December 21, 2005

The Mari­time Uni­on has wel­comed the announce­ment by Min­is­ter of Immig­ra­tion Dav­id Cun­liffe that the cur­rent sys­tem reg­u­lat­ing over­seas crews in the fish­ing industry will be over­hauled.

Mari­time Uni­on Gen­er­al Sec­ret­ary Tre­vor Han­son says offi­cial recog­ni­tion that crews are being under­paid and exploited is an import­ant first step.

Mr Han­son says he agrees with the Gov­ern­ment the sea­food industry is import­ant for New Zea­l­and, but this does not trans­late into allow­ing employ­ers to do whatever they want.