Low-Skilled Migrants Used to Keep Lid on Wages

new-zealand-first-party

Tue Mar 29 2016 13:00:00 GMT+1300 (New Zealand Daylight Time)

Low-Skilled Migrants Used to Keep Lid on Wages

Tuesday, 29 March 2016, 4:30 pm
Press Release: New Zealand First Party

Ron Mark MP

New Zealand First Deputy Leader
29 MARCH 2016

Low-Skilled Migrants Used to Keep Lid on Wages

Unskilled foreign workers hungry for a job are pouring into New Zealand while over 70,000 young Kiwis are desperate for work, says New Zealand First.

“Official briefing papers point to the government using immigration to keep a lid on wages in the low-skilled workforce,” says Deputy Leader Ron Mark.

“National is setting up competition, forcing Kiwis to fight for jobs against foreign workers, but migrants willing to accept any conditions generally secure the jobs.

“Belatedly last year, the Labour Inspectorate investigated workplaces and found 16 Christchurch hire and construction companies had breached employment laws, and in December it confirmed widespread breaches of labour standards across the country.

“The briefing papers, from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, confirm that immigrants are ‘increasingly in low-productivity growth industries and low-wage and low-skilled jobs’.

“In Parliament today Minister of Finance Bill English claimed migration, now at a record annual level of net 67,400, was driven by New Zealanders staying at home and returning, and foreign students, but at the same time denied there has been an influx of low-skilled foreign workers.

“It has been clear for some time that low-skilled jobs have increasingly been filled and taken away from Kiwi workers, particularly by foreign students after the National government extended their work rights.

“The government should have taken note of the OECD warning that pointed to the unmanaged flow of temporary workers, the highest among 34 OECD countries, which it stated was potentially bad for New Zealanders’ job chances.

“The immigration inflow is unfair on all Kiwis who want to do a fair day’s work for a fair day’s pay.”

ENDS

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