The Maritime Union of New Zealand and International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) have obtained backpay for a group of Indonesian fishermen who jumped ship last week.
The nine Indonesian crew members left the fishing trawler Marinui in Dunedin on Friday 10 March.
The crew members were sent to Christchurch where they were interviewed by Maritime Union officials, and then travelled to Auckland International Airport today where they were met by union officials representing the ITF.
ITF New Zealand co-ordinator Kathy Whelan says the crew members were assisted by the ITF in negotiating back pay and medical costs from their employers, and did not have to pay for their own return airfares.
She says the ITF is continuing to investigate the payment of at least the minimum wage to overseas fishermen in New Zealand waters.
