Union issues overseas labour warning

Union general secretary Trevor Hanson says a sudden flood of requests for imported labour in other industries indicates a concerted campaign to “open the New Zealand labour market up to sweatshop-style conditions”.

Hanson says those labour shortages have been caused by Government and employers not planning or training over the last 15 years. He says his union has made it clear to employers that it will act “swiftly and firmly” to defend permanent local jobs through strike action, pickets and protests.

Furthermore, Hanson says the union believes the recent push on labour shortages is part of a rapid move to drag New Zealand into free trade agreements, which are “undemocratic and could have enormous negative impact on the living standards of New Zealand workers”.

“An international free trade in human beings as shortterm, casual labour will mean a race to the bottom for New Zealand workers, ” he says.

“Many workers in New Zealand waters are on flag-ofconvenience ships and are third-world workers who are mistreated and employed on third-world pay and conditions.” No New Zealand port has employed foreign labour to date.