Chorus subcontractors breaching labour laws

AUCKLAND: An investigation targeting Chorus contractors has found nearly all are breaching employment standards.

Violations include ‘‘volunteer’’ work or extended training periods without pay, plus subminimum wage pay.

The MBIE agency completed 75 visits as part of a joint operation with Immigration New Zealand and Inland Revenue in June.

Initial analysis identified 73 subcontractors rolling out broadband networks throughout Auckland had breached minimum employment standards — confirming the fear expressed by E tu spokesman Joe Gallagher that two cases uncovered by the union in December were ‘‘the tip of the iceberg’’.

Yesterday afternoon, Mr Gallagher said he felt vindicated.

He accused Chorus of ‘‘hiding behind a model that pushes pressure on to subscontractors who don’t have the experience of a big player like Downer’’.

Subcontractors knew they could not compete if they followed the rules, Mr Gallagher said.

The investigations represented the first phase of inquiry into employment breaches within the data cabling industry and more were planned across New Zealand, MBIE said.

The investigation was triggered by complaints from the E tu union in December last year, centred on ‘‘volunteer’’ work.

The union’s complaints were picked up by thencommunications minister Clare Curran, who urged the Labour Inspectorate to investigate.

At the time, Chorus said the company — which is handling the bulk of the UFB fibre rollout — had always been ‘‘very clear that the use of volunteers was completely unacceptable. As soon as we were made aware that a few people were taking part in the initiative we put an immediate stop to it.’’

Labour Inspectorate national manager Stu Lumsden said: ‘‘We were made aware that migrant workers in the broadband industry were potentially being exploited by various subcontracting companies undertaking work on behalf of Chorus.

‘‘Breaches we observed to date included contracting employers failing to maintain employment records, pay employees minimum wage, hol iday entitlements, and provide employment agreements.

‘‘In a number of cases it was found that contractors deliberately used practices such as ‘volunteering’ or extended trial and training periods without pay.

‘‘To emphasise the size of the operation, approximately 900 subcontracting companies have had working agreements with Chorus and its three main subcontractors.

‘‘Each of these have different work practices, ranging from the compliant down to the outright exploitative, so the investigations are very involved and will continue,’’ Mr Lumsden said.

A spokesman at Chorus said last night the company was ‘‘disappointed’ by the findings of the investigation.

The company had no further comment until after it meets the MBIE today.