INDUSTRY HAPS
BE ALERT
Kiwi wineries are being urgently warned to
thoroughly check supply chains, following a
Marlborough vineyard contracting company being
fined $127,500 for falsifying and failing to keep
wage and leave records for 199 migrant workers.
The Labour Inspectorate is
calling on the viticulture industry
to be aware of supply
chains that include products
being produced by exploited labour,
after the second worker exploitation
case in a couple of months. “Despite
this company ceasing to trade over a
year ago, penalties and arrears will be
pursued in full,” Inspectorate viticulture
sector lead Kevin Finnegan says.
“It’s a must for all wine businesses to
thoroughly check their supply chains
to make sure their wine labels and
products haven’t been produced in any
way with exploited labour, as this can
also have a devastating effect on its
reputation. The potential for investors
to withdraw from the industry because
of poor social practises is high, if
changes are not made.” There is also
a call for the Sustainable Winegrowing
New Zealand programme to include
employment standards and labour
hire components into the certification
scheme for all the businesses they
certify, Finnegan says. In the latest
case, Double Seven Services has been
penalised by the ERA $85,000 and its
sole shareholder Qin Zhang penalised
$42,500, for 59 breaches of minimum
employment standards, including
underpaying wages and holiday pay,
as well as not providing employment
agreements for 104 workers. The
workers were paid unlawful ‘piecemeal’
rates for their work. Double Seven has
also been determined to make wage
arrears totalling nearly $8000 and pay
more than $5000 for charging one
worker a premium to have his job.
The ERA determined the full extent of
losses to all employees is not known,
as mandatory employment records
weren’t kept by the company, so therefore
total wage underpayments were
more likely to be $65,000. Employers
are encouraged to find out more about
their rights and obligations on the
Employment New Zealand website.
The Inspectorate encourages anyone
who has information about minimum
standards not being met to phone the
MBIE’s service centre where calls will
be handled in a confidential manner,
on 0800 20 90 20.
BUTTER MAGIC
More than three million Westgold butter slabs have
been sold in New Zealand since it was launched in
2015…and Westland Milk Products says it’s due to a
consumer shift towards more natural fats.
Produced in Hokitika, the butter is marketed as ‘everyday gourmet
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butter’ and appeared in nearly 25% of Kiwi fridges last year. General
manager marketing and innovation Hamish Yates says the success
is phenomenal, given that the butter has just two ingredients –
cream and salt. “Globally, we are seeing an increasing consumer demand for
natural wholesome foods, and a return to the simplicity that products such as
butter offer,” he says. “The West Coast has New Zealand’s highest proportion
of jersey and jersey-cross cows, which are renowned for producing milk high
in butterfat. We think this, combined with our traditional churning technique,
helps make Westgold butter special.” International retail butter sales expanded
by 3% last year to (US) $19.4 billion. Yates says there is a “real appeal
for the West Coast from North Island customers, who associate the region’s
rugged beauty with a more natural product.”
12 FEBRUARY 2019
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