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A major fishing company is being accused of deliberately dissuading Kiwi workers with a job advertisement describing “conditions of slavery.”
The New Zealand Business Services Guild (NZMSG) claims that Sealord’s announcement for the crew of one of its fishing boats could simply be “checking a box” to get approval from New Zealand Immigration to bring in paid foreign workers Lower.
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The fishing vessel Sealord Tokatu arrives in Nelson. (File photo)
The union is also concerned that the ad appears to suggest that “conditions of slavery still apply to foreign workers working in New Zealand.”
Labor Relations Minister Andrew Little said the announcement raised serious concerns about working conditions.
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This comes when 18 fishermen from Russia and Ukraine tested positive for Covid-19 within days of arriving in New Zealand. They are among 570 foreign workers approved to fill jobs on Kiwi ships.
Steven Walton / Stuff
The Sealord announcement is still available on the Seek website.
Companies have to offer New Zealanders work before hiring overseas staff.
The ad is for work on two Cold War-era Sealord Russian ships, each of which needs 82 trained crew members. Historically, the roles have been filled by Russians and Ukrainians.
The ad describes six-month jobs at sea that are “very physically and mentally demanding, as you may be doing the same repetitive task the entire time you are at sea.”
“You will need to be healthy, fit, strong and resilient to cope with the continuous workload that occurs from the moment you leave port until you return,” he says. He doesn’t mention breaks or pay.
BRADEN FASTIER / Nelson Mail
Crew members line up to dine aboard the Sealord Otakou fishing boat, one of the boats traditionally manned by New Zealanders. (File image)
In contrast, an advertisement for Sealord’s seven historically crewed Kiwi ships offers applicants a “rewarding and exciting” career path with “good money” and “generous rewards.”
He says that trips at sea are two to six weeks, with six-hour shifts and six hours off. The workers receive “three delicious meals a day” and the equivalent time off the ship as they spend on it.
Both ads are still online.
When asked about the different wording of the ads, Sealord CEO Doug Paulin said Stuff: “I don’t write the ads to be fair.” When asked again, he said, “It’s a good question, and I’ll ask myself by the time I finish the phone with you.”
Braden Fastier / Stuff
Sealord CEO Doug Paulin, center, chats with Russian fishermen aboard Professor Mykhaylo Aleksandrov.
He later clarified that it reflected different requirements for ships built in Russia.
The Russian ships had fixed roles for six months, while the other seven ships had shorter voyages with regular crew rotation and changes, so there was more scope to experience a variety of roles.
The Russian ships’ announcement typically only received two to three Kiwi applicants, Paulin said.
“Having qualified people, fishing, fined … they just don’t exist, no matter what is written in the ad,” he said.
One of the two Russian-crewed ships will be sold by the end of 2021, Paulin said. Getting rid of those ships was the only way Sealord would get ships with Kiwi crews.
Sealord preferred to use kiwis, he said.
NZMSG Secretary General Helen McAra agreed that some jobs would have to be filled by foreign workers, but said there were qualified Kiwis for some of those jobs.
McAra, on behalf of the union, wrote to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and other ministers in June, asking why time off was not mentioned in Sealord’s announcement about jobs on Russian-built ships. She received no reply.
The ad did not describe New Zealand’s standard working conditions, he said.
“[It] suggests to us that the conditions of slavery still apply to foreign crew working in New Zealand. Or is it the case that these New Zealand jobs are … for the slave labor section of New Zealand’s deep sea fishing industry? “
He stated that foreign crew members in the industry received “much lower wages and conditions than New Zealand deep-sea fishing crew working on other New Zealand vessels.”
BRADEN FASTIER / Things
Labor Relations Minister Andrew Little says the announcement raises serious concerns about employment conditions. (File photo)
Paulin said that Sealord’s Kiwi and foreign fishermen were paid the same and that the conditions met legal requirements.
Little “strongly urged” anyone with concerns about the conditions to notify Employment Services.
Captain Vince Scully, who has more than 40 years of maritime experience and has had his boat captain’s ticket for 20 years, cannot get a job.
He said he would be qualified to be part of the bridge and navigation equipment on the two Russian Sealord ships.
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Captain Vince Scully says he is happy and comfortable doing the job Russians and Ukrainians have flown to, with the right inductions and working conditions.
“I have worked on ships that have been built abroad. We have had translation books to translate any of the technical things we need. “
He thought that advertising a job for six months at sea was “a deliberate company policy to discourage New Zealand seafarers / fishermen.”
Immigration Minister Kris Faafoi announced last month that 570 deep-sea fishers had been allowed entry on the grounds that the fishing industry committed to removing barriers to employment for New Zealanders.
“The government accepts that there are few additional Kiwis with the experience to work safely on these boats in the short term,” he said.
