The Uzbek men lured by the Kiwi dream and left in poverty
요약
보고된 날짜: 2023년 9월 17일
위치: 뉴질랜드
기업 페이지
Zero Max Line - Employer , Gibset - Other Value Chain Entity영향받은
영향받은 사람의 수: 15
Migrant & immigrant workers: ( 숫자를 알 수 없음 - 우즈베키스탄 , 시공 , Men , Documented migrants )토픽들
임금 착취 , 직업소개수수료 , 정보 접근성 , 이동 제한 , 불안정한/불적합한 생활환경결과
Response sought: 아니오
시행된 조치: Immigration New Zealand has revoked the accreditation of Zero Line Max, a gibstopping company, after allegations it had mistreated Uzbek migrant workers came to light. A later article alleges the employer 'escaped without punishment - bar a 'warning letter' from Immigration New Zealand (INZ)'. Immigration New Zealand said the employer was overseas, and it had revoked Zero Max Line’s accreditation. In a statement, acting national investigations manager James Friend said: “Immigration’s investigation into this employer is now closed, and compliance action involved issuing an employer education letter to the company owner.”
출처: News outlet
For the 15 men from Uzbekistan, it seemed like a dream: an offer of $28 an hour to work in New Zealand.
The average salary in the former Soviet republic is a dollar an hour.
The men didn’t know each other, but all came from Angren, a small, economically-depressed industrial city to the east of the country, and had some association with an Uzbek living in Auckland, Shehzod ‘Shaun’ Nozirov, who owned gibstopping company Zero Max Line.
Nozirov even persuaded one of the men to sell his house and all his belongings to come to New Zealand...
The dream came with some catches: seven of the men say Nosirov asked for a $US10,000 ‘bond’ (about $NZ17,000) and between $US2500 and $US3500 (about $NZ4200 to $NZ5900) in fees for arranging their visas. It’s not legal to ask for payment ‘premiums’ to secure jobs.
When they arrived, the men say they were also told they had to pay for their own tools, uniforms (up to $1990 in total), vehicle and Site Safe certificates ($205)...
After the men made an appeal on social media, Westwood, a former Immigration New Zealand officer who speaks some Russian, agreed to represent them pro bono...
Westwood said the company had agreed to mediation, but on the same day, sent letters to some of the men dismissing them immediately without reason under a 90-day trial clause in his contract. Then last Tuesday Nosirov placed the company in liquidation...
Zero Max Line had been sub-contracting to a company called Gibset. The company’s owner, Slav Alexeichik, said he’d terminated their relationship as soon as he had heard allegations that the workers were being mistreated...