Migrant group horrified by ‘ruthless’ changes to visa scheme
A group representing migrant workers has described changes to visa rules as “heart-wrenching” as well as “ruthless and insensitive”.
The government earlier this week said people holding an Accredited Employer Visa (AEWV) at Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO) levels 4 and 5 without a pathway to residency were no longer able to support work, visitor or student visa applications for partners and dependent children.
Levels 4 and 5 cover workers with qualifications equivalent to NCEA levels 1, 2 or 3.
“The government has made this change to align with the broader suite of changes to the AEWV scheme earlier this year, and returns the settings to similar ones under the previous Essential Skills Work Visa,” Immigration NZ said in a release.
NZs economic success is built on 3 pillars:
1 – Stealing Māori land and NEVER paying the full value back.
2 – Selling houses to each other and pretending that is wealth.
3 – Total addiction to a low wage economy that requires exploiting migrant workers.
We can’t keep asking people here and then exploit them.
The Mass immigration policies of Labour and National have generated GDP paper growth while dooming us to a crucifying gridlock because no one is paying or building the infrastructure.
That isn’t the fault of the migrant workers, that’s a failure of political leadership.
We need to ram up our entry standards while giving immediate amnesty to every migrant worker here and a clear one off pathway to citizenship.
We need to make union membership universal for every migrant worker, the membership fee of which sees 30% go to the CTU and 70% to the migrant union so that the wider Union movement gain resource to fight for better conditions for domestic workers.
Universal union membership ion every migrant worker would protect them from exploitation, would strengthen safety and would ensure migrant pay isn’t lower than domestic kiwis so they don’t undermine domestic workers which generates all the social friction.
We need to be doing far more to stop our migrant worker brothers and sisters from exploitation, the time for universal union membership for all migrant workers is now.
Those entry standards are quite something. The ANZSCO levels affected:
Level 4: Pet groomer, Data Entry Operator, Meat Boner and Slicer
Level 5: Meter Reader, Chocolate Packer, Fast Food Cook, Recycling or Rubbish Collector
A lot of the occupations in level 4 (and some in level 5) are ones where someone with previous experience or training might well perform better. But it’s hard to argue that experience or training couldn’t be found here, if employers weren’t allowed to avoid training and properly paying workers.
(Of course the stuff they list under the highest level, skill level 1, is pretty absurd too. There’s more skill required to be a good recycling collector or lollypop sign holder than a web developer or member of parliament).
https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/classifications/anzsco-australian-and-new-zealand-standard-classification-occupations/latest-release
Send them home & employ Kiwis?
No comment – Great point!
Send them home & employ Kiwis?
No lets get them in and let their own country men exploit them .Most cases that are reported are Indians exploiting fellow indians or pacific exploiting pacific then throw in the asian bakery owners and I rest my case .The other exploiters are business that have exploited kiwis for generations
Ban green mps from employing them for a start.
Yes Small farmer you are correct,stop exploitation by the Greens.
“What are we going to do about the exploitation of Migrant workers?”
Stop having them. They shouldn’t be allowed for high school drop out level work anyway.
Comments are closed.