04.12.2018 Views

Pinoy NZ Life Dec 18

www.pinoynzlife.nz (South Island, New Zealand's own Filipino newspaper since 2014). We also publish www.filipinonews.nz (New Zealand wide circulation since 2000). email: filipinonews@xtra.co.nz or txt/mobile: 027 495 8477

www.pinoynzlife.nz (South Island, New Zealand's own Filipino newspaper since 2014). We also publish www.filipinonews.nz (New Zealand wide circulation since 2000). email: filipinonews@xtra.co.nz or txt/mobile: 027 495 8477

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

Create successful ePaper yourself

Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.

WORKERS’ RIGHTS Vol 2 No 2 | www.pinoynzlife.nz FB: <strong>Pinoy</strong> <strong>NZ</strong> <strong>Life</strong> | email: filipinonews@xtra.co.nz | www.filipinonews.nz 03<br />

www.migrantnews.nz : New Zealand’s first Migrant newspaper. Published since 1991.<br />

Shocking scale of<br />

Filipino migrant<br />

exploitation:<br />

new report<br />

By LOUIE ENCABO, Contributing Editor<br />

Last May, Newshub<br />

reporter Michael Morrah<br />

exposed the story of 16<br />

Filipino migrant construction<br />

workers who were<br />

made to sign illegal employment<br />

contracts and were<br />

kept in “prison-like” accommodation<br />

to help with the<br />

Auckland construction<br />

boom.<br />

The revelation evoked<br />

feelings of outrage from the<br />

wider community, but little<br />

did we know that the case<br />

was merely the tip of the iceberg.<br />

Fast forward three months<br />

later and a more comprehensive<br />

picture was produced by<br />

lawyer Catriona Mac-<br />

Lennan, which showed the<br />

shocking extent of the<br />

exploitation of Filipino<br />

migrant workers in the construction<br />

industry.<br />

In a report for trade union<br />

organization E tu, the problem<br />

was shown not merely<br />

as a series of isolated cases<br />

but as part of a normalized<br />

culture of deceit that was<br />

tantamount to slavery.<br />

Titled, 'Migrant Filipino<br />

Workers in the Construction<br />

Industry', the report –<br />

which was funded by the<br />

New Zealand Industrial<br />

Relations Foundation of the<br />

Ministry of Business,<br />

(above:) A handbook for<br />

migrant workers in <strong>NZ</strong> -<br />

produced by the First Union<br />

and its affiliates.<br />

Innovation and Employment<br />

(MBIE) – showed<br />

how Filipino migrant workers<br />

were being paid less than<br />

their Kiwi counterparts, their<br />

wages were being deducted<br />

significantly for basic services<br />

such as the use of a<br />

vehicle to go to work and<br />

how they were also being<br />

crammed into overcrowded<br />

accommodation which they<br />

were billed unfair amounts<br />

for.<br />

According to Statistics<br />

<strong>NZ</strong>, the average pay for<br />

male construction workers<br />

for the first quarter of 20<strong>18</strong><br />

was $29.42 per hour.<br />

The report, which used 42<br />

different responses from<br />

Filipino workers surveyed in<br />

both Auckland and Christchurch,<br />

did not find a single<br />

Filipino construction worker<br />

who earned that much. This<br />

despite the fact that many of<br />

these workers have years of<br />

experience working in the<br />

industry in numerous countries<br />

aside from the Philippines<br />

and New Zealand.<br />

Brief outline of the<br />

report’s findings.<br />

Out of the responses, one<br />

worker was paid $28 an hour<br />

and a handful were being<br />

Winston Lobaton (above) spoke with FMN’s Aisha Ronquillo<br />

about abuse and exploitation in the contruction industry :<br />

www.filipinonews.nz Photo credit: Aisha Ronquillo.<br />

paid $27 an hour. The vast<br />

majority of them were paid a<br />

lot less, with some receiving<br />

a rate as low as $19 despite<br />

being on the job for more<br />

than a year.<br />

For many of these workers,<br />

this poses an even bigger<br />

problem since they<br />

aspire to permanently reside<br />

in New Zealand with their<br />

families. However, the minimum<br />

salary threshold for the<br />

skilled migrant category was<br />

pegged at $23.49 per hour as<br />

of 2017.<br />

This means that despite<br />

their hard work and sacrifice,<br />

many of the workers<br />

surveyed are not even eligible<br />

for permanent residence<br />

in the country.<br />

The low pay<br />

also complicates<br />

other<br />

problems<br />

these workers<br />

have. To find<br />

work in New<br />

Zealand they<br />

often have to<br />

pay labourhire<br />

agencies<br />

exuberant fees<br />

to do so.<br />

The high<br />

cost leads<br />

them to borrow<br />

money<br />

from different sources in the<br />

Philippines and they arrive<br />

in this country with significant<br />

levels of debt already.<br />

These migrants also have<br />

to support the financial<br />

needs of their families left<br />

back home. With low pay<br />

these Filipino workers face a<br />

triple jeopardy scenario –<br />

having to repay their debts,<br />

continued on page 4

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!