Sacked for speaking out: Chinese migrant worker fired by concrete company

Thursday, 1 April 2021

Yu was sacked by his employer after speaking to media about underpayment of wages.

A Chinese migrant worker who spoke to Stuff anonymously as part of an investigation into exploitation in the construction industry has been sacked by his boss, who he says told him he had “exposed” the business.

Immigration New Zealand will look into the case, and a prominent union activist has agreed to represent the worker.

The migrant used the pseudonym Yu and was photographed in silhouette, but it still aroused the suspicion of his bosses at a concrete factory in the Waikato town of Pokeno.

The factory had already been visited by Labour Inspectorate investigators after a $40,000 wage claim was lodged by four former employees.

* Bottle-O baron accused of exploitation obtained 107 visas for migrant workers

Yu said his comments were “dynamite” for the company, and he was summarily dismissed by factory manager Beiji ‘Joe’ Zhou earlier this month without notice or redundancy pay.

On February 22, the day after Stuff’s original report, Yu says he was summoned to a meeting with the company’s owner, Richard Kennaway, with Zhou translating into Mandarin.

He alleges he was told: “This person is harmful to our factory, telling outsiders about things happening in the factory… now he’s talked to journalists about things happening in the factory, now it’s been exposed, the factory’s reputation is gone, and it’s hard to make business deals with others”.

Another worker pleaded on his behalf and he won a temporary reprieve, but was then dismissed earlier this month.

Stuff reported how Yu, an overstayer, was working up to 120 hours a week for $20 an hour cash and was owed back wages and holiday pay.

Yu is looking for work after being sacked from his job in a concrete factory.

Yu now regrets speaking out. He says if the dismissal was performance related, “they would have gotten rid of me long ago”.

Yu believes if he hadn’t spoken out, the factory could have continued operating unaffected.

“New Zealand is a very inefficient country - if no-one reports you, nothing will happen.”

When Yu returned to the factory to seek an explanation for his dismissal, he recorded the conversation.

One Union's Matt McCarten has pledged to pursue Zu’s case.

When he asked Zhou if he was dismissed for speaking to media, Zhou replied: “This is the company’s normal policy”.

Zhou then said: “We no longer have the need for our position … go look for another job, don’t annoy me.”

Yu believes he is owed $3685 in lost wages for substantial amounts of overtime he undertook in early 2020, plus his final pay.

Yu originally spoke anonymously to Stuff.

But One Union boss Matt McCarten believes he is owed much more, considering his lack of holiday pay, redundancy and a potential case for unfair dismissal.

McCarten, who has agreed to represent Yu, says cases such as his “hold up a mirror to New Zealand society, and we have to decide whether we like what we see in our reflection”.

Steve Vaughan, Immigration New Zealand general manager, says Yu's allegations are being taken “very seriously”.

While Yu was paid $20 an hour and told he was paid $25 with taxes deducted, he’s never seen any tax statements. He admits he was not concerned at the time about whether tax was being paid.

Chinese migrant construction worker Gao Litong is pursuing an ERA claim against Precast Ltd.

Yu says the majority of the workers at the factory were Chinese, and he believed most were in breach of their visa requirements. He says local workers were paid better and not expected to work such long hours.

Yu was originally employed by a company called Precast Ltd, owned by Kennaway, which went into liquidation in August last year.

Kennaway then formed a new company called Concrete Ltd, and Yu says he continued working in the same role, in the same factory. He didn’t know the name of the company that took over his employment.

Four workers, Li Yanglin, Huang Jianjun, Yu Deli and Gao Litong are pursuing an ERA case claiming $40,000 of wages were withheld by Precast Ltd after working 100-hour weeks at the factory.

The four, who held valid work visas, also complained to the Labour Inspectorate, which closed an investigation into the company despite finding multiple breaches of employment record-keeping.

The Inspectorate admits that Precast and Kennaway refused to engage, and the men’s advocate, May Moncur, said she’s disappointed the Inspectorate did not make more exhaustive enquiries.

Two attempts at mediation failed, before Precast Ltd was liquidated. Kennaway previously told Stuff he couldn’t talk about the ERA case as he was “no longer involved” with Precast.

Gao Litong told Stuff he would work 100 to 120 hours a week, often without pay, and was often asked to work through the night.

“Those times were the worst, so I tell the others, working in this way will eventually destroy our health.”

He claims he quit after a month’s unpaid work.

At mediation, Gao said he and the other men were told they were hired as contractors, despite showing Stuff a permanent employment contract.

Yu, however, showed Stuff bank statements showing his wages coming from ‘PRECAST BUIL’ both before and after the liquidation of Precast Ltd.

He said the staff and work did not change after the liquidation, and he had been assured at the time the liquidation would not affect anything.

However, Zhou, the factory manager, had subsequently used that as a reason for not paying his overdue wages.

When Yu asked for wage arrears when he returned to the factory, Zhou said: “If you are not satisfied, go find a lawyer and take us to court… we don’t have a contract”.

Zhou told Stuff he dismissed Yu “because he doesn’t have a work visa”.

Asked why he had sacked him now when Yu had never had a valid visa, Zhou said: “I probably cannot answer any questions… I need to speak to my lawyer”. He then asked for written questions.

Kennaway told Stuff Yu was dismissed because he didn't have a visa and “wasn’t working well in the factory”.

He could not explain why it took two years to realise one of his staff was working illegally.

“Because … er… I’ll have to talk to my general manager about that one.

“Also, he’s been slacking at work, he’s been troublesome at work, and that's why we got rid of him.”

Asked about Yu’s long hours, Kennaway said it was “none of your business”.

He denied Yu was still being paid from the same account.

When asked why there was no notice or redundancy given, Kennaway said Yu was “on contract”, before reiterating he would come back with “written information”.

Stuff then wrote to Zhou with questions including why Yu’s visa had not been checked earlier; why Kennaway and Zhou’s explanations of the sacking differed; why Yu received no notice or redundancy pay; why he was expected to work such long hours; why conditions differed for Kiwi and Chinese workers; and questions about Precast’s failure to cooperate with the Labour Inspectorate or to settle with Gao Litong and the other workers.

Zhou replied with a written denial of Yu’s allegations.

“We will not be making any further commons [sic] in relations to [Yu], the Labour inspector investigations or other matters that are currently before the Employment Relations Authority.”

Yu, meanwhile, still hopes to stay in New Zealand, and is trying to find work with small construction companies, because “they don't care if you have a visa or not, as long as your work is good… they open one eye, and close the other eye.”