Chinese construction workers caught in 'bonded labour' by recruitment company, says union

Wednesday, 9 January 2019

Some of the Chinese workers gathered at the Unite offices on Thursday.

Over 40 Chinese construction workers say they have been left without work or accommodation in Auckland after their landlord and employer issued a trespass notice.

Police were called to a Takanini residential address on Wednesday to evict at least 28 Chinese workers from the property owned by the men's employer, National Personnel Ltd (NPL).

The workers say they have been left in the lurch by NPL who offered the men work in New Zealand through a recruitment agent Peter Li, also known as Wenshan Li, in exchange for a fee.

However, once the men arrived in New Zealand, they claim they had months without work, and were paid less than promised for the hours they did do.

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Builder Zhongyuan Pan said NPL wasn't paying him what was agreed.

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NPL released a statement saying the company was under no obligation to provide accommodation to its workers, and had only done so on compassionate grounds.

The company rejected claims it had charged the workers rent for the accommodation or utilities.

'A group of employees refused to leave the property, and they allowed additional people who were not NPL employees to stay. This caused overcrowding.'

Mike Treen, National Director of Unite Union, described the worker's conditions as 'bounded labour'.

It said it had provided over $25,000 of free accommodation to the employees and had proactively offered alternative accommodation, and had worked with other employees to find their own accommodation.

The company declined to comment further.

Immigration NZ confirmed a criminal investigation into the recruitment circumstances.

Unite Union national director Mike Treen described the case as one of 'bonded labour'.

Immigration NZ assistant manager Peter Devoy confirmed they were investigating the recruiter behind the recruitment of 40 Chinese builders.

'Their visas are tied to NPL,' Treen said.

While some of the men were given work, almost 30 of the men ended up living in a the four-bedroom house owned by NPL.

'The conditions of their visas and contracts weren't being met so they contacted an advocate. She filed a grievance on December 17 and the men were given an eviction notice on December 28,' Treen said.

The union leader said the workers felt NPL wasn't upholding their end of the bargain and they wanted to change their visas to be able to work for a different employer.

However, their current visa conditions meant they were tied to the labour hire company.

Treen took aim at the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) for allowing this situation to happen.

'NPL were given permission to bring in over 40 workers on one to three year visas so we are assuming MBIE were told there were permanent full-time jobs that were on offer, otherwise how is possible they got permission to bring such a large group in?' he said.

Treen said the workers needed to be able to change the conditions of their visa quickly so that they could find work with other companies in the booming building industry.

Immigration NZ told one of the worker's advisers that a criminal investigation had been opened into the recruitment process.

'New Zealand employers have come to depend on a temporary visa workforce. However, no company should be allowed to keep these workers on bonded labour. If they want to keep their workers, they should treat them well. Workers should be allowed to move employers, at least within their industry, in order to prevent exploitation,' he said.

'If you can't keep them, you shouldn't bring them in'

One of the workers, Zhongyuan Pan, has twenty years of experience in the construction industry, including a stint in Japan.

Through a translator he explained he had work, however only if he accepted an hourly rate lower than what was promised.

'I am lucky, I have a job but I don't want to work for NPL as they are only paying $20 an hour not the $24 an hour they promised,' Pan said.

'The construction company I was working for wants to hire me directly, because they say I am a good worker, but my visa is tied to NPL.'

Peter Devoy, Assistant General Manager of INZ confirmed they were currently investigating Li in relation to this matter.

'However, we are unable to comment further while the investigation is ongoing,' Devoy said.

'The immigration options available to the workers depend on their personal circumstances. We are unable to comment on this further without knowing the personal information of all the individuals. INZ encourages anyone with any information on this matter that will assist the investigation to get in touch.'

A Givealittle page has been set up by Unite Union to support the workers.