling on the exploitation of three migrant workers from Indonesia highlights a trend in New Zealand – migrant workers being mistreated and oppressed by one of their own.

Whether its Indian chefs underpaid and overworked in restaurants owned by mostly New Zealanders of Indian origin or Pacific Island workers hired to work under unfair conditions on orchards by recruiters from their own communities, the perpetrators once arrived here as migrants.

In this case, a Kiwi of Indonesian origin underpaid three workers and forged payslips to beat NZ regulations. The farmer and his company were ordered to pay $215,000.

Such practices may be rife in their countries but there’s no place for such nonsense in NZ. The NZ dairy industry thrives on being an attractive option for good overseas workers and most (Kiwi) farmers stick to the rules.

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