Auckland shooting: Workers from Philippines supporting each other

Migrant workers from the Philippines who were on the site of yesterday’s Auckland CBD shooting are supporting each other through the tragedy, a union organiser said.

Mikee Santos, a First Union organiser and the Union Network of Migrants coordinator, said he had spoken to construction crews from that site within two hours of yesterday’s shooting.

Most migrant workers lived together, particularly those newly arrived, Santos said.

“Those who have been here three to four years might have their families here and wouldn’t live with other workers. If they’ve been here for less than a year, they will be encountering challenges, particularly on the mental wellbeing side,” he said.

Those who lived together and came from One Queen St would be talking about what happened and how they feel about it, Santos said.

He spoke to workers from the site of the shooting around 10.30am yesterday.

“The first question I asked them is ‘are you alright?’ and the second question I asked them was ‘are you getting paid?’ I told them to go home and take care of themselves. I also said if they weren’t fit to work on Friday, not to continue on another site. I also said to them to please ensure they were paid for the whole day,” Santos said.

AOS and construction workers on the roof of the Deloitte building in Downtown Auckland yesterday during a shooting incident. Inset: Shooter Matu Reid.

Police said today two male construction workers aged in their 40s have been confirmed as the pair killed in yesterday’s Auckland CBD shootings. Formally identifying the victims is today’s priority, with autopsies to be completed in the coming days.

The men worked at the construction site alongside the shooter, who was also killed.

Santos said no union members from his entity were at One Queen St but the community rallied to support each other in difficult times, he said.

Workers were told not to speak to the media and counted by their bosses in huddles outside One Queen St, he said.

“There’s a vast number of Filipino migrant workers on One Queen St because there are layers and layers of subcontractors there,” he said referring to steel workers, carpenters, steel fixers, window installers, plasterers and finishing trade workers.

The two men in their 40s who were shot had not been identified by people he knew as Philippino, he said.

“If they had been Philippino, I would know immediately. The community is very supportive of each other and they would tell me,” he said.

“I’ve humbly asked for members to get some paid time off, particularly those at the site where the tragedy occurred,” he said.

Workers from the Philippines were not in managerial or project management roles on One Queen St, he said.

Those he spoke to from the site “seemed surprisingly OK when I talked to them. But I told them that they were in a state of shock and trauma right now. You just don’t know it. I told them it might sink in later on. Running away to save your life is traumatic. They need some time off and ensure it’s paid, so they don’t lose their sick leave. They’re not actually physically unwell. But because of what happened, they would be affected,” Santos said.

The Philippines community was also encouraged to get support from unions, churches or agencies if they needed help, he said.

New Zealand workplaces do not usually offer guidance for staff on how to handle an ‘active shooter’ situation but such guidance is common in countries.

“It’s very common with American-owned companies, especially banks and hotels. Many companies in the Philippines are American owned and they provide such training,” he said.

Locking doors, barricades and containing areas were in the training, Santos said.

“I’ve done active shooter training many times, when I worked in hotels in the Philippines. We were told not to run because the person who moves gets shot first. Speaker systems would broadcast codes like ‘orange’ which means there’s a guy with a gun,” Santos said.

Active shooter training was provided just like fire emergency drills were offered to staff.

Mock active shooter training exercises were offered commonly overseas but not usually by New Zealand employers, he said.

Anne Gibson has been the Herald’s property editor for 23 years, has won many awards, written books and covered property extensively here and overseas.