作為弱勢群體的華人和黑人

作為弱勢群體的華人和黑人

Salute to Obama!

作為總統的黑人Obama：

On Friday July 19th, 2013, President Obama makes a statement about Trayvon Martin and the verdict of the court trial that followed the Florida teenager's death.




Shame on Chinese!

Chinese Businessman in New Zealand backs illegal wages for immigrants
Sunday April 14th, 2013
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/money/8547481/Businessman-backs-illegal-wages-for-immigrants

A Chinese immigrant is campaigning to have fellow migrants paid below the minimum wage.

 

Easter Wu, who has made a name for himself as a personality in New Zealand-based Chinese media, said he supported the rights of employers to pay staff only what they are worth - even if that is below the minimum wage.

 

Wu, from Auckland, has used radio air time, an internet column and online discussion forums to advocate paying illegal wage rates.

 

During the past four years he broadcast his views on five hours of weekly radio time. Although he has stopped appearing on air due to an increased workload, Wu's labour theories still get prominent coverage on Chinese social media in New Zealand.

 

The New Zealand Government's immigration requirements are flawed because they allow migrants without valuable skills to move to New Zealand, Wu said.

 

And if a migrant does not have the skills to get a job paying at least the minimum wage, they should be happy receiving payment that reflects their competency.

 

"How much you are worth is how much you get. You got an $8 skill, I pay you $8," he said.

 

Any illegal wage is a mutual agreement between the employer and employee, Wu said. And he questioned the ethics of migrants who knowingly accept illegal wages and then take their employer to court.

 

"He is happy to break the law, but he is not happy to get the low wages," he said.

 

Wu has a high profile in the Chinese community in New Zealand and within the ethnic media. He runs a telecommunications business and an exporting company employing around 10 people.

 

None of his staff receive less than the minimum wage because his current business does not require cheap labour. However, if he was in a different industry he would contemplate paying an illegal wage.

 

"If I was running a small restaurant, I am not sure," Wu said.

 

Wu's theory is bad economic and social policy, according to a researcher specialising in migrant exploitation.

 

"Unless we are attempting a ‘race to the bottom' in terms of underscoring other countries with increasingly marginalised working conditions, we do not want to import workers merely to undercut local conditions," said AUT business school researcher Danaë Anderson.

 

It unfairly penalises businesses for working within the law, and promotes a low-wage, low-productivity economy, she said.

 

"Businesses trying to remain as decent employers are also in an unfair game as their margins become tightened by actually following the law," Anderson said.

 

For migrants who come from countries with endemic corruption, poor human rights, and economic inequality, New Zealand has a reputation as a good global citizen where workers can receive at least legal wages and safe working conditions. But migrants, who often struggle with the language, culture, finances and access to social services, can find themselves in degrading and dangerous conditions, Anderson said.

 

"Often the conditions are poor but better than where they came from. For many who have seen corruption in everyday life, below legal pay rates and broken promises are simply more of the same," she said.

 

The wide publication of views such as Wu's, supporting worker exploitation, meant migrant employers and employees had no qualms breaching New Zealand employment law, said employment consultant May Moncur.

 

Ethnic newspapers and websites would run job advertisements offering employment at below the minimum wage, according to Moncur.

 

"I contacted one of the Chinese websites and said ‘you can't do this, you can't provide a platform for dodgy employers, to give them an opportunity to exploit people'," she said.

 

There needs to be a culture change in the ways migrant communities treat the minimum requirements of workers in New Zealand, Moncur said.

 

"You must change people's mindset, that is the root of the problem, without that you could never address the issue," she said.

 

Local media are the most important bridge between new migrants and their understanding of their rights in New Zealand.

 

Currently these channels are doing very little to inform migrants and promote education on employment rights, Moncur said.

 

"If they keep silent, the right information will never effectively reach migrant workers and employers," she said.